Cubs Face Key Offseason to build Sustained Contender

CHICAGO — The Cubs successfully constructed a playoff team last season, but the stated goal by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has been to create a group primed for a sustained period of October runs. That makes this an important winter for building on a roster that fell one win shy of reaching the National League championship Series.

One of the reasons behind Chicago’s playoff exit was that the rotation had taken multiple hits by that stage, making depth in that area a must for this offseason’s to-do list. Chicago also needs to build up its bullpen corps and perhaps see if there could be an impact hitter out there to boost the lineup.

The arrival of the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla.,will bring baseball executives,managers,agents and staff together under the same roof,helping momentum in both free agency and trade discussions. While the Cubs have made a few early moves and have been holding talks on multiple fronts, the Meetings have a way of spurring action.

Here is where things stand for the Cubs as the Meetings loom:

Adding one more bona fide starting pitcher (Ranger Suárez, Michael King, Tatsuya Imai and Zac Gallen have been linked to the Cubs) would really strengthen that group. And with nearly the entirety of the Cubs’ late-inning arms hitting free agency (notably: Brad keller, Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz), the ballclub is going to target a variety of options via trade, free agency or other smaller transactions.

Potential trade candidates
If the Cubs were to try to pry a front-end starter away from another team via trade, the