Focus for Chicago Cubs shifts to adding offense with two additions not ruled out

Now that the Chicago Cubs have found their starting pitcher in Shota Imanaga to provide stability to the middle of their starting rotation, it would seem that the team will shift their focus to addressing the holes within their starting lineup.

As the Cubs' roster is currently constructed, they certainly have a need at first base and third base, the signing of Imanaga likely lessens the chances that Christopher Morel will be traded for a starting pitcher this off-season. Morel on the roster would likely mean he is serving as the team's designated hitter given the limitations that he has defensively.

As for first base, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Subscription required) pointed out the Cubs remain interested in free-agent first baseman Rhys Hoskins with the hope that it can be a similar pillow contract to the one the team had with Cody Bellinger last season.

While the Cubs remain engaged with Scott Boras on contract talks for bringing Bellinger back, Jon Heyman joined 670 The Score on Wednesday and expressed skepticism over the idea of the two sides being able to reach a compromise after negotiations being stalled for most of the off-season.

Heyman gave mention to Bellinger, Hoskins, and free-agent third baseman Matt Chapman when talking about where the Cubs are looking in order to improve their offense with the MLB insider thinking it's possible the team signs two of the three.

"“But certainly they’re in on all three, I wouldn’t be shocked if they got two of them, I would be shocked if they didn’t get at least one of them.”"

Jon Heyman, 670 The Score

The San Francisco Giants figure to play a factor in this scenario as well. The Giants have been linked to both Bellinger and Chapman and given their past misses on superstar free agents, may be more inclined than the Cubs to overpay.

Ideally, the Cubs may prefer a pairing of Bellinger and Hoskins. Such a combination would ease the transition to the Major League level for top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong while Bellinger mans center field to open the season with Hoskins at first base.

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