Cubs Offseason – Getting down to 40

Arguably the most critical offseason Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins have faced since taking over the leadership of the Cubs starts today.

While it is easy for armchair fans to post on social media about signing this guy or that guy, or trading spare parts for a superstar, managing an MLB roster is not so simple. Tough decisions need to be made about who to keep, who to cut, who to sign and who to consider when making a trade. Roster limits and a Rule 5 draft which provides other clubs to pilfer some of the Cubs’ minor league talent will be coming soon.

But first things first…now that the Dodgers have taking the Series, it time for a few events

• All players on the 60-day IL need to be put on the active roster or waived
• Players must decide whether or not to exercise their options
• Teams must decide whether or not to exercise their options
• Arbitration decisions must be made – especially whether to non-tender any players

Teams also need to keep in mind that any arbitration-eligible players offered contracts will take up a 40-man roster spot, which will become more important if needing to add minor leaguers to the 40-man to prevent them from being taking in the Rule 5 draft.

For the Cubs, there is only one club option (actually mutual) they must decide on, and it’s a pretty easy choice. Drew Smyly has been a good contributor over the past few years, and did a pretty good job as their lefty out of the pen last season. But his option is for $10 million next season, and there is no chance they pay him that much.

For player options, obviously the Cody Bellinger $27.5 million option will help dictate much of what the Cubs will be able to do with free agents this offseason. Early reports hint that he will decline the option, but we will know in the next few days.

The Cubs need to waive a few folks to get down to 40 players on the roster as everyone on the 60-day IL needs to be activated. Here are players on the active roster that might be expendable, and sent through waivers:

• Caleb Knight
• Gavin Hollowell
• Brennen Davis (I hate to have him here)
• Enoli Parades

According to MLB.com here are the arbitration eligible players:

• Christian Bethancourt
• Nick Madrigal
• Isaac Paredes
• Patrick Wisdom
• Mike Tauchman
• Yency Almonte
• Adbert Alzolay
• Colten Brewer
• Jimmy Herget
• Julian Merryweather
• Nate Pearson
• Keegan Thompson
• Trey Wingenter
• Justin Steele

So, the Cubs need to clear 6 spots to get players off the IL and on to the 40-man roster.

Paredes, Peason and Steele are no-brainers. Despite injuries, I think they hold on to Alzolay, Almonte and Merryweather. And Tauchman has been a valuable player, worth what he will get in arbitration. Then you get some question marks.

I think Wisdom, Madrigal and Thompson are on the fence. One problem the Cubs face is having several players near the majors that will be eligible for Rule 5. That makes the roster very tight, possibly too tight to hold on to any of these players. They’ve all shown value in their tenure with the Cubs, but it has been limited. They are all fringe players for a major league roster.

I could imagine them non-tendering all the other players. The Cubs need an upgrade at catcher, and while Bethencourt has a couple of good games, I don’t see him holding on to a roster spot. Brewer showed some flashed before punching his way onto the IL. Wingenter and Herget were a couple fill-in arms and should be expendable. So these guys, along with the players mentioned previously will probably be on the chopping block.