Chicago Cubs Receive Positive 2024 Grade After Exciting Offseason

The Chicago Cubs received a positive grade for 2024 thanks to an exciting move made this offseason.

Dylan Sanders | Dec 30, 2024

Sep 21, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) watches his home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

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Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs ended the 2024 regular season with disappointment, but have to be happy after ending 2024 with a bang.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently went through each MLB team's calendar year and handed out an overall grade for everything that has transpired.

The Cubs were given a "B" mark.

Given that they finished the season with an 83-79 record and missed the playoffs, most of that positive grade likely stems from everything that has happened after that.

The biggest move that sticks out above the rest was the move to bring in Kyle Tucker.

With the elite right fielder in town, Chicago finally has a true star player. It would be shocking to not see him finish 2025 as one of the best in MLB.

He missed over half of last season with a shin injury, but still posted a .289/.408/.585 slash line with 23 home runs. The 28-year-old will be a massive boon to their lineup.

The only substantial losses on offense are Cody Bellinger and Isaac Paredes. Both players will be replaced with guys who have higher ceilings.

Bellinger was an expensive player who was putting out just OK production for that price, so the front office was successful in moving him this offseason, gaining Tucker in his stead.

Paredes is young and has a lot of potential, but never seemed like a great fit with the Cubs.

Calling up Matt Shaw should be an immediate upgrade that will only get better with time.

It wasn't just the offense that got more exciting, either.

Chicago will enter 2025 having found a true ace to lead their rotation with a potential All-Star closer.

Shota Imanaga was once considered to be a "consolation prize" of his free agency class, but had a great debut in the United States with a 2.91 ERA.

After spending much of the year with a question mark at closer, Craig Counsell found a breakout rookie in Porter Hodge.

He posted a 1.88 ERA in 43 innings last year and picked up nine saves along the way.

All of that stuff is very exciting, but the reason why the grade isn't higher is because they were uninspiring during their last campaign as a whole.

Rymer flat out called the team "boring" from last season. There was a moment there towards the end where it seemed like they would push for the playoffs, but they did just sit around the middle of the league for the most part.

At least they finished on a strong point after the campaign ended, but a milquetoast regular season cannot be ignored.

Published Dec 30, 2024

DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders