Chicago Cubs: Top five players who won’t be around next season

The Chicago Cubs are battling for a postseason berth, but the future is already written for some of the players. Who might be gone next season?

The Chicago Cubs are battling every day to secure their place in the postseason. Injuries to Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, second baseman Addison Russell and pitcher Craig Kimbrel have forced the Northsiders to go deep into the roster and bring up shortstop Nico Hoerner and others to shore up the holes in offense and defense.

The truth is, the writing is on the wall for some these Cubs players, and although we love them, many will be gone next season. Of course, there’s still time for any of these players to break out and make an impression on Cubs management, but at this moment, these players are all likely candidates. Let’s take a look at the top five Chicago Cubs players that will most likely not be around next season.

Cole Hamels – LHP

Since coming off his injury, Cole Hamels has not been very good. In previous articles, I have pointed to the fact that we probably have gotten the most out of Hamels. But Cubs manager Joe Maddon is trying to squeeze every last throw out of the aging pitcher. The zip in Hamel’s ball that was so impressive coming out of last season has turned into an edge painter that produces walks and hits.

Hamels has played in double the games than he did last year and has faced 260 more batters this season. However,  the more he faces, the worse his record gets as shown by his 2.36 ERA last year and his 3.95 right now.

There is a reason that the back office folks were indicating he could move on right after he came off his injury and are considering a Philly reunion next season.

The Cubs paid Hamels $20 million for his work this year but next year Hamels is an Unrestricted Free Agent and will most likely move on.