I don’t like that Correa deal at all. Still hopeful that they can sign Swanson. They need to address catcher, I bet they could something out with Toronto, and I’d like to add another SP and address 3B and 1B in some fashion.
There are some options out there. With you on Swanson, after that (or in addition to that), there are a good number of short-term options out there:
C: Omar Narvaez
1B/DH: Trey Mancini, JD Martinez, Belt
2B: Jean Segura, Jonathan Villar (KIDDING)
3B (Could maybe play 1B too): Brandon Drury, Justin Turner
OF/DH: Joey Gallo, Benintendi
There are trade options, too. Danny Jansen from Toronto is reportedly on the market. Travis d’Arnaud from Atlanta likely is as well now that the Braves have Murphy. There may well also be other deals available for quality players not being publicly shopped (Arizona lefty OFs, for instance). Pretty much all of the guys above are 1-2 year deals with maybe a couple being up to 4.
I‘m mostly worried about the offense right now. If the starters stay healthy (with or without Hendricks), I think the Cubs have a solid, but not great starting staff. The Cubs have shown the ability to build a good bullpen, so I’ll worry there when the Cubs give me reason to worry. The offense, though, has holes.
If the Cubs add Swanson, then they have elite up the middle D with him, Hoerner at 2B and Bellinger in CF. If they don’t, then the Cubs have an above average defensive SS with a growing bat (every possibility that Hoerner out-hits Swanson), but huge questions at 2B, which is where maybe a Jean Segura comes in. He’s not going to make you forget that you missed a top SS, but the guy can play. The Cubs are hoping Mervis is the guy at 1B, but there needs to be a support/backup piece, not so much in case Mervis fails, but because he will likely have his share of struggles adjusting to MLB pitching. Drury or Turner could give you short-term pop at 3B and the Gallo/Benintendi options are mostly just shots at pop, maybe mostly from DH.
If the Cubs don’t add Swanson, then for the Cubs to get to where they need to be, they need the best of the rest and/or some aggressive trades. I’ve said from the start that I would wait and evaluate when the roster is mostly complete and I’m going to stick with that philosophy, but there’s no doubt Jed’s ability to build a team that can push for the post-season get tougher by the day and gets much harder if Swanson goes off the board.
Young players may also be a big factor if the team is solid this year, but outside of natural growth from guys like Nico, Morel and maybe Velazquez who got action next year, it’s hard to count on Brennan Davis (even ignoring potential for back issues) and Matt Mervis just walking into the bigs and raking. Even if they become future all-stars, they’ll likely have their struggles this year - though STEAMER projecting a 122 wRC+ from Mervis this year definitely raises eyebrows.
I get that these deals are largely insane, but there seems to be plenty of money in the game and after a long run of huge deals for Trout, Betts, Lindor, Seager, Semien, Tatis, Harper, on and on and on, this does not seem to be new, this seems as if it will just be the going price for top stars. The Cubs need to figure out a way to play in this space and/or at bare minimum, figure out a way to develop or trade for young players and then go the Braves route and lock up big chunks of a player’s 20s/early 30s.
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