Entering the offseason, the Cubs identified a clear need for additional power in their lineup, with a preference for a left-handed hitter. The obvious solution was to re-sign Cody Bellinger. While that’s still an option, it hasn’t panned out, and Spring Training is right around the corner.

So, kudos to Jed Hoyer for his aggressive move on Thursday in acquiring Los Angeles Dodgers infield prospect Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte.

Michael Busch brings a potent left-handed bat to the Cubs. While concerns linger about a potentially high strikeout rate, it's noteworthy that Busch's strikeouts stem more from a patient approach, bordering on passivity, leading to numerous two-strike counts.

This reminds me a lot of White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada, who possesses one of the best feels for the true strike zone in baseball, sometimes resulting in frustratig called third strikes.

Hopefully, for the Cubs, Busch can eventually learn to leave the fate of his plate appearance in the umpires’s hands less than Moncada has on the other side of town.

Heading into spring training, Michael Busch is slated to be the Cubs' primary first baseman.

Busch hit .323 with a 1.049 OPS, 27 home runs, and 87 RBIs in 98 games in Triple-A last season. He also logged 81 plate appearances for the Dodgers, hitting just .167 while striking out at a 33.3% clip.

Fangraphs has Busch’s ZiPS looking like this for the Cubs in 2024:

.243/.326/.453
110 OPS+
24 HR, 88 RBI
2.5 fWAR

Not too shabby. Especially considering the Cubs can still land Cody Bellinger, as was the initial plan for this position, and Bellinger presents them with more positional flexibility.

Yency Almonte's addition to the Cubs' roster addresses a critical need for bullpen depth. The Cubs bullpen was taxed by the time September rolled around last fall, so that additional arm will help.

Almonte owns a 4.51 lifetime ERA in six seasons with the Rockies and Dodgers. Almonte struggled last season in Los Angeles, posting a 5.06 ERA in 49 appearances, but turned in an excellent 2022 campaign with the Dodgers that featured a 1.02 ERA in 33 appearances and an 8.41 K/9 ratio.

“It seems like many Chicago front offices are focusing on a slow, methodical rebuild while preaching continuity and patience. Davidson and the Blackhawks have been transparent about this, the Bears keeping Eberflus broadcasts this, the Bulls and their lack of moves reeks of it, and the Cubs not being overly aggressive (except for Counsell) indicates they are being patient. At this point, which franchise's process do you trust most with building a consistent winner, and why?” — Brendan B.

First, thanks for the terrific question, Brendan, and I hope you get the ball rolling in this area, and we can make the reader interaction in the newsletter a trend.

I’ll say this off the bat: Brendan’s question came before the Michael Busch trade on Thursday, a move that I would consider pretty aggressive on Jed Hoyer’s part in a vacuum. But overall, the initial spirit of the questions still stands; the Cubs have been pretty patient this offseason.

At this point, I’m far more comfortable with Kyle Davidson and the Blackhawks process. Not that anyone enjoys this, but when it comes to taking it down to the studs, the key is the return value. Davidson did that as well as any franchise I’ve seen in pro sports, probably since Theo and the Cubs did it over a decade ago.

Sure, winning the draft lottery last summer — and the right to draft Connor Bedard was the luck sprinkled into the formula that a successful rebuild requires, but Davidson has done just about everything right every step of the way in a very short amount of time.

I was covering the Blackhawks when Davidson was hired after Mario left BN that spring and I was fortunate enough to be around the team in the locker room and in the press box during the infancy of the Davidson era. I have been thoroughly impressed since day one. Just a couple of years older than I am, Davidson is a youngster in the hockey ops world, but he’s never lacked the poise of the seasoned vets.

In under two years, Davidson has flipped the Blackhawks farm system right side up, made savvy trades for veterans, leaders, and draft assets, perfectly navigated the departure of franchise legends Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, hit a home run hire with Luke Richardson behind the bench (and had the savvy to convince Derek King to come back as an assistant after not shedding the interim tag), weathered the fallout of the Jenner & Block Report release (when he was named the interim GM), an off-ice snafu for Corey Perry this season, and drafted Connor Bedard.

The Blackhawks have seamlessly closed the door on the greatest (on-ice) era of the franchise and opened the door for the next memorable era of Blackhawks hockey in the blink of an eye relative to this process in the sports world.

Bedard, Korchinski, and Reichel (despite early-season struggles) are with the Hawks already. As are Vlasic and other youngsters. The farm is loaded, and they have two picks in each of the first three rounds this summer to continue to load the farm system.

At this point, Davidson has earned an unwavering degree of trust from the fanbase, so I’ll put them firmly at the top of the Chicago sports landscape as it regards my level of trust in their process.

If you would like to ask a question or simply share a take, don’t hesitate to reach out via email ([email protected]) or on X (@PatrickKFlowers)!

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