Cubs Setting Themselves Up for Failure with Head-Scratching Decision

I do not like this whatsoever. There’s no doubt that the Cubs need to add more pitching. Duh, no shit. The bullpen needs multiple arms and most likely a new closer, while the starting rotation needs at least one new pitcher who can either be a one or a two. Oh, and there’s a budget and depending on how pessimistic you want to be, it might be a fairly restrictive budget that might steer the Cubs away from spending at the top of the market. But that’s Jed Hoyer’s job to figure out how to improve the roster and I absolutely hate this continuing narrative surrounding the club which points to a focus on pitching and not much else.

I kind of get how Cubs fans have become apathetic toward Kyle Tucker because of how his 2025 season ended. I mean, it was brutal in the worst type of way and he didn’t do himself any favors with some on-field laziness and further lost support following his subpar performance in the postseason. That being said, the Cubs offense was on fire when Tucker was healthy and the team 100% needs to find a replacement for him in the lineup heading into the 2026 season if they want to have a competitive starting nine.

Did we forget that getting Tucker was so huge last offseason because the Cubs NEEDED a bat like his after a few years of uneven performance. Sure, the Cubs may have quality depth, but they desperately needed star power and Tucker provided that for at least three months in which the offense ranked near the top of the league.

So, yeah it really bothers me and should bother more fans that this offseason the front office seems to have one singular focus and that’s only adding to the pitching, while ignoring any potential offensive moves. And with Tucker pretty much out of the picture the Cubs plan to replace his production at the plate? A pair of rookies.

Via The Athletic.

Inexperience means Ballesteros and Caissie likely won’t replicate Tucker’s fast start with the Cubs, when he looked like a leading MVP candidate. Tucker, however, played in only 41 games after the All-Star break (.738 OPS), substantially lowering the external pressure to sign him to a long-term contract.

While Hoyer’s group still has a lot of work to do on the pitching side — and persistent questions about the payroll parameters for baseball operations remain — the Cubs are holding together most of the nucleus that won 92 games and the franchise’s first postseason round in seven years.

“Kyle was a big part of that,” Hoyer said during MLB’s GM meetings. “But I do think that we have a very capable position-player group, a playoff-worthy group.”

Hey, Owen Caissie and Moises Ballesteros may turn out to be great and maybe they even put together strong seasons immediately. I have more confidence in Ballesteros’ skill-set translating to success against MLB pitching sooner than Caissie, but even then it’s not like Ballesteros is known for his power and despite a great track record of high OBP he’s limited running the bases.

There’s just no way you can convince me that the Cubs are better off ignoring hitters on the free agent market and instead opting to count on inexperienced, young hitters to replace one of your best offensive producers from a season ago. I hope I’m wrong about this, but not adding another established bat to take some pressure off the young guys seems like a bad plan by the front office this offseason.