NEWSLETTER
While not ever outright saying the Chicago Cubs are going to spend big this offseason, or publicly campaigning his front office to do it, you have long gotten the sense that manager David Ross feels it would be appropriate for the Cubs to be aggressive this offseason.
He has talked about how he and many in the organization feel like they are close to contention. He was open about the idea that adding an impact shortstop in free agency wouldn’t be a problem for Nico Hoerner. He has been hesitant to suggest the Cubs have anything close to “certainty” in their rotation going into next year.
Now, a manager is always going to want his bosses to supply him with as much talent as possible, so adding major pieces in free agency or trade is pretty much always going to be attractive to any manager. Caveat applied.
But what you hope is that Ross’s hopes and wishes for his roster are actually in alignment with what the front office expects or wants or is permitted to do.
To that end, Ross was on The Score, suggesting that there is just such an alignment going on with the Cubs organization:
“We talk pretty regularly,” Ross said of the front office on the Bernstein & Holmes Show on Tuesday afternoon. “I think we’re all on the same page with what kind of holes we want to try to fill, who are the pieces we believe in moving forward. There’s a lot of those guys in here. And you know, there’s also stuff in the offseason that’s unpredictable and things that you can have one plan, but … having a plan and actually executing that plan is difficult at times. Because it’s also the choice of free-agent players and teams if you plan on making trades. You’re at the mercy of others. I know they’ve got nice plans in place, and we talk about putting in the processes that we believe in and trusting those. I think everybody is excited to finish the season as strong as we can and move on to next season, where we’ll be competing at a higher level.”
In other words, whatever vibes Ross is putting out there about what he hopes this offseason will be, it’s fair to guess that he’s receiving those vibes – or at least having them reciprocated – from the front office. They are all “on the same page” about their needs, and about their internal fits. Good. Makes me listen all the more on anything Ross suggests about what could happen the offseason …
He’s wise to point out that you cannot ever say for certain that Thing X is going to happen, because your trade partner might have other ideas or some free agent may prefer a different offer or some other team might go to a level you think is unjustifiable. Whatever. No guarantees. But a first step is to have the manager and front office aligned on what they want to accomplish, and then to have a front office that is actually making those plans to impact the roster for 2023. Sounds, tentatively, that it is the plan.
Oh, and I guess you need an ownership that will make those new dollars available, but that, too, tentatively sounds like the plan for the Chicago Cubs. Here’s hoping.
