Last offseason, the Chicago Cubs signed free agents Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow, Tyler Chatwood, Brian Duensing and Chris Gimenez. At the time, these moves seemed solid, with the potential to turn out well. However, all five of those free agent signings turned out to be a disaster – at least in the short-term.
The front office had a lot of work that it needed to do last season. Two-fifths of the starting rotation needed to be replaced or re-signed. For the third year in a row, the closer’s situation needed attention.