Not Much Activity

I still hold to the opinion the Cubs are going to stand pat through this off-season without any blockbuster moves.

So far, the team has not made a major roster move.  They tendered pretty much everyone who was expected to be retained.  One surprise was trading LaStella, but, again, LaStella was basically a pinch-hitter who occasionally played second or third base.

The Cubs did tender Addison Russell.  It now appears they are more or less committed to his rehabilitation.  This is pretty much confirmed by the various manipulations in picking up Torreyes, dumping him, then picking up Descalso.  They are obviously looking for a utility infielder who can back up at shortstop until Russell comes off suspension.  I suppose Descalso is as good an option as any.  One guy I thought they might go after is Marwin Gonzalez, who is a kind of poor man's Ben Zobrist and has a history as a Cubs farmhand.  I expect there it would involve too much of a commitment or too much money.

The last piece to fall is likely to be the acquisition of a solid left-handed reliever.  I thought that might be Andrew Miller.  Maybe it still is him.

All through the off-season, there have been rumblings about payroll and having to dump salary in order to make a big move or even a series of smaller moves that increase payroll.  My own suspicion is the salary dump is Heyward and they just cannot get takers.  Think about it.  The Cubs have got virtually nothing in the way of consistent production from Heyward other than his defense and they are paying him big bucks.  I'd sure like to see him traded.  It opens up a lot of possibilities.