Cubs: Manager hired, attention now shifts to fixing the roster

With the manager situation now seemingly resolved, the Chicago Cubs must turn their attention to fixing their roster this offseason.

On Monday, the Chicago Cubs officially introduced David Ross as Joe Maddon‘s successor and while accountability was a hot topic in the new skipper’s speech, it’s all just lip service at this point. I will admit that Ross was not my first choice as Cubs manager. Given his lack of experience and ties to the franchise, I really wanted someone from outside the organization. Specifically? Joe Espada. That being said, I came away very impressed with David Ross in his new role and it took a half hour or so to convince me that he’s the right guy.

But now the Cubs front office faces perhaps the most challenging task in fixing their broken roster. Just as Ross noted in his presser, the chemistry simply hasn’t been there since the 2017 season with an inconsistent offense and an unreliable bullpen. At the trade deadline, the Cubs made a terrific acquisition in Nick Castellanos and he’s set to hit the open market in a few weeks. I would expect that he has some level of interest in returning to the northside given how well both parties seemed to gel but it doesn’t stop at Castellanos.

The Cubs offense has largely been boom or bust the last couple of seasons and that’s due to the lack of pure contact hitters in their lineup. Finishing second in the National League in the home runs department, the Cubs finished eighth in hits and hit just 0.259 with runners-in-scoring-position. Making Nico Hoerner the everyday second baseman should help with their contact issues as the 22-year-old was impressive in his brief big-league stint last season. In 20 games, Hoerner produced an 0.879 OPS with 22 hits, 3 home runs and 17 RBI in that span.

The second base gig is his for the taking but he is certainly expected to struggle at some point when the league adjusts to him. It will be critical for him to adjust back for the Cubs offense to click. While I don’t expect him to hit leadoff for the team in 2020, he can still be a valuable bat at the bottom of the order. Speaking of leadoff, the Cubs have lacked a true leadoff hitter since the departure of Dexter Fowler after the 2016 season. In a Price Is Right Come on Down method, just about everyone in the lineup has had a chance to prove that they can lock down that spot in the order. This offseason, Theo Epstein and the Cubs front office need to take a long, hard look at making a move to acquire or sign a leadoff hitter.

Another year older, Jon Lester is likely going to be a middle of the rotation pitcher in 2020, which is fine. It was expected to happen near the end of his six-year deal with the team and he’s been worth every penny. However, Yu Darvish turned in a really good season and proved why he was paid the big money contract after an injury-plagued 2018. Cole Hamels likely won’t return to the team next season and there appears to be an opening in the rotation. While I’m not saying that the Cubs need to sign Gerrit Cole, it certainly couldn’t hurt things although I’m not sure that’s the smartest move given Epstein’s recent track record of big-name free agents, post 2016.

Ultimately, the team’s weak spot was their bullpen last season. That’s not to say an offense that scored 10 runs in a game and then 2 over the next 5 games is a good thing, but the bullpen just cannot be blowing 28 saves. There are a lot of openings in the bullpen this offseason and it’s a good reset for the front office to get the right guys in there. Hiring David Ross as the next manager was just the first step in a series of steps that need to happen this offseason.

The World Series will be winding down soon and the offseason will be in full swing, for everyone. Tom Ricketts will get a chance to swap trade proposals over a cocktail or two at the annual MLB owners’ meetings on November 21, followed by the Winter Meetings in early December. The Cubs would appear to still have a couple of years left in the championship window but their own division isn’t waiting around for them to catch up.

Make the right moves this offseason and the Cubs should find themselves competing for the National League Central again in 2020.