Chicago Cubs management delivered on their offseason plan

To many, the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS marked the end. But for the front office and Theo Epstein, it was just the beginning.

From that moment, the focus had to shift from what was to what could be. The Chicago Cubs’ offseason plan must be framed and implemented. It must also be effective if the team is to sustain their recent success.

Nobody knows a family’s situation better than those responsible for running that family. Likewise, nobody knows a baseball roster as well as those charged with maintaining that roster. MLB teams usually keep their offseason plan and thoughts on free agency as closely guarded secrets. Fortunately, the Cubs front office offers considerable transparency, and their manager is similarly unguarded. Through this transparency, we can much better understand the approach.

It also gives us a metric by which to measure offseason progress. Shortly after the 2017 season ended, three key members of Cubs management offered their perspectives on the Cubs upcoming offseason. Comparing the actions the club took to the words from these three men tells the story of whether or not this offseason would be successful.