World Baseball Classic final highlights two Chicago Cubs mistakes

Team Japan defeated Team USA in the World Baseball Classic championship game on Tuesday night and the game served as a reminder of two mistakes that the Chicago Cubs front office has made in recent off-seasons.

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner homered in Tuesday's game against Team Japan and it marked the fifth home run for Turner during this iteration of the World Baseball Classic. For Turner, the five home runs he hit during the World Baseball Classic this year was a record.

Turner was believed to be the top free-agent shortstop on the market this past off-season. Turner has the unique combination of elite speed and power that makes him a cornerstone of any lineup that he is in. The Cubs never showed a sincere interest in Turner, likely due to his price tag, and that was a mistake. The fault with the Cubs' signing of shortstop Dansby Swanson is that Swanson is not a superstar that can alter the path of an organization. Turner is and not pursuing him aggressively is a mistake that the Cubs' front office will regret.

The final run for Team USA on Tuesday came in the eighth inning when former Cubs' slugger Kyle Schwarber homered off former Cubs' ace Yu Darvish to bring USA within one run of tying the game.

What the Cubs currently lack is exactly the type of player that Schwarber is. Schwarber does come with his flaws in that he won't hit for average and a team will have to learn to live with his strikeouts but his power can change the course of a game. While it is true that the Cubs' front office did afford Schwarber every opportunity, it is also true that they flat-out lacked the foresight to see the true value he could have with the designated hitter rule being applied to the National League.