First off, I started by just Googling "Cubs free agents 2024." Duh, right? Got a bunch of articles from ESPN, *, Bleacher Report – the usual suspects. I clicked through a few, trying to get a solid list. See who's contract are expiring after the season.
Problem #1: Every site had slightly different info. Some included guys I was pretty sure were already locked down, others missed a couple names. It was a mess.
So, I decided to get a bit more systematic. I figured, "Okay, let's go straight to the source." I started digging around on the MLB website. The official one. It's not the easiest site to navigate, honestly. I spent a good half hour just trying to find the Cubs' current roster. Once I did, I went through each player, looking at their contract details.
That's where Problem #2 hit me: Those contract pages are sometimes vague! They'll say "Club Option" but not when the option has to be exercised. Or they'll have different types of player options or mutual options, and it's hard to keep track of who can decline what.
Then, I had to figure out what those options are and the players around them. Like, what kind of years are they having? Are they worth picking up for another year? Is someone else on the team ready to take their spot?
To get the option info, I had to dive into some deeper MLB transaction pages. Some of that involved some light searching and comparing dates.
Basically, it was a process of cross-referencing everything. I built my own little spreadsheet. (Yeah, I know, I know, real high-tech stuff here.) I noted down each player who might be a free agent, what kind of option they had, and any rumors I'd seen floating around that seemed even remotely credible.
Then came the fun part: speculation. I mean, I'm no insider, but I do follow the team pretty closely. I started thinking about who the Cubs were likely to keep around, who they might let walk, and who they might try to trade before they hit free agency. This part was pure guesswork, but I tried to base it on factors like:
- Age and performance.
- Team needs at each position.
- What the Cubs have said publicly about their plans. (Always take that with a grain of salt, though.)
- The dreaded "market value." (How much are other teams likely to pay?)
I'm just a guy messing around, but it was still a fun exercise. Plus, now I've got a handy list to refer back to throughout the season and see how my predictions pan out. Spoiler alert: I'll probably be wrong about half of them. That's baseball, baby!
So, yeah, that's how I spent part of my day digging into the Cubs' potential free agent situation for 2024. It's not perfect, but it's way more thorough than just reading one article. Hope this helps anyone else who's trying to make sense of it all!
