Cubs Will Only Pursue Slugging First Baseman if They Whiff on Bellinger

All eyes are on the Chicago Cubs and how they navigate the remainder of this offseason after being the only team who hasn't made an addition to their Major League roster.

It was the Cubs' goal to land one of the superstars who were on the market after having been in on free agency discussions with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

However, the failure to land either of them, or a high-profile player via a trade, has them solely focused on getting Cody Bellinger back onto their roster.

After it once looked like a reunion might not happen, Chicago is now seen as the favorites to sign the star outfielder this offseason.

And according to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, if the front office lands the former MVP, that would prevent them from pursuing fellow free agent, Rhys Hoskins.

The Cubs have been repeatedly linked to the slugging first baseman after coming off an ACL injury that kept him from playing throughout the entire 2023 season.

With Chicago heavily rotating players at first base last year, the front office and coaching staff would like to have an everyday player there moving forward.

Hoskins would have been the solution defensively while also bringing power to the lineup.

But, Bellinger spent time at first in 2023 as well and could actually make the transition to that role full-time as his career progresses. This would allow the Cubs to play their younger prospects in the outfield and have first base be covered for the foreseeable future.

This will certainly be something to monitor throughout the remainder of this offseason, but it seems like the front office has a plan to address at least one addition this winter.