(Jed Hoyer Creative Commons: Arturo Pardavila III from Hoboken, NJ, USA)
In all honesty, the Cubs‘ playoff chances have been next to nil for some time. Barring a near miraculous turn of events, the Cubs will miss the playoffs for yet another year. The reasons for that have been pointed out a myriad of times before. Low expectations and a lack of urgency lead the way.
The Cubs were never designed to blow the division away. They were built to sneak into the playoffs and hopefully get hot when they got there. Thus, the lack of moves to shore up the bullpen and third base in the offseason.
The Cubs lost their season during May and June when they went 21-34. Dansby Swanson was approached about the situation in June and said, “It’s June.” That epitomized the casual attitude the organization had about its plight.
The Cubs could very well win 85 games or more this season. In some years that’s good enough to make the playoffs but not this year. As Dennis Green would say, “They are who we thought they were.” And that’s just not good enough.
But things could be better next season
Reasons why the Cubs will be better in 2025
First and foremost, Pete Crow Armstong has been the best player on the team. Since August PCA’s bat has come around. He’s hit around .300 for some time and the power is coming. He hit his 10th home run Sunday. The Cubs go into the 2025 season with their center field position taken care of.
Michael Busch has settled into first base nicely. Busch hit his19th and 20th home runs Sunday. He has also played an excellent first base. Busch came into the season has a question mark but has turned into an asset.
The pitching should be better next season
Kyle Hendricks likely won’t be back in the rotation despite somewhat of a resurgence in the second half of the season. Ideally, he will be replaced by a topflight free agent such as Corbin Burnes or Max Fried. At the very least Ben Brown or Cade Horton should get a shot to help.
The Cubs did a decent job of cobbling together a bullpen on the fly this season, but the pen is still an area that should be addressed before next season. Despite a critical blown save Saturday night, Porter Hodge has shown some promise as a potential closer, but the Cubs should have additional options before the 2025 season begins.
The farm system is in a position to help
Outfielder Owen Cassie, infielder Matt Shaw and catcher/DH Moises Ballesteros can either provide depth, or make it possible for the Cubs to use other players as trade pieces.
The Cubs’ depth pieces have been guys like Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal and Miles Mastrobuoni in the past. Hopefully the Cubs will be beyond that in 2025.
Jed Hoyer should be motivated
Cubs’ fans are generally more patient than fans in other major markets, but even they seem to be getting restless about the lack of playoff appearances. Hoyer’s contract extends through the 2025 season. Maybe that will motivate Hoyer to add a sense of urgency to his generally passive manner.
