Where Do Chicago Cubs Rank In Major League Baseball Over Last Five Seasons?

The Chicago Cubs and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer have worked wonders this offseason to better position themselves to contend for a spot in the playoffs in 2025.

With the additions of Matthew Boyd and Kyle Tucker, the team has the starting pitching depth to hold opposing offenses in check with ease while their own lineup is now much more capable of putting up four runs or more in any given game.

It is a marked improvement from how they have performed over the last five seasons, including playing to the exact same record of 83-79 in the last two, finishing second in the National League Central to the Milwaukee Brewers both times.

In those last five years, the Cubs have not stacked up well with the rest of Major League Baseball according to Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report.

In a recent article for the publication, he ranked the organization 20th in MLB power rankings over the last five campaigns.

"Nobody was happy to see the final remnants of the Cubs' 2016 core drift away in 2021 not least of which because of the nagging feeling that it ultimately underachieved. All the same, the Cubs made the playoffs in 2020, avoided disaster in 2021 and 2022 and were competitive in 2023 and 2024. And with Kyle Tucker aboard and one of MLB's best farm systems ready to bear fruit, better things should await in 2025. The Cubs nonetheless give off underwhelming vibes because better things (i.e., Shohei Ohtani) just seem perpetually out of reach."

The club's refusal to spend has been a sore subject of late for the fan base and in turn the ownership, with Tom Ricketts speaking out on the cries for more spending from the fans.

“Look, there’s other teams that have more resources than we do," Ricketts told USA TODAY Sports at the Cubs Convention. “I can’t change that. I tell our guys not to worry about it, and just do your best."

Spending has become an issue across all of MLB, with some either for teams spending more or against it.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have opened the purse strings this offseason more than any other team ever has in the history of the sport while being the reigning World Series Champions.

Their shopping spree has seen many call for a salary cap to alleviate the issue and better even the playing field, but a salary floor would be more beneficial as limiting the top end would do nothing to bring the bottom end of the league much closer in payroll.

Chicago is certainly a franchise that is capable of spending the big bucks, and with Tucker in a contract year, they will need to decide quick, fast, and in a hurry if they want to do just that to extend him, or if they will let another big name star walk in free agency like they did with the rest of their 2016 World Series core.