{"id":66298,"date":"2024-02-05T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=66298"},"modified":"2024-02-04T23:13:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T04:13:05","slug":"what-cubs-need-to-accomplish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/05\/what-cubs-need-to-accomplish\/","title":{"rendered":"What Else Do the Cubs Need to Accomplish After Signing Neris?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Spring Training games starting in a few weeks, there are still a few things the Chicago Cubs need to accomplish. It has been a week since the Cubs bolstered their bullpen with the addition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nerishe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hector Neris<\/a>. The former Houston Astro is a fantastic addition to set up newly acquitted closer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alzolad01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adbert Alzolay<\/a> in the back end of the stable. With the first spring training contest nearly three weeks away, what else does this team need to finalize their roster?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/01\/27\/2022-world-series-champion-chicago\/\" target=\"_self\">Along with Neris this offseason<\/a>, the Cubs have added left-handed starting pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=imanag000sho&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shota Imanaga<\/a> in free agency to bolster the rotation. Joining Imanaga are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buschmi02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Busch<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/almonye01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yency Almonte<\/a>, whom the Cubs <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/01\/11\/cubs-acquire-busch-almonte\/\" target=\"_self\">acquired from the Dodgers<\/a> last month. This has been a quiet offseason for a team expecting to spend gobs of money. That can all change with one last addition to the bullpen, and the splash signing Cubs fans worldwide have been waiting for all winter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>What Else do the Cubs Need to Accomplish?<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Belli, Belli, Belli<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, the baseball world (and even Cubs fans) are sick of hearing about the daily <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bellico01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Bellinger<\/a> rumors. One day it\u2019s his significant other following a Chicagoland realtor on social media, and the next it\u2019s Jed Hoyer subtly dropping hits about the slugger\u2019s potential return. It feels like Bellinger back in Wrigleyville is a forgone conclusion. However, until the papers are signed, he remains up for grabs, regardless of who is \u201cfavored\u201d to land him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/maetPe3dhok?si=RdlCnjJisgS4uXBy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One must imagine it\u2019s all about the numbers at this point. With Bellinger being a Scott Boras client, the asking price on their end has to be absurd. This is understandable, but this is where a grudge match comes into play. In theory, all signs point to Belli remaining on the north side of Chicago. Whoever will give in first in the negotiation process will determine how quickly this gets done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His presence in the three-hole or cleanup spot is exactly what this team needs. After seeing the damage he did last year, it\u2019s apparent that he can be a short and long-term fix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Southpaw Central\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dating back to last season, the Cubs never had a consistent left-handed option in the bullpen. In 2022, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hughebr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Hughes<\/a>. Despite having some decent stuff, Hughes couldn\u2019t stay off the IL in 2023. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kayan01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Kay<\/a> was the bullpen\u2019s lone lefty, but he struggled mightily last year and didn\u2019t last too long with the club. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/littllu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Little <\/a>getting called up was a refreshing sight to see, but the young hard-throwing prospect can\u2019t be the team\u2019s only southpaw option entering 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A couple of arms for the Cubs to potentially make a move on are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alexasc02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Alexander<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scottta01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tanner Scott<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alexander is 30 years old entering the 2024 season and spent 2023 with the San Francisco Giants. He posted a 7-3 record with a 4.66 ERA last season. Despite having a negative WAR, Alexander is a solid veteran presence who has had success at multiple stops in his career. He is most remembered for his time as a Dodger from 2018-2021. He had an ERA of 2.78 and a 1.372 WHIP across 94 career innings in Dodger blue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wKutIxOeP78?si=5JJ94J51BFMQyCdK&amp;start=5\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scott is a name that picked up a ton of steam from the Marlins last year, and it\u2019s easy to see why. The 29-year-old had a breakout season, possessing a 2.31 ERA and a 0.987 WHIP across 78 innings tossed. His strikeout-to-walk ratio also sat at an astounding 4.33, by far the best of his career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/udAXg2Xy9_k?si=VJUc6w4O2oUymW9w&amp;start=5\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Scott\u2019s numbers are much more promising than Alexander\u2019s, he comes at a much steeper cost. Scott is still under team control in Miami, and with how good of a 2023 he had, the Marlins\u2019 asking price for him could be a handful. Alexander on the other hand is still a free agent, and his not-outstanding numbers from a season ago show he could be a cheaper addition to the bullpen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It all depends on how much the Cubs are willing to give to fix this issue in the bullpen. The same goes for Bellinger as well. If the organization can walk into Opening Day with Belli and a solid left-handed option in the bullpen to accompany Little, they would be in pretty decent shape to contend for a division crown in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Spring Training games starting in a few weeks, there are still a few things the Chicago Cubs need to accomplish. It has been a week since the Cubs bolstered their bullpen with the addition of Hector Neris. The former Houston Astro is a fantastic addition to set up newly acquitted closer Adbert Alzolay in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5007,"featured_media":66323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1071],"tags":[3430,68,899,2880,28316,69,2262,645,1851,5660],"class_list":["post-66298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","category-mlb","tag-adbert-alzolay","tag-baseball","tag-cody-bellinger","tag-hector-neris","tag-luke-little","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-free-agency","tag-nl-central","tag-scott-alexander","tag-tanner-scott"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}