Chicago Cubs: Predicting the 2020 lineup

The Chicago Cubs are going to be one of the most interesting teams in 2020, but what will their lineup look like come Opening Day?

Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have not done very much this winter and it seems to be surrounded around the availability of third baseman Kris Bryant.

“We have the makings of a very, very good team that’s currently under control on our roster and we have the chance to win a division. We do that, and you have a chance to have a great October. That’s not to be taken lightly,” said Epstein while at the Winter Meetings down in San Diego. “At the same time, we can’t just pretend that we can keep putting off making some important decisions for the future if there is an opportunity to strike and help ensure a better future, we have to do that.”

The decisions he is referring to are the statuses of some of his biggest star players.

The Chicago Cubs were reportedly “aggressive” and “obvious” that they wanted to make a trade at the beginning of the offseason, so I don’t know why they would change their mind now, especially when there are teams that have big holes on their rosters (and the Cubs have an excess of those needs).

The Texas Rangers need outfield help and third base help, the Nationals still don’t have a bonified third baseman, and the Braves also don’t have a third baseman.

All three of those teams are trying to contend in 2020, which means that they could be more willing to give up a top prospect or two in exchange for a major league ready player like Kris Bryant.

But the biggest question is if he will be on the team come Opening Day.

Well, I will give you my take on that in due time but without further ado let’s get to who should be starting for the Chicago Cubs in 2020.

Kyle Schwarber has been one of those names rumored to be in trade talks, but I think he will ultimately stay. The Chicago Cubs obviously like him because of his offense and his thump in the middle of the lineup.

And he almost hit 40 homers last year, which was a 12 homer jump from 2018 to the 2019 season. If he can improve his defense even a little bit, I think he will garner a good amount of All-Star consideration.

Albert Almora Jr. is not known for his offense but he was someone that got on base for Joe Maddon, but a big question is where will he fit into David Ross‘ lineup in 2020.

He is most valuable when he is saving ballgames by his superb defense in center field. The other viable option to man center field at Wrigley in 2020 is Ian Happ, but I think the Cubs should value defense a little more than offense at this position considering the depth of the remainder of their lineup.

Jayson Heyward, 30, had an encouraging 2019 campaign for the Cubs–his on-base percentage and slugging percentage increased–and should be able to hit at the top of their lineup in 2020.

Cubs fans knew that Jason Heyward wasn’t going to be the guy he was when he was with the Atlanta Braves, but they did expect him to produce at a higher level than he has so far in his Cubs career.

Heyward still has four years left on his contract including the 2020 season, and he has a chance to earn back the Cubs fan base’s approval with a big year.

Nico Hoerner was able to impress once he was called up early because of a Javier Baez injury. He hit over .280 in about 80 at-bats in 2019.

With Ben Zobrist not on the roster, the Chicago Cubs could go with David Bote over Nico Hoerner but he could be slotted in another position, which I will get to shortly.

David Descalso is on the depth chart as well, but he is going to be taking more of a utility role in 2020 to keep all of the regular starters healthy for what hopefully turns into a deep October run.

Javier Baez couldn’t have had a better year in 2019 than he did when he placed second for the NL MVP in 2018, and he didn’t. But it still landed him on the All-Star team and he hit nearly 30 home runs in 2019 while driving in 85 runs.

Baez will probably be one of the next Cubs players to land an extension, as he is a fan favorite and is one of the most entertaining players in the game.

Now moving on to the third base position– the most interesting storyline of the offseason for the Cubs.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

You read that right, Kris Bryant is not the third baseman on Opening Day. Now, this is just one person’s opinion but I believe the Chicago Cubs have to trade Bryant even though he wants to stay.

Bryant is one of the best players in the league, there is no doubt about that, but the front office and Bryant have not been on the same page since he was in the minors.

First, it was the controversy about his service time. Before Bryant made his debut he was sent to the minors for about ten days before the Cubs called him up, so that the organization could get an extra year of service time for him.

Of course, Bryant’s camp did not like that and it has led to an arbitrator weighing both sides of the situation (he is expected to make a decision before Spring Training).

Then, it was reported that Kris Bryant rejected a Cubs offer for an extension, which means he is pretty much set on reaching free agency.

And with that said, Bryant should get traded so that the Cubs can get a haul back instead of just a compensation pick. But for a trade to be made they will need to be a little more flexible in terms of their asking price.

I do think Bryant does get traded so in comes David Bote. Bote has power potential but has not really been able to reach that potential because he has been blocked in the infield by Bryant and others. Of course, Chicago Cubs fans remember him from his walk-off grand slam against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field.