The Cubs have to finish the job and address the bullpen and bench before Opening Day

The Chicago Cubs are yet to write the closing chapters of this offseason, but the story so far is very confusing. The front office made an aggressive move for one year of a superstar, seemingly indicating that more significant spending was coming to make a push for a pennant and energizing a beaten-down fanbase. The subsequent moves have been underwhelming at best and the roster as of mid-January doesn't feel like one of a serious competitor in a tough National League. There's also somehow a strange roster crunch with subpar players that limits some of the Cub's options to add on the fringes.

There are three massive holes on the roster: the back end of the rotation, the back of the bullpen and the entirety of the bench. The rotation seems feels extremely shaky. A combination of Matthew Boyd plus Javier Assad or Colin Rea to fill the last two rotation spots doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, and it will be a disappointing result when there was so much quality starting pitching depth in free agency. The bullpen also seems at least one big piece light- there are a lot of intriguing options for Craig Counsell to choose from but one more experienced arm to close games or set up Porter Hodge would make fans feel far more comfortable.

The bench is in an even worse situation. It's almost unfathomable that Jed and Carter Hawkins won't add pieces but, again, it's starting to feel like they might value guys like Vidal Brujan and Gage Workman lightyears beyond the rest of the league and might talk themselves into sitting pat with Brujan, Workman, Carson Kelly and Alexander Canario. The lack of experience and depth is even more startling considering the team will be without their starting second baseman to start the year and will be handing the third-base starting role to a rookie. Typically these scenarios would call for an over-investment in the bench, not a bargain-hunter mentality.

There's a ton of risk with Matt Shaw at third without a veteran safety valve behind him- he's a highly ranked prospect with great peripherals but still a rookie. Workman has never taken an at-bat above Double-A and was barely in the Tigers' top 30 prospects, but it seems that the Cubs front office has somehow convinced itself he's ready to be a Major Leaguer. Workman has to make the active roster out of camp since the Cubs selected him in the Rule 5 draft (or the Tigers can take him back into their system). He's ostensibly the backup at third, maybe at short and maybe at first too, even though he's never played there.

One might assume that the Cubs will add a right-handed veteran that's capable of playing first and third after pseudo-platooning lefty-hitting Michael Busch last year. However, the team is somehow in a roster space crunch because of the Workman scenario above and the fact that Brujan is out of minor-league options. If the front office consciously decided to bring him in this offseason, I assume they are bullish on him to be part of their bench. Reminder: this is a guy that had a 70 OPS+ last year and the hapless Miami Marlins gave up on him. Combined with the fact the club needs to carry a backup catcher and an outfielder, the bench is suddenly full if you assume that both Assad and Rea are locks to make the team. Hypothetically, Brujan could be penciled in as a super utility guy to spell the outfielders along with Seiya Suzuki and the Cubs could add another infielder to the mix.

Even if that is the case and a spot is still open, the front office has forced itself into a decision of adding either a right-handed corner infielder or another player capable of playing significant at-bats at second base assuming Nico Hoerner starts the season on the shelf. Adding a Jorge Polanco or Yoan Moncada would be great to give the squad a Major League caliber player to cover for Hoerner, but then the team still doesn't have a backup first baseman. You could instead pivot to adding Justin Turner, a veteran righty capable of playing sub-average defense at the infield corners. To avoid giving Vidal Brujan and his .622 OPS a long spree of at-bats to start the season, you could hypothetically have Shaw start the season at second and give Turner most of the at-bats at the hot corner. However, it seems unlikely that Counsell will want to move Shaw around the diamond as he's getting acclimated to the bigs.

If I was making the personnel decisions, I'd feel pressured to add two more bench pieces in the infield. Polanco and Turner combined would allow you to run Polanco at second in the meantime, and Counsell could break camp with Polanco, Turner, Brujan, Workman and Kelly on the bench with Hoerner on the IL. That gives the Cubs some opportunity to evaluate Workman and Brujan in limited at-bats and gives them a ton of flexibility if Hoerner is out longer than expected or Shaw or Busch struggles. With Suzuki on the roster, and Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ capable of playing center field, this would probably work. It also gives you some significant upside from two former All-Stars, while your upside with Brujan and Workman is limited.

While it SHOULD be reasonable for a major market team to add two more bench players, a relief ace and a mid-tier starter when said team still has some money to play with, the Cubs aren't giving indications that they are going to go on a shopping spree. Fans should start mentally prepping themselves for suffering through Javier Assad starts and Vidal Brujan at-bats.