3 bold predictions for the rest of the Chicago Cubs offseason

We're nearing the finish line on what's undoubtedly been an impactful offseason for the Chicago Cubs so far. They bolstered the rotation with Jameson Taillon, remedied the first base/DH situation with Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini, added a high-upside defensive upgrade in center fielder Cody Bellinger, and, most importantly, came away with one of the big four shortstops in Dansby Swanson.

There's still nearly a month until pitchers and catchers report though and still problems to solve on the roster. With the team still having around $12 million before hitting the luxury tax threshold, Jed Hoyer seems focused on adding another veteran lefty reliever like Andrew Chafin or Matt Moore to supplement the bullpen. There's also the issue of figuring out who's next to go when the deal for Mancini becomes official and another arm is added. That's without getting into the possibilities of extensions for Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ.

So many possibilities remain for the Cubs to make the most out of this offseason. Today though, I'm not interested in the most likely outcomes. Let's make three bold predictions about what will befall the Northsiders in the remainder of the offseason.

#1: Cubs ink extensions for both Hoerner and Happ

This is my least bold prediction, but it's one that would be a departure from what we've seen over the past 40 years. The Cubs have a poor track record of locking up their young, homegrown talent, whether because they wait too long and they become too expensive or because they simply didn't bother. To their credit, they got oh-so-close with Javier Baez before the pandemic, but that too withered away to nothing.

This is the offseason where I think they shed the narrative that they can't extend their players. Considering Hoerner recently waxed poetic about being a Cub and how willing he is to be a team player and leader during Cubs Convention, it would be a massively positive swing for the Cubs to give him, say, seven years and ensure he and Dansby get to lead this team for the foreseeable future. It'd be a major win for fans too as they finally get the security of knowing a fan favorite is safe. I think that gets done for sure.

Happ will be the trickier of the two considering he's coming off easily the best year of his career after making tangible improvements to his game and is a free agent at the end of the season. I think Hoyer and company will ultimately recognize his efforts with a sizeable deal of his own though. Perhaps they look at the recent injuries to Alexander Canario and Brennen Davis and come to the conclusion that it's best to bet on the guy who has given them recent success and has, for the most part, proven to be a durable member of the team. His leadership in the clubhouse is the cherry on top, making him the perfect candidate to receive a new deal.

#3: Nick Madrigal stays, Nelson Velázquez goes

After the signing of Swanson, room on the roster looks scarce for last year's second baseman Nick Madrigal. Acquired in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to the South Side, he looked to be a solid addition adding some much-needed contact to this Cubs roster. Things didn't play out that way due to injuries, but I don't think the Cubs say goodbye to him yet. He still has minor-league options and trading him now would be selling him at his lowest. It's also not impossible to pencil him in for the occasional DH or second base start to rest other players.

What might be the bolder part of this prediction is that I could see Nelson Velázquez departing the organization. He had an underrated debut with the Cubs with results that look worse than what his Statcast page says. Thanks to above-average barrel rates and hard-hit percentage, his xwOBA in 2022 was .305, an improvement on his actual .291 wOBA and much closer to the league average of .315. While underlying stats could point to him as a competent fourth or fifth outfielder type, that value could bring other teams calling.

Early in the offseason, Velázquez seemed like a possible young major league trade piece for the Cubs to include in a package. Even as the offseason is winding down, I don't find it impossible that another team will offer enough value to get Chicago to bite. He'd be an interesting fit for Miami as part of a package if that aforementioned starter trade came to fruition. Moreover, it's trickier to find a spot for him when the Cubs have Davis and Canario in the wings, not to mention more unheralded names like Ben DeLuzio, Darius Hill, and Yonathan Perlaza. Add in the fact that Chicago still needs to make room on the roster and you could envision a deal coming together to send Velázquez elsewhere.