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By acclamation, the Cubs needed one more good bench piece to complete their roster, even before considering their lingering interest in a possible blockbuster to raise the potential level of that roster. Less often discussed, though, was what became impossible to avoid Tuesday morning. If and when the team did sign a backup first baseman or center fielder, it was going to force one of the incumbent options out of the picture. With Justin Turner signing, that's exactly the scenario now. The question is: who gets the boot?
At a glance, the obvious answer is Rule 5 Draft pick Gage Workman. Though it's easy to see why the Cubs were enamored of his tools, Workman, 25, has yet to play at the Triple-A level; has obvious flaws, including a lot of swing-and-miss in his offensive game; and needed a second look at Double-A pitching just to thrive there. He's a left-handed batter who could be a roving backup at shortstop, third base, and elsewhere, but Jon Berti had already made him halfway redundant.
Modern benches run only four players deep. The Cubs have eight full-time regulars (Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch, and Seiya Suzuki) and two catchers (Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly).locked into their places. That's 10 players of a total 13, and Berti makes 11. Turner brings it to 12, leaving just one place for Workman, Alexander Canario, Vidal Bruján, Nicky Lopez, or any others trying to stake a claim.
Canario isn't an ideal fit himself, as a strikeout-prone outfielder with no real capacity to play center, but take him out of the equation, and the team doesn't have a true fourth outfielder. That roster-building foible bit the team a few years ago, when they occasionally found themselves using Trey Mancini, Patrick Wisdom, and Miles Mastrobuoni in the outfield. Kevin Alcántara figures to wait at Triple-A Iowa for his chance, but the team needs an outfielder who can at least rotate in when one of the starters is hurt or needs a day off. Canario is out of options, so if he doesn't make the club, the organization is likely to lose him on waivers. His positional value (and the fact that he's at least flashed the ability to hit at Triple A and in the bigs) sets him apart from Workman, whose flexibility on the infield is not especially important to a team that has Hoerner (capable of sliding to shortstop if Swanson is hurt), Shaw (still flexible, played all three throwing infield spots in 2024) and Berti (a true utility man with at least 100 games at each throwing spot on the dirt in his career).
Does that mean Canario will make the roster? Not by a longshot. See, there's still that thorny issue of him not being a capable center fielder. We've discussed how they could work around that, but the Cubs might also be eyeing a more traditional way to solve that problem. By the time they break camp, they might elect to drop or trade Canario, if they can shake loose any more defensively adept center fielders from some other franchise. It just means that, given how short benches are in 2025 and the offseason arrivals of Kelly, Turner, and Berti, it's very unlikely that Workman will survive and stay with the team. Unless he blows the team away in early workouts this spring, expect Workman to be offered back to the Tigers.
If the Cubs do pull off a trade for San Diego's Dylan Cease, it could involve more roster churn and open a place for Canario or Workman. Right now, though, the best version of the 2025 Cubs involves someone who isn't yet in the organization coming in to claim the final place on the team's bench. Turner's signing improves the offensive depth of the roster, but will soon force a tough decision on one of the players previously occupying his place.
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