3 areas the Chicago Cubs must win in to compete in 2022

Well.. the good news is the Chicago Cubs are red hot, winners of two of their last five heading into Saturday’s matchup with Kansas City. That’s better than 12 straight losses, right? Sitting only 20.5 games back with 38 to play, there’s still technically a chance the Cubs can pull this off, no? All we need is every good team to DFA their best players and…

Eh. It even hurts to kid. The Cubs need to 100 percent get ready to focus on next year. Even though you don’t want to lose every game, the unfortunate reality is the more the Cubs lose now, the more they gain in the MLB draft in the form of securing a top pick in the first round. Not to say you should hope the team loses, It’s just simply that if you’re not going to win a World Series, you can at least take solace in knowing the club will get a top available player next year.

Securing a top draft pick is not something you should do on purpose. However, I wouldn’t say the Cubs are necessarily losing on purpose, they can accomplish that feat on their own as the boys in blue continue their avalanche of a descent to the bottom of the standings.

However, there are more ways Chicago can look to right the ship as soon as next season. Securing a top pick is a good place to start, but they don’t even have to start there. Should Jed Hoyer and the front office get aggressive soon, there’s actually a few ways the Cubs can turn this thing around quickly. Although there will be several moving parts needed to make this work, let’s take a look at three ways the North Siders can contend again as soon as 2022.

Chicago Cubs: 3 Ways the Team Can Contend in 2022 – #3: Free Agency

The first is also the most obvious way. The way most teams improve the quickest. Opening the checkbook and spending in free agency. There’s pretty much two obstacles standing in the way of making it happen. The first is simply if Tom Ricketts will open the checkbook and if so, how big of a check(s) is he willing to write this offseason?

As stated in the past, the free agency class is absolutely loaded this year. There is plenty to go around. With Ricketts not coming to terms for extensions with the core he had intact in Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo says one of two things.

One: he wants to win but didn’t believe in the players he had enough to sign them to big contacts. To play devil’s advocate here, the fact is the core did underperform. You can’t exactly argue that looking at the numbers. Therefore, I can understand Ricketts’ sentiment in not paying players that aren’t bringing you titles. Why would you? However, the other thing it could suggest is the core underperforming is just being used as an excuse and Ricketts just wants to put all of that money saved in his pocket instead of on the field.

The choice will solely be up to Ricketts how soon he plans to win again. I can’t imagine losing being good for business. Assuming he is looking to spend this offseason, as Hoyer has stated “big money spending will be back”, that leads us up to the second obstacle. When you have teams that are contending year-in and year-out, Los Angeles, the Yankees, even the Padres recently, it’s hard to lure big name free agents that will match a non-contenders offer. Hypothetically, if you’re Freddie Freeman and the Cubs offer you a big number but then the Dodgers swoop in and match it, are you going to Chicago or to LA who’s made it known they are all about winning?

This will be Hoyer’s greatest challenge to-date. If Ricketts is willing to spend, it is not going to be easy to haul in a big fish without seriously convincing players on just how it is you expect to become a winner again and fast. If he is able to work a little magic, landing a top name in free agency will get other players to notice. It shows Chicago is serious and this whole thing will really be looked at as a re-tool. If the front office can pull that off, it will lead us to our phase two of this master plan.

Chicago Cubs: 3 Ways the Team Can Contend in 2022 – #2: Trade Deadline

Should the Cubs be able to land a primetime free agent or at least a few good players that make a difference, it can help them get back to their winning ways and not be looking for division front runners through binoculars.

In free agency, players control their own destiny by ultimately deciding where they want to play. At the trade deadline, not so much. After signing the right players in the offseason which will contribute to more wins, Hoyer will be in position to buy the right player at the deadline and help fortify the team even further moving forward. This is why landing a big free agent first is imperative to this two-part plan.

Again, this free agent class is loaded, not everybody is going to need every piece available as there are multiple from the same position such as shortstop where you alone have Javier Baez, Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa and Marcus Semien.

If successful in landing at least a couple above average names, the Cubs should be right back in the thick of things as far as the NL Central is concerned. That’s where they will be back in a position to buy at the trade deadline and be equipped to make a serious push as soon as next year. It will only be possible though first through a successful offseason this winter. However, there is still one final piece to the puzzle if this should all come to fruition.