Adding free-agent superstar Bryce Harper wouldn’t be enough to shore up all of the holes on the young White Sox roster.
And even a successful trade for left-hander Cole Hamels on July 27 didn’t vault the Cubs any further than the National League wild-card game.
So both teams have plenty of boxes to check Sunday as the winter meetings began Sunday at the spacious Mandalay Bay resort.
The Cubs may need to trade one or more of their top young major-league players to achieve the payroll flexibility needed to address their needs after they failed to reach the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2014.