Cubs' Offseason Considered Top-10

It was quite the offseason for the Chicago Cubs.

They entered the free agency period with plans on landing multiple superstar players to overhaul this roster and create a true contender.

Coming on the heels of missing the playoffs for the third straight season, they took swings at Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and other big names on the market.

The Cubs whiffed on all of them until the front office was able to make their first Major League roster addition by signing Japanese star pitcher Shota Imanaga.

That started their run of retooling, trading for top prospect Michael Busch and established veteran reliever Yency Almonte, signing elite bullpen piece Hector Neris, and finally getting back slugger Cody Bellinger.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com thinks Chicago had the 10th-best offseason out of any team in Major League Baseball, tied with their division rivals Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.

"These three clubs provide three variations of the same theme: Making an earnest enough effort in the offseason to merit inclusion on the list, but not doing enough to come away as the clear favorite in the wide-open NL Central," he wrote.

Based on odds from different sportsbooks, the Cubs and Cardinals are the two favorites in the NL Central.

Like Castrovince said, there was a real opportunity for one of these clubs to separate themselves as the clear best team in the division, but no one was able to do that.

Chicago did address some of the concerns they had entering the offseason by upgrading their bullpen and adding more Major League depth, but not landing the superstar players put a negative connotation on what the front office was able to get done during the winter.

Overall, what matters is what actually happens on the field.

The Cubs have a great chance to go out and win the division.

The players they added during the offseason should go a long way in helping that.