Cubs remain open to free agents, 'wouldn't rule anything out'

MESA, Ariz. -- Justin Steele left his locker and began to head down a nearby hallway. He was interrupted when Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson reached out and gave the pitcher a friendly slap on the back. Steele spun around, lit up and pulled Swanson into a quick hug.

On Sunday morning, the Cubs officially got the 2025 season rolling with the first workout for pitchers and catchers at their spring complex. The activity was light on the first day, but the expectations for the coming campaign are high for the North Siders. After a busy winter of fortifying the roster, the Cubs have their sights set on October baseball.

“We’re in a good place,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said on Sunday. “I feel ready and eager to get started, really. I’m glad we’re getting started, glad we’re the first ones getting started. It’s excitement.”

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That early-morning reunion between Swanson and Steele offered a snapshot into the Cubs’ current moment. Swanson committed to Chicago on a seven-year free-agent contract ahead of the 2023 season, when the club was exiting a rebuild and hoping to begin building playoff teams. During that reset period, Steele got the runway needed to develop into a homegrown rotation leader.

The Cubs missed the playoffs each of the past two years, but the franchise entered this offseason with a solid foundation and a chance to raise the floor. Chicago’s front office took its biggest step in that direction in December with the blockbuster trade to reel in star outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Astros.

“We’ve made decisions to move wins forward,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said. “You don’t make a trade for Kyle Tucker if you don’t feel like you have a really strong team going into that year. … In the three-plus years that I’ve been here, this is certainly the most talented team.”

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The question looming over the Cubs as camp opens is whether the roster is complete.

“Unclear,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I think you always look for opportunity.”

Chicago has been floated as a contender for free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman, who is the best remaining bat on the open market. It has a similar feel to a year ago, when Cody Bellinger lingered in free agency until finally striking a new deal with the Cubs in late February. Chicago has a vacancy at third and top prospect Matt Shaw (No. 19 overall per MLB Pipeline) is the leading candidate.

Last season, the Cubs went slightly over the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold, which is $241 million for 2025. At the moment, Chicago is estimated to have a little north of $30 million in CBT payroll flexibility (to avoid going over that line). That gives the Cubs room to add, whether that is making a run at Bregman or trying to acquire another starting pitcher.

“I wouldn’t rule out anything,” Hoyer said. “You always want to make sure that you don’t tread too heavily on the future. But at the same time, wins are at a premium now. We’re a good team now.”

Down the stretch last season, while the North Siders were limping to their second consecutive 83-win showing, Counsell said the Cubs “should be trying to build 90-win teams.”

This offseason, Hoyer’s front-office team landed an impact bat (Tucker), signed a veteran catcher (Carson Kelly), added to the rotation (Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea), brought in a veteran closer (Ryan Pressly), stockpiled more bullpen depth (Ryan Brasier, Eli Morgan and Caleb Thielbar, among others) and reinforced the bench (Jon Berti, Vidal Bruján and Gage Workman).

Combine those moves with the roster already in place and Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection system has the Cubs with 90.1 wins and an 85.1% chance to make the playoffs this year. FanGraphs.com’s projections have the Cubs winning the National League Central with 84 wins.

Hoyer admitted that it feels like there is more pressure to make the playoffs this season.

“One of the things about this job is I do take it really personally,” Hoyer said. “You want to put a winner on the field. You want to be extremely proud of the product that’s out there. And obviously there was a building process to get back to this point, and I think we’re at a really great point as an organization right now.

“Both this year and going forward, I think there’s a lot of bright times ahead. Yeah, it feels like there’s increased pressure. And there probably should be, given that we’ve spent some time to get to this place. It should be a lot of fun.”