Chicago Cubs: 3 more guys you should be prepared to lose this winter

The Chicago Cubs are pretty much now at an all-time low. I generally like to keep my thoughts within the realm of optimism when it comes to the team but this is just bad. Laughable,  in fact. The pitching, in particular, is so bad right now they might as well just call up anyone to see what they can do. However, that’s what happens when you let your whole team go and tear down looking to start fresh.

It’s important to keep in mind that not only have several key players left this year, but it’s also not completely over. The Cubs have quite a few free agents on the books that more than likely won’t be offered another contract based on their poor play lately. Some of them a victim or circumstance, some of them not even a free agent – but just a poor performer.

As it has been addressed, the Cubs’ quickest way to get back into the fold will be through free agency – whether that be letting guys walk or adding some much-needed talent. Basically, this year has been a train wreck of underperformance at the highest level. The Cubs honestly could have lost 120 games if this was the team all year. With that being said, let’s carry on and take a glance at three players currently on the roster that you might not see in a Cubs uniform next year.

3 More Chicago Cubs Likely to be Gone After This Year – #3: Matt Duffy

Although Matt Duffy has a career slash of .280/.338/.373, he is currently batting .258 with the Cubs. For the veteran, it’s not his performance that’s necessarily the issue (although he’s been a totally different hitter since coming back from the IL with an OPS more than 200 points lower in the second half).

Chicago boasts a ton of infield depth right now, and Duffy could be the priciest option of them all this winter, which might not jibe with the front office’s approach to rounding out a roster. Next year, the Cubs will undoubtedly go with Nick Madrigal and Nico Hoerner up the middle, and probably David Bote and/or Patrick Wisdom at the corners (barring a major free agent splash).

Though Duffy is on an expiring contract earning a base pay of $1,000,000, the best spot he should get in 2022 is a bench spot. Knowing the career he has had has been pretty solid thus far, he could probably land a sweeter deal with another club as it is, if the Cubs even offer another contract.

Duffy has always been a solid contact bat but currently only has racked up 155 ABs to this point in the season. With all the infield depth including those named above (among others), It’s to imagine a situation where Duffy is an everyday starter moving forward unless the Cubs are seriously hit with the injury bug.

The 30-year-old infielder is more of a victim of circumstances than somebody who is underperforming to the point of the team moving on by choice.

3 More Chicago Cubs Likely to be Gone After This Year – #1: Ian Happ

Ian Happ makes the top of this list due to the sheer struggles he has battled this year. For one, his batting average in the .170s is simply not acceptable on a big league roster. Sometimes it seems like he is swinging a bat with a hole in it. The biggest argument to be made against Happ this year is not his average or the strikeouts, It’s the fact that he is yet another former first-round pick that has not lived up to first-round pick potential on the North Side.

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That’s where things get a little obscured with Happ in my opinion. He is, as I noted, a former first-rounder and has impressed, at times, with his bat. We’ve all seen him play well, but right now, he’s not living up to even the lowest of expectations. Personally, I believe the thing with Happ is just his mechanics at the plate. He draws a good number of walks but it almost seems like he relies on that at times. Pitchers have adjusted, forcing him to slip behind in the count, which makes him try to protect with two strikes and ultimately results in a strikeout.

Out of all the players on this list, Happ is the one with the most potential to still turn it around. I think it’s important for Happ critics to remember he finished eighth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2017, which isn’t super close to winning the award but still worth nothing. He batted .253 that year, had a down year in 2018 batting .233, then rebounded nicely in 2019 with a .264 mark. In 2020, if we’re being honest, he was pretty much the best player on offense the Cubs had for a little while, until really cooling off at the end of the shortened season.

Now, Happ is back to falling way short of expectations in 2021. In fact, this has been his worst stretch of baseball through his tenure with the Cubs. Unlike Davies, Duffy or some of these guys that haven’t been with the team for years, Happ has shown flashes of what he can do. I would like to think that he wouldn’t be non-tendered at year’s end.

Given his stretches of success, I am sure a team would look to acquire him for cheap as he does have two more years of team control before this winter. If he can’t turn it around or find some level of consistency, though, it wouldn’t be surprising if management decided to go a different direction.