Cubs' offseason plans start to take shape

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN ANTONIO -- Momentum for major trades and big press conferences usually begins rolling around the Winter Meetings in December. This week at the General Managers Meetings, the goal is typically to begin laying the groundwork in conversations on moves that could be made later in the offseason.

“It’s just a matter of gathering the information,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week at the JW Marriott in San Antonio. “I always say everyone comes here with a lot of great ideas and they usually get squashed within the first cocktail party. And then you go back to the drawing board. We’ll talk to everyone here. We’ll be super active in discussions and see where it leads us.”

Here are five things we learned about the Cubs’ offseason plans this week:

1. Bellinger news gave ‘clarity’ for Cubs’ direction

Before the GM Meetings, Cody Bellinger informed the Cubs that he was exercising his $27.5 million player option for the '25 season. Instead of searching for a corner outfielder on the open market, Chicago gets to keep Bellinger in the fold for at least one more year (he has another opt-out decision to make before '26). Hoyer said it was good news for the North Siders.

“It mostly just gives us clarity,” Hoyer said. “Now we know what our roster looks like, and now we can go about building a team. Before that, there was some uncertainty.”

2. Hoerner situation not impacting offseason approach

The Cubs have not nailed down a timeline for Nico Hoerner’s return from the flexor tendon surgery (right forearm) he underwent in October. There will be a better sense when Hoerner reports to Spring Training, but his comeback is not expected to linger too deep into the season. If Hoerner misses time, Chicago would likely look for an internal solution. In an ideal world, the Cubs could look for a lefty-hitting utility man to boost the depth.

“It’s a position that we have some depth in the Minor Leagues,” said Hoyer, who mentioned Top 100 prospects Matt Shaw (No. 22) and James Triantos (No. 55). “But certainly, with Nico, it’s unclear on timeline, but I don’t think there’s any ripple effects with his injury. … We expect a full recovery.”

3. The Cubs will be on the hunt for rotation help

No surprise here, but Chicago will be looking to add an arm or two to the rotation. That said, the Cubs do not look like players at the very top of the market for a free agent like ace Corbin Burnes. More recent deals -- they signed Jameson Taillon (four years, $68 million) and Shota Imanaga (four years, $53 million) the past two offseasons -- might offer a more realistic blueprint.

“Our starting pitching’s been good,” Hoyer said. “But you can always add another guy.”

4. Cubs want to add bulk to the bullpen

Some of the Cubs’ in-season acquisitions -- adding Nate Pearson, Tyson Miller and Jorge López, for example -- helped shore up the bullpen, but a lack of depth early on hurt Chicago and made such moves necessary. This offseason, Hoyer hopes to add more depth on the front end to guard against a similar situation next year.

“It’s trying to do that this winter -- address that,” Hoyer said. “It’s almost like assuming in April that three guys are going to go down -- because they probably will -- and having the depth in April to do it. I think we were OK depth-wise later in the season.”

5. Adding a catcher is definitely on the Cubs’ list

Even with the second-half surge by catcher Miguel Amaya -- who posted a .799 OPS in 54 games after making a mechanical adjustment -- the Cubs want to boost their options behind the plate. The goal is to try to find a catcher to pair with Amaya for a timeshare of the catching duties, as opposed to having a traditional backup.