Chicago Cubs Face Two Important Decisions for Their Non-Tender Candidates

Two Chicago Cubs players are non-tender candidates, setting the front office up for some tough decisions to be made.

Apr 30, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Nick Madrigal (1) during the fifth inning at Citi Field / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

It's been a busy offseason for the Chicago Cubs, something that certainly is exciting for the fanbase considering how last winter went.

Knowing they needed to make upgrades in their bullpen and to bring in another catching option, they accomplished that by making two separate trades to acquire reliever Eli Morgan and backup catcher Matt Thaiss.

It's a good start to the winter for the Cubs, and they aren't expected to stop there.

But as they figure out what else they need to get done before next year begins, they face two important decisions for some non-tender candidates ahead of the deadline on Friday.

Utility man Nick Madrigal and pitcher Julian Merryweather could either be retained ahead of the upcoming season, or they could be made free agents.

Madrigal is the most likely player to be non-tendered out of this duo.

While he has been a nice piece to have on the roster considering his strong defense and ability to fill in at multiple positions, his poor hitting has really limited how often he can be used by Chicago.

The 27-year-old has appeared in 202 games for the Cubs the past three seasons and has produced a slash line of .251/.304/.312 with two total homers, 29 extra-base hits, 45 RBI and an OPS+ that's 27 points below the league average.

Even with a projected salary being $1.9 million for 2025, it would be hard to justify keeping him on the roster after they traded for Isaac Paredes and their star prospect Matt Shaw looks ready to be a Major Leaguer next year.

The acquisition of Morgan might signal the end to Merryweather's time in Chicago, but since his arbitrtation figure is projected to be around $1.3 million, it would make sense for the front office to keep him.

Morgan doesn't solve all the problems in their bullpen, and despite Merryweather struggling with injuries last season that limited him to just 15 outings that produced a 6.60 ERA, he'd be just two years removed from putting up a 3.38 ERA and 127 ERA+ during his 69 appearances in 2023.

If they can get that level of production from him again, then $1.3 million would be a bargain.