The Chicago Cubs have already been hard at work this offseason, a promising sign as this team needs to improve heading into 2025.
There are many questions about this roster, and until they answer them, many fans will rightfully be worried that they'll be the same team they were last season as they move into the next campaign.
Given all the players they've been linked to over the past few months, that should be a good indication of them at least landing one or two of them.
That doesn't mean they need to spend $800 million to build a competent team, but the idea has to be to spend money.
Among the players they've been linked to include Max Fried, who might be one of the most under-the-radar free agents in baseball. Remember now, when Fried is at his best, there aren't many better in the game.
There's a reason why his price isn't as high as some expected it to be a few years ago, but that's all because of the injuries he's dealt with. When healthy, this guy has been un-hittable.
The latest contract prediction for the Cubs on the left-hander is optimistic, as it wouldn't be as much as some have suggested. Tim Britton of The Athletic has Fried landing a five-year, $140 million deal in his column.
"Fried’s value isn't quite at its max, as it was following a Cy Young runner-up season in 2022. He missed chunks of time in 2023 with strains of his hamstring and forearm, and he wasn’t as consistently reliable in 2024, posting his highest ERA since 2019. Oh, that ERA was still 3.25, and even in the last two down years, Fried has been a top-10 left-handed starter in the sport. Over the last five, only Houston’s Framber Valdez has been as good a lefty as Fried. Fried’s strikeout rate was in line with that of Corbin Burnes, but the trendline isn’t a concern. This is how Fried has always worked, relying more on soft contact on the ground than swing-and-miss. That approach is often undervalued in free agency."
As Britton touched on, Fried's numbers rival some of the better arms in Major League Baseball. That's simply because he's also among those types of pitchers.
As mentioned previously, there would be some concerns about Chicago's rotation being a bit left-handed heavy. That might become a problem in certain playoff series, but when they have arms like Fried at the top of it, they typically find success no matter who they're facing.
This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.
