Chicago Cubs: grading every move from the 2025 offseason

The Chicago Cubs entered the offseason with high expectations, and the front office checked a lot of boxes in their quest to return to the playoffs in 2025, but fell short in other areas.

The bullpen has a completely different feel and should give the team a much better chance to convert close games into wins. The offensive moves are a bit light outside one major trade, and the starting pitching department leaves much to be desired.

Still, the Cubs should theoretically be in a better position to win the National League Central after a busy offseason. And here are how we would grade each move.

Kyle Tucker trade: A-

Trading for Kyle Tucker is probably the most aggressive move of the Jed Hoyer era. The 28-year-old right fielder is hands down one of the best players in baseball with the ability to hit for power, contact, get on base, play solid defense, and run the bases. He's virtually the whole package of what you'd want in your best player, and his talents garnered him a top 15 player in the league status from MLB Network.

Even though Tucker instantly became the Cubs' best player there are some reservations I have. The trade gutted the team's third base depth, sending Isaac Paredes and 2024 first-round draft pick Cam Smith to the Houston Astros, along with starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski. The trade puts a lot of pressure on top prospect Matt Shaw to handle the starting third base job, which is daunting since he hasn't played an MLB game yet.

The other aspect is that Tucker will likely only be here for a year. He's heading into the final year of his contract and his abilities will allow him to bargain for a mega-deal worth north of $300 million, the likes of which the Cubs have never committed to before. Unless the Cubs ownership makes a dramatic departure from their current behavior, it looks like Tucker's stay in Chicago will be temporary.

All the payroll stuff aside, Hoyer recognizes the need to win in 2025 and the bottom line is that he added one of the best players in baseball to his roster to help see that goal accomplished. Whether it works out or not, it was nice to see him pull the trigger on a gutsy move like this.

Ryan Pressly Trade: A

In another trade with the Astros, the Cubs acquired former closer Ryan Pressly in exchange for minor league starter Juan Bello. This move was fantastic. The bullpen construction was certainly one of Hoyer's failures last season and a series of unfortunate injuries exposed the team's weak bullpen depth. When closer Adbert Alzolay went down with an injury, there wasn't anyone reliable enough to cover the ninth inning as Hector Neris proved to be an incapable closer.

But Pressly figures to be in the mix for the ninth-inning job, and he has plenty of experience to back up his case. At 36 years old, the right-hander has three solid seasons of work under his belt as Houston's full-time closer, when he locked down 90 saves and helped the team win a world series in 2022. Pressly's track record makes him the favorite to become Chicago's closer in 2025, but he is coming in with the mindset of competing for the job.

In his introductory press conference last, Pressly mentioned breakout reliever Porter Hodge and how the pair will be a dynamic duo at the back of the pen. Hodge said it was encouraging to garner praise from a veteran like Pressly, and that he looks forward to learning from the two-time all-star. This gives the Cubs two legitimate closing options and significantly improves the bullpen depth.

Since the Cubs got Houston to eat $5.5 million of his 2025 salary, and they didn't even have to give up a top-30 prospect to do it, landing Pressly looks like a home run so far.