Cubs fans already fear this offseason move is going to backfire

The Chicago Cubs' offseason was defined by a few blockbuster moves, though on the whole, it feels like the front office had a solid plan that they more or less executed on.

A few weeks into the regular season, there have been some newcomers (or old friends) who are changing the outlook of the team. Edward Cabrera looks every bit of a staff ace through two starts, and re-signed southpaw Caleb Thielbar remains a late-inning gem.

On the middling end of the spectrum, you've got the rest of the team's bullpen additions, including Hunter Harvey, Phil Maton, and Jacob Webb. None have been terribly impressive so far, but their samples are incredibly small, and we know better than to lose faith in Jed Hoyer's bargain-bin bullpens. Likewise, Alex Bregman's numbers (84 wRC+, .636 OPS), but he's got some impressive underlying data that suggests better days are ahead.

Then, you have the ultimate failure of the offseason: the fourth outfielder situation. With Seiya Suzuki down since suffering a knee injury in the World Baseball Classic, the Cubs have been forced to run an awkward three-man rotation out in right field. It's early, but it's also clear the front office missed their mark on the bench yet again.

The Cubs remain frustratingly incapable of rostering a proper fourth outfielder

These bench-related struggles were predictable, though there are a lot of slices to this blame pie. Losing Kyle Tucker via free agency stung, but that was always the expected outcome.

Instead, the Cubs opted to trade top prospect Owen Caissie to the Miami Marlins for Cabrera, putting Matt Shaw in position to transition from third base to the outfield corners. The results haven't actually been terrible so far -- he's been worth +1 DRS in nine games in right field this year -- but he remains a confounding, streaky offensive presence and has suddenly lost the ability to work a walk.

But he's a starter now, at least until Suzuki returns from his knee injury. That has pushed Michael Conforto into near-full-time action, and while his overall offensive numbers are fine (121 wRC+), he's being propped up by a huge 25% walk rate that sort of loses its luster when juxtaposed with a 31.3% strikeout. As expected, he's also been a net-negative with the glove (-1 DRS).

Then you have Dylan Carlson, who has somehow fallen out of favor since surprisingly making the Opening Day roster despite getting practically zero playing time. He'll almost certainly be ousted once Suzuki returns, but his roster spot has effectively been wasted over the past weeks.

With Kevin Alcantara soaking up endless time in Triple-A and Justin Dean still on the 40-man roster, it really feels like the Cubs had no plans when it came to approaching the reserve outfielder conundrum this offseason and spring. Hopefully, the return of Suzuki alleviates some of these troubles, but he (nor anyone else mentioned above) doesn't solve the real problem of being able to give Pete Crow-Armstrong a breather in center field from time to time.

Fans may have to wait until the trade deadline before this can be addressed properly... assuming the front office is finally ready to learn from their mistakes.