3 things the Cubs are missing to be a serious World Series threat
This year's Cubs team looks dramatically different than what we've seen in recent years. Only Kyle Hendricks, who will open the season on the injured list, remains from that 2016 World Series championship team and after a nearly $300 million offseason spending spree, it's a lot of new faces in the mix as Opening Day draws nearer.
Dansby Swanson, Tucker Barnhart, Jameson Taillon, Cody Bellinger, Brad Boxberger, Michael Fulmer, Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer headline the newcomers - who will look to help the Cubs get back to the postseason for the first time (excluding the shortened 2020 season) since 2018. As exciting as change is, though, it would take a lot of things breaking the Cubs' way for this team to achieve that level of success.
Here are 3 things this club is missing to be considered a legitimate World Series contender.
3 things Cubs are missing to be a serious World Series threat - #3: A true superstar presence in the lineup
If not for the fact there were four headliners in last winter's free agent shortstop class, the Cubs may very well have come away with none. But they landed Dansby Swanson on a seven-year, $177 million deal - the second-richest contract in franchise history.
Swanson certainly elevates those around him and brings a long history of winning with him to Chicago, but there's no doubt that signing someone like World Baseball Classic hero Trea Turner would likely have moved the needle in a more drastic manner.
Don't get me wrong. Bringing in Swanson and sliding Nico Hoerner back to second, where he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2020, gives the Cubs one of the best middle infield combos in all of baseball. But this lineup still lacks the transformative presence true contenders like the Padres, Dodgers, Yankees and Astros boast and it's a clear separator between the North Siders and the clubs they're chasing.
3 things Cubs are missing to be a serious World Series threat - #2: A bonafide ace cemented atop the starting rotation
Jed Hoyer's big free agent pitching addition came in the form of right-hander Jameson Taillon, who spent the last two years with the Yankees after being plenty familiar with the Cubs while playing for the division-rival Pirates from 2016-19.
The recipient of a four-year, $68 million pact, Taillon is coming off a 1.3 bWAR 2022 season in the Bronx in which he racked up 177 1/3 frames and worked to a 3.94 FIP. A solid body of work - and one that would have seen him lead all Cubs pitchers in workload by a significant margin - but not a resume of an ace, something this team badly needs.
A rotation of Taillon, Justin Steele, Marcus Stroman, Hayden Wesneski and Drew Smyly (at least until Kyle Hendricks returns) is nothing to sneeze at - but it certainly isn't going to have opposing lineups shaking in their boots on a nightly basis, either. You can make the case that, of those six arms, it's the one with just 33 big league innings under his belt (Wesneski) who carries the highest upside.
There are plenty of top-of-the-rotation arms available next winter in free agency (Shohei Ohtani, Julio Urias, Aaron Nola) and perhaps Hoyer will dip into the war chest to land one of them. But, for now, Chicago has assembled a high quality mix of rotation arms that lacks a true shutdown presence at its head heading into 2023.
3 things Cubs are missing to be a serious World Series threat - #1: A can't-miss prospect with true superstar potential
I know, I know. There's no such thing as a 'can't-miss' prospect these days. But there are still prospects you feel awfully certain will leave a lasting mark on your big league club (Kris Bryant back in the day, for example) and, right now, the Cubs lack that in the farm system.
Chicago's prospect mix features a ton of potential - and the system, as a whole, is in a much stronger position than it was two years ago. Pete Crow-Armstrong headlines the bunch and has all the makings of a future Gold Glove center fielder, potentially even an All-Star. What the Cubs' system lacks in blue-chip talent, it makes up for in depth, to be sure, but having that next superstar making his way through the system would completely change the vibe surrounding this club.
Brennen Davis could wind up being an impact bat, but after serious back issues cost him his 2022 campaign, it's very much a wait-and-see approach with the young outfielder. Guys like Kevin Alcantara and Alexander Canario have some wildly impressive tools and, again, could be something big - but there's not a single guy in the system who you feel is going to have that MVP-level performance, at least not in the short-term.
Again, I love what Hoyer and Carter Hawkins have done with the farm system. There aren't words to describe how much healthier the organization is after these two re-tooled things from top to bottom. But, at least right now, there's not that big-time superstar on the cusp of breaking onto the scene name in its ranks.