3 Cubs players who should be out of the picture in 2024

The long-term foundation of the Chicago Cubs is in place. Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ are all on multi-year deals on the position player side of things. The pitching infrastructure is turning out a wave of young arms, headlined by Justin Steele, Jordan Wicks, Adbert Alzolay and the like.

But there are some holes on the position player side of things - namely at the corner infield spots, one of which could at least be semi-addressed by bringing back Cody Bellinger in free agency. Regardless, here are 3 guys the Cubs need to move on from if they're serious about being NL Central favorites in 2024.

3 Cubs players who should be out of the picture in 2024 - #3: Miles Mastrobuoni

This spot came down to either Nick Madrigal or Miles Mastrobuoni and given the glovework he's shown and the bat you hope is still in there somewhere, I suspect the Cubs will stick with Madrigal moving forward.

Mastrobuoni is a jack-of-all-trades defensively, capable of playing both on the infield and outfield in a pinch. He's just 27 - but in his limited big league action, the guy just hasn't produced offensively. This year with Chicago, he's carrying a 68 OPS+ and .236/.311/.309 slash line with pretty average defense.

With the tremendous upside Christopher Morel offers, even with his free-swinging tendencies, the Cubs are better served relying on Madrigal and Morel as utility pieces (and, of course Bellinger should he return, can bounce between 1B/CF/DH) and sticking Mastrobuoni down at Iowa or letting him pursue other opportunities.