A lot can be said on what I think the Cubs should do, or who I think they should target, but in the end, it all comes down to what Hoyer and the Cubs' front office does and who they target. I mean, theoretically, I would love for the Cubs to get Correa, Castellanos and maybe Kyle Seager. But I can't make the Cubs get them, and there's a lot more to "getting" a player than we see.
What was the Cubs' front office's plans going into the offseason? A lot has been said about Hoyer's statement from right before the offseason, and I'll put it here: "There’s a reason that the best organizations are generally built from within, and they’ll use free agency to sort of finish off the club,” Hoyer said. “Building a club through free agency is really challenging. So, when we talk about intelligent spending, that’s ultimately how I see it: You want to bring talent to the organization; there’s only so many pipelines you can do it; you have to be really careful.”
You have to remember that MLB front office officials like Hoyer have a tendency to talk in code or be vague on certain issues. In a way, that is good strategy so other clubs do not know your plans or who you are going to be targeting, perhaps even a misleading statement or two would even be beneficial for that team. But for fans and people who are trying to figure out what their team is talking about, it can be a little frustrating. I broke down the gist of his statement here:
- Hoyer is preparing for the future. Simple enough, most clubs do that. The route that he is taking is given away a little bit here:
- He wants to make the Cubs good from the inside out. He wants to start with building up internally "best organizations are generally built from within", and to build up internally he wants to "bring talent to the organization".
- Notice he said talent, not necessarily top players. He wants to target players (minor league or major league) that have some sort of unique talent that he thinks the Cubs can develop and turn into something amazing.
- But he also said "you have to be very careful." There is a lot of ways to bring in that undeveloped talent. Minor league free agent signings, international free agents, players on waivers, etc. A good example of that is Schwindel, who certainly had talent but didn't have the chance to fully develop it. But again, you do have to be careful because you're always taking a risk with a move like that.
So, in other words, Hoyer's idea going into the offseason was to build up talent internally and use free agency to finish off the club. And, to some extent, that did happen. He has gotten such players like Hermosillo, Locke St John, Connor Menez, and other International Free Agents that adhere to "building talent internally."
But the Cubs weren't entirely consistent to those plans, as Hoyer himself admitted.
You can’t just make plans and not alter them if things change. To be candid, I don’t think anyone had a real sense of how the market would play out when we started the offseason. Obviously, with the potential lockout, the Dec. 1 date, you never know how people would react.
“We didn’t know if no one would make any signings or if it would be a flurry, and it ended up being a flurry. And I think that flurry in particular was very focused on pitching,” he added. “I feel very good that we added two starting pitchers prior to Dec. 1. This is something new. We’ve never been through this. And obviously that certainly changed our strategy over the last few days.” (Emphasis mine).
Ok. Nobody knew what kind of moves the deadline before the lockout would bring. They didn't know if there would be a lot of quiet and not many moves, or if it would be a "flurry." And yes, it quite certainly ended up being a flurry.
It was quite apparent as well that the pitching market was going fast, something that the Cubs really did need. Starting with Rodriquez, Syndergaard, Scherzer, Ray, Kluber, Matz, Gray and others quickly followed. The Cubs had added Miley by that time, but another change was still needed. And yes, Stroman was still available, being the last top free agent starting pitcher still left.
There was mutual interest between them, and his success and the price they got him for made it an all-around good get. But apparently, Hoyer was not intending to spend big on the market at all before the lockout, and that meant not Stroman. So, he realized it was time for a change of strategy, which was certainly necessary to keep up with the market.
So, that's what happened before the lockout, and it ended with the Cubs getting a quality catcher, top tier starting pitcher, and two outfielders.
What about their strategy for after the lockout is over with? Is it going to be back to the whole "spending intelligently" on building up internally? Or has their whole strategy changed now with the addition of Stroman?
"I would not rule out continuing to look for innings, but that said, I think we’ll turn our attention elsewhere on the roster more.” Hoyer told the Athletic.
A short statement, but one that carries considerable weight. The Cubs are done adding to the rotation, unless someone like Rodon just falls into their lap for an amazing deal, which I doubt would happen, but you get the gist of what I'm saying. The Cubs have accomplished what they wanted to with the rotation and are likely done with it for the offseason.
Another thing of notice is that he said, "we'll turn our attention elsewhere on the roster more." Phew. I'm really glad Hoyer realizes that they need a better defense for their contact-based rotation. And yes, I completely agree there are other areas on the roster for improvement, but most specifically, infield defense.
So, their plans for post-lockout? Focus on building up infield (because that's the neediest part of the roster right now). Of course, I think the "building up internally" thing still applies, and with the Cubs' farm system still having holes, expect them to add some players to that as well.
From what I see right now, that is their plans, but like we've seen before, plans can sure change in a hurry!
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