Cubs 2025 Roster Outlook: How things stand entering a new year

Toward the end of the 2024 season, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell didn’t mince words about where his team was and the level it needs to get to.

“We gotta get better,” he said. “We should try to be building 90-win teams here. That’s what you have to do, that’s the playoff standard. That’s what you’ve got to get to be safely in the playoffs, safely in the tournament. From that perspective, we got a ways to go.”

Don’t take that as a shot at Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the team he built last year. That’s not what it was. Take it more as a challenge for everyone in the organization to be better. It’s got to be a full-team effort to reach the goals they set at the beginning of the season.

Hoyer has been busy building the next version of the team through the first couple months of the offseason, trying to hold up his end of things. There have been some smaller signings and deals along with a trade for a star outfielder.

While the Cubs’ offseason isn’t over just yet, as we enter 2025, let’s look at the roster as it stands right now.

Starting pitchers

Rotation: Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Javier Assad

Depth: Jordan Wicks (40-man), Ben Brown (40-man), Cade Horton

Steele, Imanaga and Taillon make up a strong top three for the Cubs. Steele got bit by the injury bug a couple of times in 2024 but again proved he’s a top-of-the-rotation arm, posting numbers similar to his All-Star 2023 season. Imanaga broke out and earned an All-Star nod as a rookie, and Taillon rebounded with a solid and much more consistent year.

Meanwhile, Assad earned enough of Counsell’s trust to be penciled into the rotation, and Boyd emerged with a strong final two months (plus three postseason starts) with the Cleveland Guardians after recovering from Tommy John surgery, earning a two-year, $29 million deal with the Cubs.

Wicks and Brown are both depth options on the 40-man roster, but they combined to pitch just 26 times (18 starts) while they dealt with injuries last season. Horton, the Cubs’ top pitching prospect and No. 42 on MLB Pipeline’s top 100, was also injured and didn’t pitch after May.

Health provided, those three should be depth options behind the current starters.

But one of Hoyer’s priorities entering this offseason was bolstering the pitching depth. That includes on the starter side, and the Boyd addition doesn’t feel like enough. The Cubs are reportedly still in the mix for Roki Sasaki, but whether they get him or add a different arm, this still feels like an area to address before the season.

Relievers

Bullpen (MiLB options according to FanGraphs): Porter Hodge (3 options), Eli Morgan (1 option), Nate Pearson (1 option), Julian Merryweather, Tyson Miller, Caleb Thielbar, Keegan Thompson, Rob Zastryzny

Other options and depth (all on the 40-man): Luke Little (2 options), Daniel Palencia (2 options), Jack Neely (2 options), Cody Poteet (1 option), Caleb Kilian (1 option), Ethan Roberts (2 options), Gavin Hollowell (1 option), Michael Arias (2 options)

That list doesn’t include Ben Brown, who’s in the mix if he’s not in the rotation or staying stretched out in Triple-A. It doesn’t include Assad, either, since he’d be in the rotation if another clear-cut starter isn’t added.

This is how things look for the Cubs’ bullpen in early January. Hodge, Pearson, Miller and Merryweather (assuming he stays healthy) are Counsell’s options for high-leverage spots for now.

Morgan could come out in relief at any point in a game, though he’s likely ticketed for a middle-relief role. Thielbar and Zastryzny are veteran left-handers. Thompson hasn’t always put everything together but has had his share of success as a reliever in the past.

Among the other options, guys like Little, Palencia and Neely have all shown flashes out of the Cubs’ bullpen. It is largely a group of unproven arms, however. Any one could have an impact as “out-getters,” as Counsell likes to say, but they’re still unknowns right now.

Hoyer did take the blame for last season’s bullpen struggles, acknowledging there wasn’t enough depth to withstand early-season injuries and underperformance.

He hasn’t strayed away from the way he’s built bullpens in recent years, though. He hasn’t gone out and given a big contract to someone at the top of the relief market.

That market has been slow, anyway, and there are still plenty of names on the board. Hoyer has said the Cubs will continue to look for pitching. It’s reasonable to believe this area of the team isn’t a finished product yet.

Outfielders

Starters: Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker

Looks to be the main DH but should get some OF time: Seiya Suzuki

Depth: Kevin Alcántara (40-man), Owen Caissie (40-man), Alexander Canario (40-man)

You could say this is the strongest area on the team. The Cubs traded for a star in Tucker, and he’ll be in right field. Happ has won three straight Gold Gloves in left and has been consistently very good at the plate the last three years as well.

Crow-Armstrong should win Gold Gloves in center in the future and turned things around offensively in the second half of 2024. That’s the Cubs’ starting outfield.

That leaves out Suzuki, who does want to play in the field, although his defense has seemed to regress. He’ll probably spend a lot of time as the designated hitter. Even still, Counsell should be able to find some time for him in the outfield.

Alcántara and Caissie are top-100 prospects with a lot of hype behind them. Both on the 40-man, they’d be ready to step in if a need arises. Meanwhile, Canario hasn’t gotten a ton of run in the big leagues, but he’s out of options and could be the Cubs’ fifth outfielder if he isn’t traded.

Even if they subtract from that depth before the season, this is as strong a group as the Cubs have.

Infielders

Starters (when healthy): Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson

Depth: Vidal Bruján (40-man), Miles Mastrobuoni (40-man), Gage Workman (40-man), Luis Vazquez (40-man), Ben Cowles (40-man), Matt Shaw, James Triantos

Though Busch has moved around the infield in the past, Hoyer noted last month that the Cubs “really see Michael as a Gold Glove first baseman, and that’s our focus,” basically confirming he’ll start at first base.

Swanson shouldn’t miss any time after undergoing offseason core surgery. Hoerner might be out to begin the year due to his right flexor tendon surgery, but that’s still unclear at this point. Whenever he’s healthy, though, he’s their second baseman.

The biggest question mark is third base. Nobody is the clear-cut starter at the hot corner, but all the potential options have at least some experience there.

While any of the 40-man guys could see time, keep Matt Shaw in mind. He looks just about big-league ready, he’s the Cubs’ top prospect and he spent over half of his time in 2024 playing third.

Hoyer said last month that Shaw will get “a long look” there, and even though “he has to earn that job,” he’ll be in the mix once spring training begins.

Also, keep an eye on first base. With Cody Bellinger and Matt Mervis now gone, there’s not much clear depth behind Busch. That could be another area Hoyer looks to address.

Catchers

Starter(s): Miguel Amaya, Carson Kelly

Depth: Moises Ballesteros, Carlos Pérez

Even with his second-half improvements, the Cubs needed to add another catcher to pair with Amaya at the major-league level.

Their acquisition of Matt Thaiss earlier in the offseason (traded later on) wasn’t enough.

So, they went out and signed Kelly. He’ll split time with Amaya, and he provides a good veteran presence both behind the plate and in the clubhouse. This can be a pretty solid and dependable pairing of catchers.

Of course, the depth behind that duo isn’t very deep.

Ballesteros is another top-100 prospect in this system, but that’s mostly because of his bat. There are still concerns about his ability to stick at catcher in the big leagues, so this will be a big year for him to show progression as a backstop.

The Cubs recently signed Pérez, who’s played 280 major-league games, to a minor-league contract. Expect similar veteran catcher additions to help build up the depth behind Amaya and Kelly.