Cubs Week In Review: Club's Free Agent Picture No Clearer After GM Meetings

Followers of Chicago's North Side baseball team have grown accustomed to a great many disappointments, not the least of which is this: Jed Hoyer's actions will fall short of your desires. With Major League Baseball's general managers meeting in San Antonio, Texas, this past week, teams have set their course in what moves will bring their respective clubs closer to contention. Will the "on the cusp" Cubs do what it takes to vault themselves over the proverbial hump? Let's dive in to see how it all went down.

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Most things seem to be bigger in Texas, but immune from that list, apparently, is Jed Hoyer's offseason aggression. How could the de facto face of this franchise, which crushingly missed the playoffs the past two seasons, show even a whiff of complacency? Part of it can justifiably be attributed to the staggering "Winds of Wrigley," which Hoyer views as both an impairment and an opportunity. "I do feel like our offense was hurt by Wrigley last year, but our pitching staff was helped."

Since it is a recap of the week and not previous articles written for this very fine publication, I won't rehash the narrative on the Cubs' unforgiving home field. What I will say, however, is that with the likes of Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, and the renaissance-enjoying Jameson Taillon, the Cubs have a real shot at cementing a dominant starting pitching through free agency. Say, perhaps, the Cubs land free-agent target and lefty Max Fried, which instantly gives Craig Counsell's squad the best starting pitching rotation in the National League Central. That could be the answer, or it could even come from a far away yet familiar place...

One huge development from this past week came from the great country of Japan, as 23-year-old Roki Sasaki officially posted for MLB free agency. The market figures to be scorching hot for the right-hander. However, the Cubs are not the favorites to land him; they are certainly in the running, especially considering the presence of fellow countrymen Seiya Suzuki and Imanaga, who could prove critical in persuading the dominant righty to make Chicago his new home.

Though small and expected, it was a week of change for the Cubs. Juan Soto will likely get overpaid, but that's a typical result for a Scott Boras client. It feels a particularly off-putting kind of surreal to see Kyle Hendricks pen a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Yes, that's a real sentence; that happened.

Though this offseason proves otherwise, the stove is not supposed to get this hot this quickly. Sadly, it appears the Cubbies might keep theirs lukewarm.