5 biggest losers from the 2020 MLB offseason

Chicago Cubs

An offseason spent locked in a dispute with a club’s franchise player isn’t going to reflect well on any organization. But that’s exactly what the Chicago Cubs face heading into 2020.

Kris Bryant, three-time All-Star and former National League MVP, filed a grievance against the club in October alleging that he should be declared a free agent after this season. The issue goes back to his rookie year in 2015 when Bryant led the Cubs in home runs during spring training but was sent back to the minors instead of making the big league club. He was called up 12 days later, preventing him from earning a year of service time.

Bryant lost the grievance, keeping him under Cubs control for another two years, and insists there are no hard feelings between him and the club. But the damage to their relationship had been done and wasn’t helped by the fact the Cubs listened to trade offers for the third baseman all offseason.

On the field, the Cubs did little to improve a roster that in 2019 missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. Gone is manager Joe Maddon, who led the club to the World Series title in 2016 but was let go after their 84-win season a year ago and went off to join the Angels. A positive for the Cubs, though, is that they still maintain the core of the lineup that ended the club’s 108-year championship drought three years ago, including Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez.

The job of managing this group falls to David Ross, a member of that championship club and a well-respected leader in the clubhouse. For all of “Grandpa Rossy’s” attributes, though, he still has no managing experience and needs to improve a club that has fallen behind the Cardinals and Brewers in their own division.