3 Cubs free agents who will leave, 2 who won't

Cubs free agent who will be back in 2024: Yan Gomes, C

The Cubs were never going to get the kind of power numbers they were used to seeing from Willson Contreras when they brought Yan Gomes in ahead of the 2022 campaign.

All they could have hoped for was a veteran presence behind the plate with a solid bat who could be a true leader both on the field and in the clubhouse. And that's precisely what they've gotten.

In 116 games for the North Siders in 2023, Gomes slashed .267/.315/.408 with 20 doubles, 10 home runs, and 63 runs batted in. Not bad for a guy who turns 36 next summer.

The Cubs hold a $6 million club option on Gomes for the 2024 campaign, and they'd be wise to exercise it. The catcher position is often the most difficult to replace, and there's no need for Chicago to attempt to do so in free agency, not when they've got such a cost-effective option already in place.

As the Cubs will have to spend large chunks of change elsewhere to remain competitive, six million bucks isn't that much -- at least not in today's market -- to lock down a key component, even if only for a year.