Chicago Cubs: Three players who won’t be on the Opening Day roster

Change is coming for the Chicago Cubs. When the 2020 season begins, this roster could look wildly different. These three guys won’t even be on the roster.

Only a handful of Chicago Cubs players will be able to fully enjoy the offseason without fear of losing their role on the team. If your name isn’t Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Jon Lester, Craig Kimbrel, Kyle Hendricks or Yu Darvish, then you better buckle up.

Kris Bryant barely falls outside of that group in my mind. It would take an overwhelming haul for Chicago to move the former NL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player and it’s hard to envision a contender that would get notably better in the immediate future, while also being able to give the Cubs a package Theo Epstein would deem worthy in return.

That’s not to say it’s impossible, but pretty unlikely.

Jason Heyward‘s contract isn’t nearly as unmovable as a lot of folks seem to think it is, nor is Tyler Chatwood‘s – which has just one year remaining on it. Then, you get to the once-heralded wave of former top prospects, many of whom have failed to live up to the hype.

Coming off just 84 wins and finishing the season by dropping 10 of 12, a reckoning is at hand for the Chicago Cubs – and rightfully so. Their contention window is rapidly closing and unless Epstein pulls the right levers this offseason, our memories of 2016 may be all we have to sustain us in years to come.

Chicago Cubs: It’s time to rectify a major misstep

I don’t particularly care what you think about Addison Russell. Unlike a great many people, I believe in second chances only when they’re warranted – and this is not one of those situations.

We’ve seen Russell go from a former consensus top 10 prospect in the game and the starting shortstop for a World Series-winning Cubs team to a guy who makes more headlines for his egregious off-the-field issues than he does with his play on the diamond.

I’ve never minced words when it comes to my feelings on the 25-year-old. I felt the team shouldn’t have tendered him a contract last winter. When they did, it was nothing more than a waste of precious resources that could have been better spent elsewhere – all while continuing to employ a guy who, simply put, just doesn’t seem to get it.

But let’s just focus on what he’s brought (or hasn’t brought) to the Cubs strictly as a baseball player. Last season, Russell appeared in just 82 games – the lowest total in his five years in the bigs. Offensively, he did what he always does: he batted right around the .240 mark (.237 to be exact) while barely keeping his on-base percentage above the .300 mark (.312).

All told, according to Baseball Reference, he was a 0.1 WAR player for Chicago. Per Fangraphs, he was nearly 20 percent below league average as a talent (81 wRC+). He struck out more than he has since his rookie campaign in 2015 and graded out as a solidly below average defensive player, as well – which, to this point, had been the one redeeming quality he possessed.

This team can ill-afford to give away roster spots – especially after the second base position turned in the sixth-worst production in all of baseball in 2019. It’s time – move on from Russell and find a legitimate answer heading into 2020, rather than expecting a has-been prospect to be anything more. 

Chicago Cubs: Trading from a position of strength might be the answer

While Russell and Almora both have their own fans – a decision to move on from either of those players would pale in comparison to what would happen if the Chicago Cubs traded Willson Contreras this offseason.

Contreras, coming off his second consecutive All-Star appearance, is one of the most promising catchers in all of baseball and easily ranks as the best offensive threat behind the dish. In 409 plate appearances, the Venezuelan native crushed to the tune of a 127 wRC+, scoring a career-high 57 runs and smacking a personal best 24 home runs.

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Defensively, there’s still work to be done – and everyone knows that. But he’s got an absolute cannon he can fire off at any given moment and he showed some promising trends near the end of the season, upon returning from a hamstring injury.

All of this means he certainly wasn’t part of the problem for the Cubs in 2019. That being said, he may very well prove to be part of the solution – as a trade chip. Teams would undoubtedly clamor for the chance to add a 27-year-old stud backstop to the mix. Chicago would be right to entertain offers from said clubs, as well – especially given several circumstances surrounding the situation.

Victor Caratini turned in a breakout 2019 season and demonstrated he’s more than capable of handling the bulk of the catching heading into next year. Paired with the fact the Cubs have several notable catching prospects who profile as long-term fits (Miguel Amaya, Jhonny Pereda, etc.), moving on from Contreras becomes at least slightly more palatable.

If the Cubs could address the pitching staff, second base or center field (or some combination of these areas of concern), as much as it might hurt, trading Willson Contreras might represent the team’s best chance of keeping most of the core intact while re-tooling with an eye on returning to the postseason in 2020.