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.

Ryan Brasier trade: A

The Cubs effectively completed their bullpen transformation when they traded for Ryan Brasier at the beginning of February. Brasier has been an effective set-up man for the Dodgers since 2023, with a 1.89 ERA in 66.2 innings pitched. Along with Pressly and Hodge, Brasier gives the Cubs three legitimate arms for the high-leverage innings and takes some pressure off others like Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather, and Tyson Miller.

After the Dodgers beefed up their bullpen by signing Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, and Blake Treinen, they were virtually forced to part with someone like Brasier even though he was a vital contributor for Los Angeles. The Cubs pounced on the opportunity and leveraged a great deal. Brasier is only making $4.5 million in 2025, but the Dodgers are eating a portion of it while the Cubs are sending a player to be named later in the trade.

There's some injury concern since Brasier is 37 years old and he spent time on the IL with a calf strain last year. But the Cubs traded very little for the potential upside and Brasier provides a nice boost to the reliever depth.

Eli Morgan trade: B

Yet another low-risk, high-reward bullpen move came early on in the offseason. The Cubs struck a deal with the Cleveland Guardians to land middle reliever Eli Morgan in exchange for single-A prospect Alfonsin Rosario. The 28-year-old posted an impressive 1.93 ERA in 32 games for the Guardians last year.

Morgan is not a velocity guy, but his pitch mix induces a lot of weak contact and he typically doesn't issue many walks (6.4 career walk percentage). With the other additions to the bullpen, Morgan will be a great option for the middle innings, who can step into a high-leverage situation if needed.

Carson Kelly signing: B-

The catching position has been a bit tricky for the Cubs for a couple of seasons. The team got good production from veteran catcher Yan Gomes in 2023, who served as the primary backstop alongside Tucker Barnhart. But the wheels eventually fell off for both players, and they were each designated for assignment by the Cubs before the end of the 2024 season.

25-year-old Miguel Amaya became the main catcher halfway through 2024, while the backup position was filled by mid-season additions like Christian Bethancourt and Tomas Nido. The Cubs front office tried to upgrade the position at the 2024 trade deadline, which was producing horrendous offensive results until Amaya saw a late-season bounce back. But the team failed to obtain Logan O'Hoppe from the Los Angeles Angels, who has the potential to become one of the best catchers in the league.

After that pursuit, Hoyer seemingly came to grips with the exorbitant cost it takes to acquire a great young catcher. The Cubs opted to bring in another veteran this offseason to pair with Amaya, signing 30-year-old Carson Kelly to a two-year contract. Kelly is a pretty typical catcher in the modern MLB, with decent catching skills and mediocre production at the plate. In 2024, Kelly posted above-average blocking, caught stealing, and pitch-framing according to Baseball Savant, with a slightly below-average 99 wRC+ with the bat.

Kelly was one of the better options in a relatively thin free-agent class talent-wise. He has a lot of experience and it was always a dream for the Chicago native to play for the Cubs, the team he grew up rooting for. It was a decent acquisition, but Amaya will have to pick up the slack in the hitting department. He needs to produce like he did in the second half of the 2024 season (113 wRC+) because the Cubs can't expect to get much from Kelly at the plate.

LHP Caleb Thielbar signing: B-

This was a move that flew under the radar, but the Cubs finally addressed their need for a left-handed reliever which they have frustratingly gone without for a long time. Thielbar is seemingly that guy after the Cubs inked him to a $1 million major league contract.

Now that Mark Leiter Jr. is gone, the Cubs need someone like Thielbar to help clean up left-handed hitters. Aside from a lackluster 2024 campaign (5.32 ERA), the 38-year-old has enjoyed a fairly consistent stretch of seasons late in his career. From 2021-23, the southpaw posted a solid 3.33 cumulative ERA over 154 innings pitched, with 44 holds, and 193 strikeouts.

If he can be something close to that version of himself and stay healthy, which are admittedly big "ifs" for a 38-year-old, he will be a very valuable asset to the bullpen.

Jon Berti signing: B

In an effort to shake up the bottom of the roster, the Cubs parted ways with bench players Patrick Wisdom, Mike Tauchman, and Nick Madrigal. One of the replacements will be 35-year-old Jon Berti, signing a two-year, $2 million contract with the Cubs.

Berti is a utility man who is expected to give the Cubs valuable versatility. He has elite speed and the ability to play virtually any position on the diamond aside from catcher. Although he doesn't have as much pop in the bat as Wisdom or Tauchman, Berti has more defensive adaptability and pinch-running potential despite his age. In 2022, Berti led the Majors in stolen bases with 41.

Most of Berti's experience over the last couple of years has come at third, shortstop, and second base, but he has reportedly been taking reps at first base and could play the outfield in a pinch.

Vidal Bruján trade: D

The other main bench acquisition was Vidal Bruján, who came from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Matt Mervis. In hindsight, maybe parting with Mervis wasn't a smart play, as the team is now in need of a backup first baseman. For what it's worth, Mervis also had experience playing third base in college and could have provided more insurance for rookie Matt Shaw.

Bruján, on the other hand, is a very similar player to Berti, with impressive defensive versatility and good speed. In 2024, Bruján started games at first base (1), second base (31), shortstop (28), third base (14), and all three outfield spots (23). Unlike Berti, Brujan has not been able to find much success with the bat in the Majors, with a career .189 batting average in 497 at-bats.

To be fair, Mervis never did either but his sample size was smaller, with a .155 batting average in 116 Major League at-bats. Either way, Mervis seems like the better fit for the roster right now as his power potential is much higher than Bruján's. I guess the Cubs wanted more position flexibility which Bruján certainly brings to the table. Hopefully he finds a way to produce better offensive results than he has in the past.

Bellinger Trade: D+

Cody Bellinger has been the Cubs' primary center fielder since 2023, and it was and the team found themselves in an awkward spot after Bellinger opted back into his $25 million salary. Things looked even more crowded after Hoyer traded for Tucker, and Bellinger proved to be the odd man out.

The Cubs sent him to the New York Yankees on December 18, which was effectively a move to get Bellinger's contract off the 2025 payroll. The Cubs ate $5 million in the deal and received a marginal return of depth starting pitcher Cody Poteet. It's the kind of move that makes it frustrating to be a Cubs fan because it proved the team is completely willing to part with one of its best players to stay comfortably below the competitive balance tax threshold (CBT).

It didn't have to be that way given the Cubs had the third-highest revenue in 2023, but here we are. What makes matters worse is that the team was supposed to reallocate the money from Bellinger's deal but that hasn't happened yet. The 2025 payroll is still about $40 million below the $241 million CBT, and it looks like the team is finished making major additions to the roster. Maybe if the Cubs had been able to sign third baseman Alex Bregman, the Bellinger move would feel different. But right now it just makes ownership look stingy and unwilling to make financial sacrifices to win.

Matthew Boyd signing: D

Unfortunately, signing Matthew Boyd has been the most consequential starting pitching acquisition by the Cubs this offseason. At the time of this writing, we're about two and a half months out from the news of this deal dropping, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

Hoyer is banking on a 34-year-old pitcher, who has not been able to stay healthy for more than half a season's worth of games since 2019. These were serious elbow issues that resulted in two surgeries. I don't understand how this warrants a two-year contract worth $29 million, especially when Boyd's only meaningful success came in just 11 starts with the Cleveland Guardians last year.

Boyd was great in that span, with a 2.28 ERA over 11 starts. But this is a very small sample size (51.1 Innings) to put as much stock into as the Cubs are. Boyd is in line to take the team's fourth starting rotation spot and it's hard to imagine him giving the team more than 100 innings in 2025. I might feel differently if another reliable starter was added to the rotation this offseason, but that didn't happen. Prior to the regular season, this contract looks pretty bad.

Colin Rea signing: D+

The other starting pitching acquisition was signing Colin Rea to a one-year deal ($5 million). Rea has spent the last two seasons shifting in and out of the Milwaukee Brewers rotation, with a 4.40 ERA in 292.1 innings pitched.

At his best, Rea can be an inning-eating fourth or fifth-starting pitcher, which is fine. But similar to Boyd, this is not the kind of starting pitcher the Cubs need right now. Along with Poteet, Javier Assad, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks, Rea joins a long list of depth starters who can pitch long relief out of the bullpen. He doesn't fit the bill of a number 1 or 2 starter that the team could use to complete a deep pitching group.

This contract just misses the mark and reflects the frustrating nature of this iteration of the Chicago Cubs. They will acquire a good player if they can work around their self-imposed obstacles, but they are unwilling to break the bank for a top-shelf starting pitcher like Corbin Burnes or Max Fried.