MLB Rumors: NL Central rival overpays, ruins chance at Cubs World Series reunion

Just four days ago at Cubs con, Jed Hoyer admitted that bullpen help was a dire need for his team moving forward. While Chicago has plenty of holes on its roster -- they should bring back Cody Bellinger, sign a third baseman and add some starting pitching -- the lack of relief pitchers the Cubs can count on is staring them right in the face.

“We’ve offered some this offseason,” Hoyer said, per The Athletic. “It’s not my favorite thing in general. But certainly the bullpen is an area of priority. It’s a hard area. You can look at teams that have built through multiyear deals that have struggled and you look at some teams that have built through smart, targeted transactions that have had a lot of success. There’s a lot of ways to skin the bullpen cat, but we do need to focus on it. It was an Achilles’ heel last year, for sure.”

Yet, even when Chicago can do something about that weakness, they do nothing instead. Yency Almonte is a nice pickup via trade, but he also had an ERA over five last season. Aroldis Chapman would have been an exciting World Series reunion for fans -- Chapman was the flame-throwing closer for that 2016 team -- and he's coming off a bounceback season.

Instead, Chapman signed with the rival Pittsburgh Pirates on a deal that really doesn't make much sense.

Aroldis Chapman signs with Pirates, which screws the Cubs over

Chapman spent last season with the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. He served as the Royals setup man prior to the trade deadline, when he was shipped to the eventual World Series champion Rangers. Chapman also hit a wall in the second half of the season, and his velocity dipped. While his 3.72 ERA with the Rangers wasn't horrible by any means, it's a far cry from his 2.45 mark in Kansas City.

In Pittsburgh, Chapman will presumably be the setup man for David Bednar. While it's nice to see Bob Nutting spend money for a chance, the Pirates real need is in the starting rotation, where they boast 2-3 capable starting pitchers. The rest is put together with paste.

The Bucs signed a big name, and one the Reds and Cubs are very familiar with. At the same time, they aren't much closer to contending and spent $10 million of a very think budget on a player they don't need.