When Maddon smoke clears, hunt for free agents will begin for Cubs
Open season on baseball free agents began Thursday, one day after the World Series ended.
The Cubs will jump in right after they solve their managerial situation, which continues to drag on, with many moving parts in play.
When the Cubs do get serious about free-agent players, it's going to be interesting because of the nuanced and cautionary terms team president Theo Epstein voiced on more than one occasion earlier in the off-season.
That is, when Epstein was talking.
First, there were no new developments Thursday in the Joe Maddon saga, and the Cubs may not have an announcement until next week, provided they can hire the former Tampa Bay Rays manager. National baseball writer Ken Rosenthal tweeted that all systems remained "go" for Maddon coming to the Cubs and that an announcement could come as early as Friday.
Maddon's agent has said other teams continue to show interest.
Current manager Rick Renteria continues to exist in managerial limbo. He's been there since last Friday, when Maddon opted out of his Tampa Bay deal and the Cubs made no effort to shut down speculation that they might be interested in Maddon.
There is also the matter of the Cubs' coaching staff, which features two new hires in hitting coach John Mallee and first-base coach Doug Dascenzo.
As far as the Cubs' pursuit of free-agent players goes, Epstein seemed to be taking a long-view approach, perhaps hoping to tamp down fan expectations if the Cubs can't land everybody they've targeted this off-season. Several times, in meetings with the media and with season ticketholders, Epstein talked of a time table of 12 to 15 months.
"Yes, we are in a position that perhaps as soon as this off-season and certainly over the next 15 months we're going to be adding some talent from outside of the organization," Epstein said at one point.
The first priority will be starting pitching. The Cubs got good work from Jake Arrieta and rookie Kyle Hendricks, but they got a second straight poor season from Edwin Jackson while left-hander Travis Wood took a step in the wrong direction.
The name most mentioned when it comes to the Cubs is lefty Jon Lester, who finished his season in Oakland after being traded this year from Boston, where Epstein and Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer have overlapping histories with Lester.
"We need to add impact pitching, from outside the organization," Epstein said. "We fully acknowledge that. That's a primary goal going forward. Certainly over the next 15 months, I'll be disappointed if we don't add impact pitching from outside the organization."
There's that timetable again.
The other big name out there is Detroit's Max Scherzer, but his price tag may be too high for the Cubs. But there are plenty of other attractive names, including Justin Masterson (Cardinals) and Jason Hammel, who began 2014 with the Cubs before being traded with Jeff Samardzija to the A's on July 4.
On offense, the Cubs would like to add a veteran outfielder. And speculation also has centered on catcher Russell Martin of the Pirates.
"We have a lot of work to do," Epstein said. "We need to add on-base skills. We need to add some contact ability. We need to add some reliable performance from veterans from whom we know what we'll get because young players' performance is so volatile early in their careers."
• The Cubs declined to pick up the 2015 option for reliever Kyuji Fujikawa, making him a free agent. Fujikawa spent most of his two seasons with the Cubs recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Earlier this week, the Cubs outrighted four players from their 40-man roster: outfielder Ryan Kalish, infielders Chris Valaika and Josh Vitters and pitcher James McDonald. The Cubs say their 40-man roster stands at 35.