Cubs Week In Review: Bellinger Stays a Cub, Coaching Changes, And More In Colossal Week

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Belli Bombs will remain at Wrigley for at least one more season. 

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

As the 2024 MLB season drew to an official close this past week, the hot stove speculation began for all 30 major league teams. As it turns out, the stove got white-hot in the blink of an eye. One of the biggest Cubs' offseason questions is answered as left-handed slugger Cody Bellinger opted into his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 season. While this closes the book on one offseason mystery, it opens up a whole lot of other pages in other books. Most notably, with a massive sum of money now tied up in their Gold Glove-caliber superstar, what will this team actually accomplish in the coming months to ensure they are serious contenders come the spring? Along with other significant moves, the Cubs did a lot this week that could drastically alter their 2025 path. Let's dive in to see how it all went down. 

The 2024 season saw a modest decline in Cody Bellinger's offensive performance compared to 2023, where he blasted 26 home runs and drove in 97 runs. This past season, he racked up 78 RBI and tallied 18 round trippers. Regardless of his drop in offensive output, he's still a player that opposing managers must plan for, and he has turned out to be an affable presence in the clubhouse. So he's back and likely to make a new living in right field, swapping places with the defensively unreliable Seiya Suzuki, who is presumably moving to the designated hitter spot. This move doesn't necessarily make the team worse. Still, it tightens the reins on the already pretty tight purse strings of the Cubs' front office, which may have designs on landing a blockbuster starting pitcher. Still, the dream of Juan Soto in Cubby pinstripes is now all but gone with this development. 

If Bellinger manages to reach base a lot next season, which he is wont to do, he'll have one of the best in the sport guiding him along the bags. With the previous dismissals of Mike Napoli and Willie Harris, it was clear that Craig Counsell has a different vision for his staff, which is more akin to what he worked with during his successful days in Milwaukee. Thus, the Cubs announced hiring a new third base coach, Quintin Berry, this past week. Berry, 39, is known for his base-running prowess and achieved this to effect with Counsell as both were members of NL Central division-winning teams. Aside from the base-running excellence Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner displayed in 2024, the club's numerous gaffes on the base pads resulted in crushing results in close games, which could have easily meant the difference in deciding the club's playoff hopes. Once a stud in places like Boston, Berry hopes to change these fortunes radically. 

This offseason is moving at a pace so torrid I don't have an apt comparison to align it with, but then again, one offseason rarely possessed such an attractive crop of franchise-changing talent. With this in mind, the Cubs have officially declined the $10 million option of left-handed reliever Drew Smyly, an individual who registers quite low on that spectrum of talent. Despite punching out 56 batters over 58.2 innings pitched in 2024, Smyly faltered in absolutely crucial, high-leverage moments for the Cubs in 2024.

Money in, money out, money staying. If the 2024 MLB season proved anything, teams must be willing to spend some serious coin to contend for the World Series seriously. The Dodgers did it, and Dave Roberts and his squad still reek of premium champagne. What a concept: invest in premium talent and get premium results. Jed? Tom? Are you reading this?

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