MESA, Ariz. — A perfect sunny day welcomed the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday as pitchers and catchers reported to camp, but the big-picture questions surrounding the organization might not be answered for weeks.
With so many free agents who could help a postseason-contending team still available, it is reasonable to wonder how different the Cubs’ roster could look when camp breaks late next month. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer took a more macro outlook Wednesday on whether the front office has given manager Craig Counsell a playoff-caliber roster.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to feel complete,” Hoyer said. “In my 20-plus years I’ve never gotten to a place where I felt like I just turn it over to the manager and go play golf. That’s not how this thing works. We’re always going to be looking for upgrades both now and all season long and that’s our job.
“We added some good players this offseason. That natural maturity and growth of our young players will add a lot as well. The hope is that we look back a year from now and five, six of those guys have established themselves as Cubs. I’m excited about where things are.”
Here are four takeaways from camp Wednesday.
1. Jed Hoyer is confident the Cubs can take the next step.
A
of highlights from this morning’s presser with Hoyer, Hawkins and Counsell: pic.twitter.com/fOplZ6CY4h
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) February 14, 2024
The best way for the Cubs to forget the sting of falling heartbreakingly short of the postseason last year is a strong start to 2024 en route to their first full-season playoff spot since 2018.
Hoyer is encouraged by a deep roster that he believes has a chance to continue to get better.
“It gives me a lot of hope that we can accomplish this year what we couldn’t last year,” Hoyer said.
After describing the Cubs as being in the fourth or fifth inning of their roster building one month ago at the Cubs Convention, Hoyer characterized it Wednesday as “the closer’s definitely warming up at this point.” He acknowledged how many good free agents are available in a slow-moving market, noting the Cubs may add one or more players to the roster.
“But at this point, as we sit down and think about it, it is Feb. 14, it is the first day of spring training, and we’re trying to focus on the guys who are here,” Hoyer said.
2. The Cubs are going to be counting on younger players.
Manager Craig Counsell will be tasked with integrating prospects and young talent into a roster that features a core group of players, which creates limited playing time at certain positions.
Without naming anyone specifically, Counsell called the young players a strength of the organization and the best part of this camp.
“They’re looking to make the next step and our job is to help them take the next step,” Counsell said. “It’s usually a messy process a little bit, but it’s really fun. And in the end, you look back on players that I think as coaches and as managers that you got to have from Day 1 and you’re so proud of those guys, because you take that major-league journey with them for a long time and that’s really rewarding and really exciting.”
Infielder Michael Busch, working at first base at the start of camp, and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are two players who could play a big role in how the Cubs’ season plays out. Matt Shaw, who spent the offseason predominately getting reps at third base, and outfielder Owen Caissie are part of big-league camp, too, as non-roster invitees.
“I’m excited about where we are as an organization,” Hoyer said. “We have a lot of good young veteran players on the team and we have a ton of young talent. I’m probably more excited for this spring than most springs because we have so much young talent in camp and that’s what’s really fun in this job is watching those guys play, watching those guys develop.
“Young players, young talent, that’s where the game is right now. That’s the currency of baseball.”
3. More players need to establish themselves as reliable big leaguers.
Justin Steele and Nico Hoerner most notably took big steps forward in 2023 and provide more certainty about what the Cubs can expect from their production coming into 2024. The club will need less-proven big leaguers to follow the same path this year.
Beyond relievers Adbert Alzolay, Mark Leiter Jr. and Julian Merryweather looking to replicate last season’s success and career-high workload, Christopher Morel is one of the Cubs’ biggest wild cards. The 24-year-old is a star in the making if he can develop a little more consistency. Counsell and the Cubs seem content to continue to move him around the field defensively and utilize him as their designated hitter for maximum lineup flexibility. As Morel enters his third season in the majors, he’s shown tantalizing potential and could be a difference-maker in 2024.
“The way teams overachieve and the way teams have special seasons is by having guys do things they weren’t projected to do,” Hoyer said. “We have a number of guys in this camp that have the chance to exceed expectations and make that step. I think that’s how you end up stacking those players on top of each other and it’s how you end up having a special season.”
4. The Cody Bellinger question won’t go away.
As long as Cody Bellinger is still a free agent, fans — and his former teammates — will continue to hope the slugger and the Cubs can reunite.
Hoyer has been principled in free agency since taking over as the head of baseball operations, unwilling to overextend the organization financially either with money or contract years solely to land a marquee player. Whether a big-market team like the Cubs should engage that way in the free-agent market is a separate question, but there is no denying that Hoyer stays disciplined in how he uses the Cubs’ financial flexibility to try to build their next World Series title team.
At this point, if Bellinger re-signs with the Cubs, the terms are going to need to be closer to the organization’s palate of contract terms rather than the $200 million deal the 28-year-old was reportedly seeking at the onset of free agency. But until his next destination is known, Bellinger continues to loom over Cubs camp.
