Article: Re-Signing Cody Bellinger Turns All the Cubs' Roster Dilemmas Inside Out

[Matthew Trueblood]

Bringing back Cody Bellinger doesn't turn the Chicago Cubs into a juggernaut, or even, necessarily, into favorites in the NL Central. It also doesn't immediately clarify the roster decisions they've weighed all winter. It just makes everything better.

Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

Especially because of the surprising short-term nature of the deal the Cubs and Cody Bellinger struck, it's not fully clear what comes next for the team--or for the player. If the two sides had come to terms for the next five, six, or seven years, it would be pretty easy to envision the team handing first base over to Bellinger right away. That's his long-term position, and both he and the team know it.

Instead, though, this deal could keep the best player on the 2023 Cubs around for as little as one more year, and on that term, it makes a little more sense from both sides for him to spend significant time in center field. Of Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong, it's Busch who is older, Busch whose bat seems more ready for the challenge of regular playing time in the big leagues, and Busch whose upside could have him batting fifth for a playoff-caliber team down the stretch in 2024. Letting Crow-Armstrong start the season with Triple-A Iowa makes a modicum of sense, even if he's the eventual answer in center, and Bellinger makes that easier. Playing out there also helps him sustain and expand upon his case for the megadeal that never quite came together this winter.

Before re-signing Bellinger, the Cubs faced a whole bunch of questions about their 2024 roster, especially at first base, third base, center field, and DH. They included:

• Whether to try Christopher Morel at third base (with Patrick Wisdom, Matt Mervis, David Peralta, and Dominic Smith the best candidates to soak up time at DH) or let Morel be the regular DH and reinstate the late-2023 solution of Nick Madrigal and Wisdom at the hot corner.
• Whether to start Crow-Armstrong in center immediately, or to have Mike Tauchman and Alexander Canario platoon there while the top prospect completes his apprenticeship in the minors.
• Whether to platoon Busch with Wisdom at first base, or try the rookie on an everyday basis, and whether to carry Mervis as a matchup-based complement to him.

With Bellinger on board, all those decisions get recast under friendlier light. He can move between first and center. When he's at first, does Morel play third, or do he and Busch platoon at DH, while Madrigal shores up the defense and slots in at the bottom of an otherwise thunderous order? When Bellinger is in center, Busch plays first, and it gets easier to justify putting Morel at DH and using Madrigal for his glove. A lineup against righthanders might go:

1. Ian Happ - LF
2. Nico Hoerner - 2B
3. Cody Bellinger - CF
4. Seiya Suzuki - RF
5. Michael Busch - 1B
6. Christopher Morel - DH
7. Dansby Swanson - SS
8. Miguel Amaya - C
9. Nick Madrigal - 3B

Having the more robust Bellinger in the middle of the order and the middle of the diamond reduces the urgency of the Morel project at third base, as compared to having the good-OBP, low-SLG Tauchman or the very unproven Crow-Armstrong out there. 

On the other hand, as the Cubs continued to collect non-roster, bat-first options Sunday, perhaps it's worth wondering whether they've just gained enough confidence to go forward with Morel as the third baseman, In that case, it's a good bet that either Madrigal or Wisdom will soon be traded, clearing the way for the likes of Peralta or newcomer Garrett Cooper (or both). The offensive upside of the team could go through the roof, in that case, almost (but not quite) independent of Bellinger. The re-signed star's versatility just creates more paths to a well-rounded, high-functioning positional roster.

Whether the Cubs are done or not remains to be seen. Another move or two could elucidate everything. In the meantime, though, the prevailing feeling from this pact is that the team remains comfortable being uncomfortable. That was the signature of Craig Counsell's extraordinary run as the Brewers' manager, and as things currently stand, his new team will try to leverage that trait.

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