What do the Chicago Cubs need to do to continue their success?
The Chicago Cubs have won their first World Series since 1908. They made the NLCS in back-to-back years. Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have done an excellent job of rebuilding the club with great draft picks and trades and then using free agency to help add to the team in spots.
They led wire-to-wire and can finally say goodbye to goats, black cats and Bartman. (Steve Bartman should throw out the first pitch Opening Day.)
Once you climb that mountain and have that target on your back, it’s hard to keep that success sustained. Not everyone can be like the Yankees and stay above .500 every season in recent years.
The Cubs have a ton of talent, a smart front office and the funds to keep the the train rolling along. Pending free agents are per Spotrac. Arbitration eligible players are per MLB Trade Rumors:
Pending free agents: Aroldis Chapman, Joe Smith, Travis Wood, Trevor Cahill, David Ross, Chris Coghlan, Tim Federowicz
Arbitration Eligible: Jake Arrieta, Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, Munenori Kawasaki, Justin Grimm
So what do the Cubs need to do in order to keep this great run going? Here are five things that the Cubs should make a priority this offseason.