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BN Chicago Cubs Carter Hawkins Speaks: Working the....

Carter Hawkins Speaks: Working the Phones, Being “Opportunistic,” Rotation, Busch’s Role, Free Agents, More

Brett Taylor Brett Taylor
Feb 05, 2024
Chicago Cubs

I listened to Chicago Cubs GM Carter Hawkins on ‘Inside the Clubhouse’ this weekend on 670 The Score, and there were a number of things worth pointing out and commenting upon …

  • Is another quality reliever coming? Well, Hawkins used the word “opportunistic” when discussing the approach to adding to the bullpen from here, which is the same word I’d been using as my guess after the Hector Neris signing. It isn’t that the Cubs are definitely done in the bullpen, it’s just that they probably aren’t out there aggressively pursuing. If some great value comes along that they can’t pass up – free agency, waivers, trade – they’ll jump.

  • That said, Hawkins emphasized that the front office is still working the phones every day trying to see what else they can get done. Whatever sense I got about his feelings on the bullpen (the vibe was something like, we’d be OK if this was our group, but we’ll see), I did NOT get that sense about the roster overall. It definitely seems like the front office wants to accomplish more before the season begins. We, of course, know that they need to, but I’m glad they aren’t starting to put out the “yeah, we feel really good about this roster and we can win with it and we’re ready for spring training and yada yada” stuff.

  • When the Cubs were looking at their roster this offseason, they saw that, although they had guys they liked who could play third base and first base, they didn’t necessarily have guys locked into those spots. They were also looking for lefty bats and guys they could control for the long-term. So that is why they looked at Michael Busch, because he fit right into all of that. It didn’t sound like Hawkins was saying Busch was going to get time at third base, though, because the conversation from there was more about first base (with only side mentions of his ability to play third and second, too). That is to say, still very much sounds like Busch is the Cubs’ first baseman.

  • … with a caveat. Hawkins said all the great stuff about Busch’s bat, but then concluded with a curious statement: “We think that he’s a potential great member of our lineup that can 100 percent hit against righties, and hopefully can play every day at some point.” Busch did feature some pretty dramatic splits at Triple-A last year (an OPS way over 1.000 against righties, but a touch below .800 against lefties), but this is the first sense we’ve gotten that the Cubs might be looking at him as a platoon guy initially.

  • If so, who is taking those starts at first base against tough lefties? Patrick Wisdom? Christopher Morel? Somebody not yet on the roster? Tentatively, I’d assume the thought was Wisdom, but we’ll see soon enough in Spring Training, depending on who is getting reps at first.

  • The Cubs won’t be going to a six-man rotation to open the season. The question contemplated the Shota Imanaga addition (rotations in Japan are usually six-man, with fewer starts made per month), the Cubs’ depth, and also just some trend lines within the game. Hawkins said that he and Jed Hoyer had discussed it, but only in the sense that they discuss everything. He wouldn’t say never, but it isn’t a plan they have. The rotation figures to look “traditional” to open the season, so that means five starting pitchers in place, and eight relievers in the bullpen.

  • Hawkins was, of course, asked the obligatory question about Cody Bellinger and the timing/pace of the offseason, but he wouldn’t get into a specific player. Instead, he spoke generally about free agents and the pace of how things can play out: you’re looking for overlap between how the team views the player and how the player views himself. You need to reach an overlap to get a deal done. Sometimes that takes a very long time to play out.

  • Hawkins says the Cubs are working the phones every day to find those overlaps. You may not be hearing much, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t constant behind the scenes.

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    written by

    Brett Taylor

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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