Could Chicago Cubs Make Another Move To Boost Their Bullpen?

After pulling off another headliner to improve their bullpen, the Chicago Cubs could still be eying an additional move.
Oct 1, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer smiles before a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field
Oct 1, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer smiles before a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
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The Chicago Cubs pulled off their second headlining move of the offseason when they acquired Ryan Pressly to become their closer, and it just so happened this was also the second deal involving the Houston Astros.

Bringing in Kyle Tucker was the shocker of the winter, especially since Jed Hoyer has shown caution when it comes to giving up assets to get something of that caliber done.

But with the Cubs getting borderline desperate to make the playoffs after coming up short the past two years when they were right on the doorstep of a Wild Card position, adding Pressly and Tucker goes a long way to increasing their chances of playing in October.

Addressing the bullpen was the clearest need of the offseason.

The poor performances by the relief staff have directly impacted their inability to get into the playoffs, and following a winter where Hoyer didn't aggressively pursue upgrades, he made sure that wasn't the case this time around.

Pressly is the cherry on top for what was already accomplished.

He becomes the bonafide shutdown closer this team had been lacking.

Chicago will now enter this upcoming campaign with a much more solid unit on paper, and the hope is this bullpen will augment one of the best rotations in baseball.

However, there's a chance another move could be coming to boost this unit further.

"Ideally, the Cubs will find a way to bring in another veteran reliever to improve the upside of the group while building to the depth and give manager Craig Counsell more choices in how he wants to deploy their relievers in key, late-inning spots," writes Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune.

That's an interesting nugget.

Upon the completion of the Pressly deal, it was kind of assumed the Cubs would be done adding since they filled the one clear hole in their bullpen.

Who might Chicago go after if they are looking to bring in another arm?

They had previously been linked to Ryne Stanek, another former Astros reliever who has experience pitching in the biggest moments.

While the right-hander hasn't been elite the past two seasons with a 4.50 ERA across his 118 outings, he certainly would give manger Craig Counsell another option to use like Montemurro is suggesting the Cubs could be interested in providing.

When discussing potential moves Chicago could make, finances are always at the forefront, but with Spotrac putting Stanek's market value at just $2.6 million, that is well in their price range.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Adding another bullpen arm never hurts, especially for team looking to contend like the Cubs.


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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently is the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. He is also a contributor at FanSided, writing about the Philadelphia 76ers for The Sixers Sense. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai