Back for another installment of my MLB Offseason Breakdown for the 2021 season. If you are new here, what I do is write about all the acquisitions and losses the team had, my projected lineups and rotations, grade for the offseason, and my prediction for the team in the 2021 season. Let’s get into it.
Acquisitions and Losses:
Cubs trade RHP Yu Darvish and C Víctor Caratini to the Padres and receive RHP Zach Davies and 4 prospects
A trade that was a salary dump. This trade really said all about where the Cubs were after the 2020 season. They needed to financial help so they traded Yu Darvish after having his best season in his career and his first time having his ERA below a 3 since 2013. In all actuality, I’m fine giving up Darvish because I don’t think he’s that good of a pitcher because he played in a division that almost all pitchers dominated in. Darvish played a lot of easy teams, and that goes for all the NL Central teams. Darvish will be fine in San Diego, and you got a pretty good return for it. Zach Davies had a great season in San Diego where it looks like it something he can build on and help this team for a while. And the prospects that the Cubs got in return, seem to be pretty good. All are in the top 30 for the Cubs organization. The way I see it, be happy that you got rid of Darvish before he has to play real competition for 162 games this season.
LF Kyle Schwarber signs a 1 year $10 million contract with Washington
This isn’t as big of a deal to the rest of the MLB, but I know a lot of Cubs fans loved Schwarber and hated to see him go. He was a power hitting machine, but he could not hit the ball and was a terrible fielder. It may suck now to lose a fan favorite like Schwarber, but in the long run its going to be good because he hurts the team more than he helps it. He had his highest strikeout percentage since 2017 last season. He clearly has a lot of problems he has to deal with offensively and defensively, so it was probably best to let him go instead of giving him a pay raise.
LF Joc Pederson signs a 1 year $7 million contract
In my opinion the Cubs did a great job in filling in the whole of Kyle Schwarber. Pederson is getting paid the exact same money Schwarber was getting in 2020 and he’s better than Schwarber. Now Pederson did have his worst season in the MLB last year where he had career lows in average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage, but I’m sure he will get things back on track. One bad season isn’t going to deter me from thinking Pederson isn’t going to get things back on track. To be fair though, it’s not like Pederson is a good hitter in the first place, but you take his +.240 batting average to go along with +25 home runs.
LHP Jon Lester signs a 1 year $5 million contract with Washington
Cubs lose another fan favorite as veteran pitcher, Jon Lester, is also heading down to the capital. Lester had a great 6 year career in Chicago, but it was time to move on. Lester had his worst ERA in his career last year, which is concerning because it seemed like every pitcher pitched good in the Central Division. Regardless of what I could be talking about there, it was time to move on from Lester. Lester had a good time in Chicago, so no reason for it to continue on more than it needs to.
RHP Jose Quintana signs a 1 year $8 million contract with the Angels
The Cubs lose another starter as Quintana heads back to the AL to play with the Angels. Quintana never really worked out on the Cubs as the Cubs would have wanted. Quintana was a fairly good pitcher with the White Sox as he had a ERA of 3.51 while on the White Sox, but since he was traded to the Cubs he had a career ERA of 4.24. Nothing too drastic, but not the same production as when he was on the cross-town rivals. I agree with letting him go, but it does leave a pretty big hole for the #2 starting pitching spot.
RHP Jake Arrieta signs a 1 year $6 million contract
The Cubs bring back Arrieta after spending the last 3 seasons in Philly. I actually really love this move because my dumb sports brain is telling me he was good before he left, then he went to the Phillies and he sucked. Which only means since he is back with the Cubs he has to be good again. Seriously though, I have no problem with it. Its a one year deal that’s not a lot of money. You see if Arrieta has anything left as the Cubs go through this weird phase in their franchise.
Projected Lineup:
C: Willson Contreras
1B: Anthony Rizzo
2B: David Bote
3B: Kris Bryant
SS: Javier Baez
LF: Joc Pederson
CF: Ian Happ
RF: Jason Heyward
Projected Rotation
1. Kyle Hendricks
2. Jake Arrieta
3. Zach Davies
4. Alec Mills
5. Adbert Alzolay
Offseason Grade: B-
2021 Prediction:
The NL Central is such a hard division to measure because out of the top 4 teams I have no idea who can win the division. As of now, I have the Cubs finishing third in the NL Central and missing the playoffs. The National League is pretty stacked this year and if we are going back to the normal playoff format, I don’t see how the Cubs can compete and make the playoffs. It all comes down to the Cubs pitching, which I don’t think is that good in the first place. I think Kyle Hendricks is going to regress to his normal self and the bottom end of the rotation is not very good. If the Cubs want to make a playoff spot this year, they are going to need to add a pretty solid starter at the trade deadline.
Some good things though, I see Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo getting back to the basics and performing at All-Star levels. Last year was just a blip in the radar, and the two star will return to what they were doing in 2019. Same goes for Javier Baez, but instead of All-Star type shit, it will be top 5 in MVP. Baez is a game changer when he’s himself, and he’s going to do that this season. Its also good for baseball when someone like Baez is back to doing coo shit. I also have high expectations for Zach Davies as he knows the division well and will pick up at where he left things off last season.
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Previous Offseason Breakdowns:
Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
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