Chicago Cubs: What if the team really does nothing this winter

Chicago Cubs: A look at the offense

Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez have all appeared, in varying degrees, in trade rumors this offseason. Over the next couple of years, the team will have decisions to make on which ones will be a part of the future and which they’ll need to let go via trade or free agency.

The Cubs have a good core of players to start with on offense. Trading any of them at this point would be tough for fans to swallow, but so would going through this entire offseason without signing any of them to a contract extension. Going through this entire offseason without accomplishing anything on this front – one way or another – would show a lack of leadership from the front office.

Anyway, looking at this from a purely on-the-field standpoint for 2020, the team has a good offense but still has a few holes, particularly at second base and center field. They do have a few options for both: Nico Hoerner, David Bote and Ian Happ are among those at second base, with Happ and Albert Almora, Jr. among those for center field. However, all of them are unproven long-term. Not bringing in a veteran for either position would be a huge roll of the dice from the front office.

And then there’s Jason Heyward, who has been pretty average over the past four seasons with the bat. He did show some signs of life at times last season, but he was up-and-down, and there’s little reason to believe he’ll be much more than average again next year. All this adds up to an offense that has lots of potential but has too many question marks heading into 2020.