Bleacher Report piles on as Cubs offseason stalls out before Christmas

Little did Chicago Cubs fans know at that time that the Cubs' bowing out of the bidding for Dylan Cease would become the theme of their offseason. That ultimately was the same outcome for the team's pursuits of Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams, Emilio Pagan, Luke Weaver, Brad Keller, and Michael King. It's a long list of reminders of why the Cubs shouldn't be viewed as a big-market spender, and Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly provided a reminder of how quiet their offseason has been.

Kelly had the Cubs among the six teams with the most work to do for the remainder of the offseason. To an extent, the impression of the Cubs' offseason is that they are saving their available dollars for an expensive addition later this winter. Tatsuya Imai and Alex Bregman remain on the free-agent market, and if the Cubs come away with one of them, their earlier moves will have an added layer of logic to them.

While active, the Cubs' offseason has been underwhelming while waiting for the big move.

To be fair to the Cubs, all of the moves they have made can be easily explained. After the bullpen exodus due to free agency, it has been stabilized with the arrivals of Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb. Not to mention, bringing back Caleb Thielbar now gives Craig Counsell two dependable left-handed options.

Even the Cubs bringing back veteran catcher Christian Bethancourt on a minor-league deal is a move the organization had to make. Between Miguel Amaya's injury history and the Cubs having no catchers at the Triple-A level, depth was needed.

Still, it's hard to make sense that at this point of the offseason, teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox have made more large-scale moves than the Cubs.

If the Cubs' offseason feels incomplete, that's because it is. The Cubs still need an established starting pitcher for the rotation, and they would be wise to add another legitimate bat to their roster. If the Cubs want to enter the 2026 season with the sense of being a legitimate playoff contender, those two moves have to be crossed off the to-do list before spring training.

There's still time for the Cubs to have a successful offseason, even if they don't have an impact gift under their Christmas tree this winter.