1 huge 2025 Winter Meetings mistake the Cubs can rectify before Christmas

Apart from the trio of high-dollar signings (Kyle Schwarber back to the Phillies, Pete Alonso to the Orioles and Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers), this year's Winter Meetings seemed to be more about front offices having conversations and charting the landscape for the month's ahead. The Chicago Cubs, like dozens of other teams, made no moves this week in Orlando - drawing the ire of a fanbase hungry for a big offseason.

Most of the rumors swirling around Jed Hoyer's ballclub were, surprisingly, focused on impact bats - with Alonso and Alex Bregman getting a ton of mentions. The Cubs and Red Sox secretly met with Alonso at the Winter Meetings before the slugger inked a five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore, suggesting a potential willingness to go big in the offense department.

Cubs leave the Winter Meetings without any major bullpen addition

Bregman remains in play but, as Hoyer has made clear from the start, it's pitching that will dominate the narrative for Chicago this winter. Tatsuya Imai is expected to start meeting with teams soon and the free-agent market still has several notable names left. But the Cubs' pitching needs span beyond the rotation - and it's somewhat surprising Hoyer didn't add another reliever this week.

All-Star closer Devin Williams reportedly wanted to reunite with his former manager, Craig Counsell, but the Cubs' offer never matched the three years and $51 million he got from the Mets. The club made a small minor-league pick-up in Collin Snider, but that was a move that very much fits the bill of reclamation project/bounce-back candidate more than anything else.

I never expected Hoyer to set the top of the market for Diaz or, really, even be a serious player for Williams - so no real surprises there. But I was expecting the Cubs to be a little more aggressive on the heels of the Maton signing given the major lack of stability in the pen with Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar all headed out the door, along with Andrew Kittredge, Aaron Civale and Taylor Rogers.

Robert Suarez is a name that's repeatedly been connected to the Cubs of late, and more low-to-mid-tier options like Luke Weaver, Seranthony Dominguez and Pete Fairbanks remain available on the open market, as well. Given the lack of impact back-end arms left, Hoyer would be wise to act sooner rather than later - or else, risk pushing his chips in on another collection of misfit toys. It worked well enough in 2025, but is a dangerous game to play year-in and year-out.