Major decisions seem to be pending till superstar Shohei Ohtani choose his new team.
The Chicago Cubs are on a difficult path as MLB’s annual winter meetings began this week: planning out possible ways to strengthen the club as they wait for the Ohtani-sized domino to fall.
When questioned Monday night about the team’s interest in Ohtani, general manager Carter Hawkins shifted the conversation, stating, “We prefer not to talk about any specific players,” but also mentioning that the market has been sluggish overall. The Cubs are now strategizing a range of possibilities from which they may choose as required.
“It’s way too complex of a challenge to create this perfect offseason where A is going to happen and then B is going to happen and C is going to happen and D is going to happen,” Hawkins stated. Rather, you must be able to assess every transaction and determine whether it advances your team’s objectives to win more baseball games both now and in the future. You must also be ready to make all of these judgements.
So where does most of our conversation go? Even while not much is happening in terms of things coming to pass, a lot is happening in terms of getting ready to be able to move swiftly in the event that those decisions need to be made.
The front office and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who was absent from Nashville for a portion of Monday due to personal matters, must always operate under financial limitations, even in the midst of a special free-agent market. Although Ohtani is a clear anomaly, the Cubs may still address requirements with different combinations if they choose not to sign him.
“You attempt to determine how best to spend those money while working under those constraints. Currently, efficiency does not equate to lack of quality players, according to Hawkins. “We’re doing pretty basic calculations, but sometimes investing in excellent players is the best use of your money – by efficient, I mean it gets you the most victories.
“Having a player at the top of the market who is as unique as they are just creates a new dynamic, but every offseason brings something really interesting, and I think we’ll look back and say we did the best we could.”
The Cubs produce a movie every year to showcase its free agents, and the 2023 edition features a tonne of game highlights from the previous year, including players that the organisation anticipates staying with them for a very long time. As they seek free agents this summer, Hawkins thinks such elements—like Christopher Morel’s walk-off home run against the White Sox—resonate and offer a taste of excitement that doesn’t need replays of the 2016 World Series championship run.
According to Hawkins, “the excitement’s close proximity helps and creates that foundation for us.”
The Cubs will be mindful of free agents as they handle their requirements so as not to obstruct prospects who are getting close to joining the major leagues.
Hawkins warned, “You’ll get into trouble on both ends—you get into trouble when you just rely on your farm system and you get into trouble when you just rely on free agents.” We are in a rare situation where the folks approaching the farm system are ringing the doorbell, albeit not necessarily hammering it home just yet. That very well may occur very soon. However, I believe that those men have some room to develop in the lower levels. Here, there is a give and take.
“We want to be competitive and have a great team in 2024, but we also don’t want to sacrifice the growth of players who will play a significant role in our future for a very long time.”
In the upcoming weeks, the Cubs will be thinking about more than just signing players. They anticipate hiring a new farm director in the upcoming weeks to succeed Jared Banner, who was elevated to assistant general manager, and finalising their coaching staff within the next seven to ten days. Hawkins anticipates searching both internal and external candidates for the position.
“It’s important to keep an eye out for potential gaps in other organisations’ offerings, especially when a position as important as farm director is up for grabs,” Hawkins stated. “However, you also need to make sure that you’re not undervaluing the items that are already in your home.”
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