Chicago Cubs: 5 positive takeaways from the 2022 season

Although the 2022 Cubs season is all but done with two games to play, it is evident that there are more solid pieces on this roster than we once believed. Before the season started, Chicago brought in Marcus Stroman in a surprising move, solidifying the rotation in a major way, while avoiding the price tag that comes with a bona fide ace.

This year was never intended to be a winning effort for this team. Signing Stroman and adding Seiya Suzuki on a five-year deal was nice, but 2022 was all about figuring out what these guys had to offer for the future. As a fan, it’s a tedious process to watch your favorite team rebuild and lose in the meantime, but understanding the vision and appreciating the process along the way is so much more rewarding once you finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sure, the Cubs could have went out last year and spent hundreds of millions of dollars in free agency and perhaps made a postseason run this year. Then they would have had to trade what they had in the farm at the deadline, be good for a couple years and then be in the same predicament they were when Jed Hoyer dismantled an underperforming core in their respective walk years last summer. Now that doesn’t mean ownership deserves a pass on spending – but the timing is everything here.

Thankfully, the farm system has dramatically improved under Hoyer’s purview, with a handful of young players making a major impact at the big league level, including Justin Steele, Hayden Wesneski and Christopher Morel. Given how long the Cubs have been out of the postseason picture, the season is certainly not a success. That being said, there are some positives we can take away from the 2022 team as we gear up for the offseason.

Let’s take a look at 5 such takeaways.