5 Christmas Presents for the 2025 Chicago Cubs roster

Let's hand out some presents for Chicago Cubs players and Craig Counsell on Christmas!

As the offseason marches on, here are five impactful gifts for the 2025 team (along with some unnecessary alliterations).

Some slugging for Dansby Swanson

Can we get a return to the 2021-2022 version of Dansby Swanson who piled up 94 extra base hits? Or merely a continuation of his 2024 second half?

There's no sugar-coating the fact that his 86-game stretch before the All-Star game was astoundingly bad, but Swanson posted a 124 wRC+ in the 62 games following the break. Most of his value since joining the Cubs has derived from defense, which is great, but having him consistently produce from the fifth or sixth hole extends the Cubs lineup an incredible amount.

Similar to other Cubs players, there are many signs of positive regression from statistical oddities, like Dansby's hitting just .201 against right-handers away from Wrigley Field (over 40 points lower than his career average against righties on the road).

Seiya Suzuki and Swanson will again be heavily burdened with balancing out a lefty-heavy lineup in 2025, so Dansby's present can be more of whatever secret sauce drove the changes he made at the plate in August and September.