Owen Ayers promotion could be early clue for Cubs offseason need hiding in plain sight

Owen Ayers has been experiencing a breakout season with Double-A Knoxville, and that has led to the Chicago Cubs promoting Ayers to Triple-A Iowa. In theory. Ayers is now an injury away from making his debut this season, but his promotion could be an early clue for how the Cubs plan to address an offseason need.

The Cubs will have a need at catcher. Carson Kelly will be a free agent, and while it's plausible the Cubs prioritize bringing Kelly back next season, circumstance may not be on their side. The Cubs will have a number of vacancies to address across their pitching staff, and the presumption is they will need to add at least one corner outfielder.

Kelly is in a position where he's going to be the best free-agent catcher available during the offseason, and that could also complicate matters for his return to Chicago.

It's also become clear that while Miguel Amaya is a serviceable backup catcher, he likely isn't considered to be primary option to replace Kelly. Ditto for Moises Ballesteros, who was taken steps forward in his development as a catcher, but not to extent he can be the full-time backstop next year.

Owen Ayers could be positioned for a 2027 Opening Day arrival for the Cubs

Given that reality, assuming Ayers doesn't slow down at Triple-A Iowa to close the season, it would seem likely he will be a part of the Opening Day conversation in 2027. Across 330 plate appearances between High-A and Double-A this season, Ayers boasts an OPS of 1.061 with 22 home runs. Drafted towards the end of the 2024 MLB Draft, it's been a breakout that the Cubs may not have been expecting.

That said, since Willson Contreras, the Cubs haven't exactly a clear long-term answer at catcher. Amaya was closest they came, but again, it's clear that he's best suited as the secondary option.

That opens the door for the Ayers. The path, however, to Ayers being on the 2027 Opening Day roster does have one complication. Ayers is not currently on the 40-man roster, and if he is added by December, he will be among the players locked out if there is a work stoppage. In other words, Ayers can't have any direct work with the Cubs during the work stoppage. The workaround is the Cubs keeping Ayers off the 40-man roster, which would be fine, but just lead to further roster maneuvering after the work stoppage is over.

It's a small detail but something that must be considered when mapping out the arrival of ascending prospects like Ayers.

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