Cubs Pursuing Bullpen, Bench Acquisitions

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently appeared with David Kaplan and Gordon Wittenmyer on the Cubs REKAP Podcast. Asked about the team’s goals over the remainder of the offseason, the baseball ops leader pointed to two specific areas.

“Mostly focused right now on bench and bullpen, just trying to supplement the roster as much as we can. I feel good about our team but there’s obviously ways to improve,” Hoyer said. He later added that the “bullpen’s been probably the area we’ve been focused on most in free agency. I feel like we’re trying to make sure we upgrade our bench. Adding a veteran presence to our bench would be good.”

The Cubs have made a pair of low-cost bullpen pickups this winter. Chicago acquired righty Eli Morgan from the Guardians and added left-hander Caleb Thielbar on a $2.75MM free agent contract. Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller and Nate Pearson have all earned spots in the relief corps. Julian Merryweather and Keegan Thompson are out of options, so they’ll need to be on the MLB roster or be offered to other teams via trade or waivers. That’s also true of Matt Festa and Rob Zastryzny, though they’ve been recent depth acquisitions who could have an uphill path to cracking the roster. Swingman Colin Rea could open the season in long relief.

Chicago probably wouldn’t benefit from another middle innings arm. The priority should be finding an established late-game veteran. Hoyer famously has shied away from significant investments in the bullpen since the Cubs’ three-year deal with Craig Kimbrel. Chicago hasn’t signed a reliever to a multi-year contract or an eight-figure guarantee since that June 2019 acquisition.

That’d make it a big surprise if the Cubs jump in on Tanner Scott, who could land three or four years at something between $15MM and $20MM annually. Chicago could also be reluctant to meet the ask on Carlos Estévez, but this offseason presents a few opportunities for clubs to add a veteran closer on a short-term contract.

Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Kenley Jansen are all coming off productive seasons. Yates, who turned in a 1.17 earned run average while striking out 36% of opponents over 61 1/3 innings for the Rangers, was arguably a top three reliever in the league. Each of those players will be limited to one- or two-year deals. Robertson, who pitched well for the Cubs early in 2022, will almost certainly be limited to one year as he enters his age-40 season.

On the position player side, there’s a clear need for a depth infielder. Vidal Bruján, Rule 5 pick Gage Workman, and Luis Vazquez are the top options to back up the expected starting infield of Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and prospect Matt Shaw. A multi-positional player who can provide some cover at third base in case Shaw struggles makes sense. Yoán Moncada, Jon Berti, Enrique Hernández and Paul DeJong are potential options.

The Cubs already signed Carson Kelly to back up Miguel Amaya behind the dish. They have Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki lined up for outfield/designated hitter work. Alexander Canario is out of options, so he probably has a leg up on the fourth outfield role. Canario doesn’t play center field, though, so the Cubs could look for a glove-first veteran (potentially on a minor league deal) to back up Crow-Armstrong. Highly-regarded prospect Kevin Alcántara can play up the middle, but Hoyer indicated he preferred for the organization’s top young talents to play everyday in the majors or in Triple-A.

As far as a potential bigger addition goes, Hoyer was asked about the recent report from Bruce Levine of 670 The Score that the Cubs had “casual” dialogue with Alex Bregman regarding a short-term deal. Hoyer declined to comment on that report itself — team personnel are prohibited from publicly commenting on whether they’re pursuing specific free agents — but reiterated generally that the front office was “looking to supplement the roster” (implying they were less likely to make a huge splash). Bregman’s agent Scott Boras said this morning that the All-Star third baseman was still focused on landing a long-term contract anyhow.

Fans, especially those of the Cubs, are encouraged to watch the hour-long interview. Hoyer speaks about transactions from previous seasons and provides some insight into the process for finalizing free agent deals and trades. He also fields questions on whether MLB will ever see a $1 billion free agent, handling fan expectations as a baseball operations leader, weathering the ups and downs of a 162-game season, and Sammy Sosa’s anticipated return at this weekend’s Cubs Convention.