Picking a perfect Christmas gift for these 3 Cubs players

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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone out there. I wish Jed Hoyer had Cody Bellinger gift-wrapped for Cubs fans under the tree this year, but we may have to wait a bit longer before a reunion comes together (fingers crossed).

This Christmas is special in our household because our daughter, who was born a couple weeks prior to the holidays in 2022 and just turned 1, is definitely bringing back the magic and excitement to the season. Here's to wishing everyone some time filled with friends, family and good memories.

Another exciting aspect of this time of year is the fact it means we have less than 2 months until pitchers and catchers report (and just weeks until Cubs Convention). So I took a stab at what three of the team's biggest names might be wishing for heading into 2024 - let's get started.

Christmas gifts for Cubs players - #3: A starting job and a Silver Slugger for Christopher Morel

Based on Craig Counsell's comments earlier in the offseason about Christopher Morel and the fact I think a team like the San Francisco Giants ponies up the dollars Matt Chapman and Scott Boras are looking for, I think the Cubs head into 2024 with Morel as their everyday third baseman.

If he can start to improve defensively and just maintain what he's done with the bat to this point, he could be a long-term answer at the hot corner - something the team has lacked, really, since Aramis Ramirez. Even Kris Bryant's time at third only lasted a few years before he started seeing more time in the outfield.

With regular playing time and a set position, Morel could take things to new heights next season - and I think he could even challenge Braves' third baseman Austin Riley for the NL Silver Slugger at third. In just 107 games last year, Morel hit 26 home runs and drove in 70 - all while playing six positions. Letting him settle in at third and penciling him into the lineup on a daily basis could help him establish himself as one of the league's most talented players.

Christmas gifts for Cubs players - #2: A Cy Young-caliber campaign from Justin Steele after a breakout 2023

A late-season fade pushed Justin Steele out of the Cy Young race in the NL - with the honors eventually falling to now-free agent left-hander Blake Snell - but he showed that he has what it takes to be an ace for this team as they enter a new contention window.

Steele made 30 starts, racking up a career-high 173 1/3 innings en route to a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting, earning the first All-Star selection of his career. The hope is that Jed Hoyer slots another power arm in alongside him in the rotation heading into 2024, but that's something that's very much out of Steele's hands.

All he can do is put his head down and grind every fifth day - just like he did in 2023. If he continues to build on what he's done to this point, there's no reason to think he can't finish the job next year and give himself what he really wanted to see under the tree this winter: a Cy Young Award.

Christmas gifts for Cubs players - #1: A Gold Glove in his rookie season for Pete Crow-Armstrong

Even if the Cubs re-sign Bellinger, there's a path for Pete Crow-Armstrong to seize the starting center field job come Opening Day. Bellinger can slot in at first base and the rookie can handle things up the middle in center.

In - and I cannot stress this enough - a very small sample size late this summer, Crow-Armstrong looked overmatched at the plate. But the bat has improved annually since he joined the organization and there's no reason to think he can't make adjustments that will allow him to stick at the big league level moving forward.

A lot is probably riding on how he looks at the plate come spring - but if he makes the Opening Day roster and holds down the job all season long, it's not hard to envision PCA giving himself a gift only 17 rookies in MLB history have ever received: a Gold Glove Award.

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