Cubs Would Waste Strong Offseason Without Postseason Appearance

The Chicago Cubs made the moves to get back to the postseason, so it would seem a waste if they're not able to reach the playoffs.

Mar 29, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker (30) hits a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Chase Field. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

With the season not off to the start that the Chicago Cubs would have liked, the franchise is hoping to turn things around quickly. 

The Cubs started off the campaign at a bit of a disadvantage in Japan against the defensive World Series champions. 

Chicago was unable to win either game in that short series and then returned to the United States for a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

The Diamondbacks could be a playoff contender in the National League, and splitting the series against them on the road should be considered a win for the Cubs. 

However, the team sits with a 2-4 record, which isn’t where they want to be. 

Fortunately, it is a long season and there is plenty of time to turn things around. After a great offseason, the franchise should still believe that they can compete in the NL despite a slow start. 

The schedule certainly did them no favors this year, especially considering they have got another West Coast Trip coming up in April. 

With expectations being high, panic could come quickly if the team does not turn things around quickly. 

Jordan Bastian of MLB.com recently wrote about the one thing that needs to go right for the Cubs. He highlighted that the franchise has to make the postseason this year after the moves they made in the winter. 

“Simply put: the Cubs need to make the postseason. All of the moves made by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer this offseason pointed to a sense of urgency to return to the October stage," he wrote.

Making the playoffs is certainly the goal for Chicago in 2025. While this has been a franchise that has been pumping out a lot of young talent, the time to win is now for the Cubs. 

With the addition of Tucker especially, Chicago has placed themselves in a win-now mode this season. 

After being over .500 the past two seasons, the additions made this winter have to result in a postseason berth for the Cubs. 

When looking at the National League Central in particular, it is the weakest division in the league compared to the East and the West. 

The Milwaukee Brewers will likely have taken a step back, and they didn’t get off to a great start to the campaign against the New York Yankees. 

Since Chicago made a significant decision to trade for a superstar in the last year of his contract, there is a lot of long-term risk with that.

If the Cubs were to miss the postseason after trading young assets for Tucker, it could set the franchise back quite a bit. 

Overall, Chicago needs to snap their postseason drought this year, otherwise it could have a serious negative impact on the team for quite some time.