Chicago Cubs: Next year’s team will be ready to win, but look different

Based on Theo Epstein’s end-of-year comments, the Chicago Cubs have no intentions of rebuilding – but will instead retool, looking to win again in 2020.

In the months leading up to the historic 2016 campaign, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein made some critical moves that ultimately paid huge dividends. He brought in outfielder Jason Heyward from the rival Cardinals, signed veteran right-hander John Lackey and inked Ben Zobrist to a four-year deal.

These players complimented Chicago’s young core – one that shocked the baseball world, advancing to the NLCS in 2015. Supplemented with these veterans, the Cubs came together in one of the best all-around single-season performances in franchise history.

Obviously, hindsight is 20/20. Had the Cubs not gone on to win a title, maybe we, as fans and pundits, wouldn’t put as much emphasis on the moves Epstein and the front office made that offseason. But there’s no doubting that the next few months may very well prove to be the most critical of his tenure on the North Side.