Cubs News: What does the team do during the offseason?

It’s been a hell of a year for the Chicago Cubs. Now, it’s time for the offseason.

What a year for the Chicago Cubs. After winning the NL Central, they got swept by Don Mattingly and the Miami Marlins. David Ross is up for NL Manager of the Year – but Mattingly should get it. With the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing social injustice efforts, it’s been anything but a typical year for all of us.

A 60-game sprint followed by two games and a prompt exit from the playoffs? The bullpen was stellar (3.99 ERA in 518 1/3 IP). The lineup? A .220 average, which ranked 13th out of 15 teams. Yowzers.

They picked the $16.5 million team option of Anthony Rizzo, but let go of Jon Lester via a $10 million buyout. Lester still has aspirations of rejoining the Cubs – so we’ll see how that goes. But that’s neither here nor there. Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Rizzo have long anchored this team and they have one more year to work something out. I still feel like Baez and Rizzo will be signed to an extension. But Bryant and Schwarber? Eh.

More from Chicago Cubs Rumors

• The latest Cubs rumors on the morning of the trade deadline
• Cubs could give White Sox badly-needed bullpen help
• Cubs trade piece Mychal Givens riding an insane scoreless streak
• Cubs Rumors: The latest on Juan Soto, Ian Happ and Willson Contreras
• Cubs Rumors: Mets, Yankees both have sights set on David Robertson

Cameron Maybin, Steven Souza Jr., Billy Hamilton (I wish they’d keep him), Jeremy Jeffress, Jason Kipnis and more will fill up the free-agent pool. I’d like to see them bring back Kipnis and Hamilton. As we all know, the budget is tight. Like, more than tight. Busting at the seams.

I don’t know if they would be able to afford Jeffress. He’s damn good. I’d say, Hamilton and Kipnis, for sure. Adbert Alzolay will be there with his changeup. After that? It’s hard to tell how the roster shakes out.

Do they re-sign Lester? Or Andrew Chafin? And what about the core? What do they do with them? Re-sign them – or accept that it’s time to turn the page? Obviously, there are plenty of questions and not enough answers. By 2024, they’ll be on the ‘hook’ for just $22,250,000, plus players signed after that. 2023? $79,625,000. And that’s the end of the Jason Heyward era. I like him, but not at the $24 million+ he’s earning.

So is Tom Ricketts still spending wisely or making excuses? To be honest, I don’t know. With no crowds in the stands and the Cubs hemorrhaging money? It would be prudent to take it slow. What would you do with no crowd driving alcohol and jersey sales? You would take it gradually and not overspend.

Ricketts and the Cubs are doing what they should right now – taking things slow. Once we’re 12 months from now and (hopefully) things look a bit more normal, we’ll likely have a better understanding of what the future will look like.