The Cubs will go into the 2020 season with what team president Theo Epstein terms as “a real good ball club,” yet it’s difficult at this point to envision them as a serious threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in the National League.
They could possibly improve on their third-place finish of this season if an ace starting pitcher is acquired and closer Craig Kimbrel can return to his All-Star form to strengthen the pitching staff all down the line.
If a true ace starter can be added to the roster next year and a comeback season can be put in the books for Kimbrel, then, perhaps, it might be wise to re-evaluate the Cubs’ chances because the club could have depth in pitching with Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish and Jose Quintana giving them a fairly good balance.
To keep the Cubs in contention for next season, all players should be available in trade talks except for the trio of Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez—but in baseball, no name is untouchable. Nico Hoerner performed well in his September callup and could be the starting second baseman next year surrounded by Bryant at third, Baez at short, and Rizzo at first—that is a solid infield on both sides of the ball.
The Cubs don’t figure to be much of a running club in the stolen base area, but improvement of making fewer outs on the bases will be a focus next spring. The team is exceptional on advancing from first to third and second to home, but surrendering the most outs in the league on the bases must be addressed in order for the Cubs to become a team to generate runs outside the long ball.
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