Chicago Cubs: Cody Allen could be a buy-low bullpen option

With a glaring need in the pen, the Chicago Cubs could be pigeon-holed into the likes of reclamation projects, such as free agent Cody Allen, this winter.

It’s not time to blindly accept the Chicago Cubs won’t make any significant addition this winter – not yet. But, with the clock ticking and less than a month until pitchers and catchers report to Sloan Park in Mesa, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are clearly on borrowed time at this point.

While the elusive, pseudo-substantive pursuit of Bryce Harper grabbing the lion’s share of headlines this offseason, people are continually overlooking what this team truly needs. What’s that, you ask? Arms. Not starting pitchers (although age could certainly play a role in 2019) – but rather in the bullpen, where there are more questions than answers.

Right now there are exactly two guys I trust who will aren’t fighting injury issues. Two. In the entire bullpen. And those two are side-arming right-hander Steve Cishek and setup man-closer hybrid Pedro Strop, who triumphantly returned from a severe hamstring injury to pitch in the NL Wild Card game to close out the 2018 campaign.