It’s been a tale of two offseasons for the Cubs, who had been inactive start to the winter. But in recent weeks, the Cubs have begun to shore up the roster with a flurry of moves with a week to go until pitchers and catchers report.
The additions of Joc Pederson and Trevor Williams and the signing of right-hander Kohl Stewart to a Major-League contract, have allowed the Cubs to fill several needs that it looked like they wouldn’t be able to fill.
While the quest to find adequate replacements for the loss of Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester, Jose Quintana and Yu Darvish weren’t quick, the team has high hopes that their newest additions have an upward trajectory.
In the case of Pederson, after a less than stellar 2020 season, it puts an added chip on his shoulder. The Cubs’ new outfielder slashed .190/.285/.397 with seven homers and an 88 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus).
“I love the tone of [Joc’s] voice about betting on himself,” president Jed Hoyer said. “I think that was something that really resonates. I think he felt like he didn’t put up the numbers he wanted last year. I think he felt like he was being painted with a brush that he didn’t want to be painted with. And his goal was to find a place where he could go out and prove it. We had a spot wide-open for him and we were able to work out the finances.”
The Cubs’ position financially in relation to the luxury tax appeared dire earlier this offseason, and after a mandate for the team to shed payroll, leading to the departure of Darvish and others, it appeared most additions would come internally. But the team’s recent acquisitions have suggested that there may have been a shift.
“Budgeting is a hard thing to talk about as we’ve always gone back and forth on, because there’s a competitive disadvantage to have everyone know what the budget is,” Hoyer said. “But I think all throughout the offseason, we talked about a range and we talked about there being some timing issues.
“And so, I think where we were early in the offseason was right where we thought we might be [which] was a little bit lower in that range. And I think that, as we got deeper in the offseason, and got some better news on a few things that we’re able to kind of move up a little bit into the higher end of that range. And so that I think that helped to to kind of help us run out the roster.”
The news Hoyer is speaking of could be directly linked to an increased projection in team revenues in 2021. With COVID-19 numbers slowly starting to decrease and the vaccine rollout around the country increasing, fans attending games has become more of a possibility. The team will also be allowed 25% capacity allowed at games this spring at Sloan Park in Mesa.
While there aren’t as many glaring needs on the roster as there were several months ago, the Cubs aren’t ruling out any potential additions to the 26-man roster, even with spring training just days away.
“We’re still having conversations with a number of other players,” Hoyer said. “No guarantees anything gets done, of course. But certainly, our hope would be to continue to round out the roster.”
