Chicago Cubs Best Asset Heading Into MLB Offseason Is Depth

The 2024 MLB season was a disappointment for the Chicago Cubs.

They didn’t perform up to expectations, as the moves made ahead of the 2024 campaign didn’t pay off as much as the team had hoped they would. But, it wasn’t a completely lost year.

One of the positives to come out of it is that the Cubs have a very strong core. Several young players, such as Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Porter Hodge and Nate Pearson emerged as the season went along.

Heading into the offseason, there are certainly a few needs that remain unfilled. With a few additions to the current group, there is no reason that Chicago won’t be challenging for a playoff spot in 2025.

However, the best asset that the team has is their depth.

As president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer shared recently that depth is an asset that cannot be underestimated.

“We should never underestimate the value of depth. We'll obviously think about all sorts of different opportunities, but that's a really enviable position that -- with an injury or poor performance -- the kind of guy that's coming up to the roster is a Top 100 prospect. And I don't want to lose sight of that,” he said, via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

The Cubs are loaded with prospects on the MLB Pipeline Top 100. Currently, seven players hold a spot, and only one of them is a pitcher.

There are some logjams, such as in the infield where Busch, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Isaac Parades look locked into starting spots. In the outfield, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong should be the starting trio.

The only spot that looks wide open right now is catcher, where the team could upgrade on Miguel Amaya this offseason.

As Hoyer noted, should any of those established veterans falter, the team can turn to a young player in the minor leagues for a spark. That is a luxury not every organization has heading into an offseason.

It also means, should the opportunity present itself, Chicago has the assets to swing a blockbuster trade. With several high-upside Minor League players, and some blocked by each other, Hoyer and the front office need to explore all avenues. 

In a perfect world, all of those prospects will pan out. 

But, that isn’t a realistic outcome. 

The Cubs need to identify which players they believe are closest to contributing at the Major League level and contemplate using some of their other depth to address needs that arise.