Chicago Cubs: Three things Theo Epstein should accomplish this winter

Chicago Cubs: Fixing a disheveled bullpen

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A persistent problem for the Chicago Cubs recently has been their bullpen. There is no denying that the bullpen struggled throughout the 2019 season and 2020 remains a mystery.

One aspect of the bullpen that doesn’t remain a mystery, is that Craig Kimbrel will probably take the role as the team’s closer, as mentioned earlier. However, three of the bullpen’s better arms have hti free agency.

Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop have all hit free agency this offseason which raises the question: how should the club go on from here? While the club has internal options including Duane Underwood Jr., the club could also look toward the free agent market.

Signing the likes of a reliever like Will Harris, or even a reunion with veteran and former Cub Hector Rondon would help improve this bullpen dilemma. Regardless of how the front office decided to handle the situation, it seems they would be building around Kimbrel.

In the end, there is really no easy way to fix such a disheveled bullpen. Even bringing up the most worthy guy for the job from the farm, and signing a worth free agent wouldn’t make the bullpen vendetta go away forever. However, the front office and Theo Epstein need to at least begin to examine their options and get a handle on this recurring issue as soon as they can this offseason.