The Cubs are staring at two open outfield spots, and the most interesting internal name in the mix might be Pedro Ramirez.
With Pete Crow-Armstrong now the newly minted NL MVP, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki headed for free agency, Chicago has some real decisions to make around the edges of the roster. The in-house options include Ramirez, Matt Shaw and Kevin Alcantara, but recent comments from GM Carter Hawkins suggest Ramirez may have the inside track.
Hawkins pointed to Ramirez’s athleticism and work ethic as traits that could help him handle a more flexible role, according to Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Ramirez, 22, spent most of his minor league time at second and third base, then picked up some first base and left field after reaching the majors.
“There’s a risk to going with some unproven guys, but that allows you maybe to get some more proven guys in other spots,” Hawkins said. “I don’t think there’s one path that we necessarily would cross out at this juncture.”
Ramirez earned his promotion the hard way. At Triple-A, he hit .312 with nine homers and 19 steals in 43 games.
Once he got to the big leagues, he didn’t look overwhelmed, batting .261/.321/.402 in 266 plate appearances while adding six homers and nine steals. The speed has long been part of his game, but the power jump stood out in 2026.
Before that, he had just 25 homers across four pro seasons; this year he finished with 15.
Shaw also got a long look in the outfield when Suzuki was hurt to open this past season. He didn’t keep an everyday job once the roster was whole again, but he still posted a solid 106 wRC+ in 202 plate appearances.
Defensively, he’s been a plus in limited outfield work, and he’s also handled third base well. The issue there is simple: Alex Bregman is in town, and there isn’t room.
Alcantara brings a different kind of case. He has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons, but that has added up to just 37 games, and he’s still waiting for a real extended run with the Cubs.
He’s struggled in 50 career plate appearances, though his out-of-options status could work in his favor. He’s also got experience at all three outfield spots.
Catcher is another area where Chicago has some flexibility. Hawkins said bringing back free agent Carson Kelly remains on the table, but he also made clear the club is comfortable with internal answers, per Montemurro.
If that’s the route they take, Miguel Amaya would likely share the job with prospect Owen Ayers. Kelly was an above-average hitter in both seasons with the Cubs, and Chicago finished 10th in OPS at catcher, with most of that production coming from Kelly and Amaya.
There was also movement on the front office side. Jed Hoyer agreed to a multi-year extension during the 2025 season, and Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reported this week that the deal runs five years.
Since Hoyer’s previous contract was set to expire after the 2025 campaign, that would keep him in place through the 2030 season. Hoyer has been with the Cubs since the end of 2011, helped build the 2016 World Series winner, and took over as the lead baseball executive after Theo Epstein left in 2020.
Chicago also added Rylan Domingues as a pitching analytics coordinator. Mooney and Sharma reported that Domingues spent the last three seasons as a pitching development analyst with the Phillies, and before that worked at training facility Tread Athletics.
And in another organizational move, Ben Martin is taking over as farm director, according to Mooney. The role opened when Jason Kanzler left to become the Mariners’ manager. Martin was the assistant director of major league development last season and has worked in player development since joining the organization in 2021.
In Other News...
Pete Crow-Armstrong Just Gave Cubs Fans A Franchise Statement
Pete Crow-Armstrongs 2026 season has now been stamped in a way few players ever manage, with the Baseball Writers Association of America revealing that the Cubs star won the National League MVP award unanimously. It was the kind of year that leaves no room for debate, as he played in all 162 games and sat atop the majors in a string of offensive and defensive categories, putting together the sort of all-around campaign that changes the way a team is viewed.
For the Cubs, the significance goes beyond one trophy. Crow-Armstrong finished ahead of Shohei Ohtani in the voting, with Brice Turang third, but the larger story is what this says about where Chicago stands when its center fielder is producing at that level every night. It is the kind of franchise-defining season that can reshape expectations, and the only real question now is how far the Cubs can ride it from here. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Crow-Armstrong Changed Everything For Cubs And Now The Pressure's On
Pete Crow-Armstrongs rise has changed the Cubs entire conversation, from the way theyre built to the way theyre expected to win. Officially crowned the National League MVP, he became the first Cub to take home the honor since Kris Bryant in 2016, capping a season that had him at the center of everything Chicago did right. The homegrown star was already locked in on a six-year, $115 million extension before the 2026 season, and he backed it up with a year that looked every bit like a franchise cornerstone, finishing at .280/.372/.570 with 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases.
For a team that finally has a true centerpiece in place, the rest of the offseason has felt awfully quiet. The Cubs have not made a major splash yet, and that leaves the spotlight squarely on how they plan to support a player who just delivered 10.6 fWAR and changed the scale of expectations around the organization. With Crow-Armstrong in his prime and the bar now set higher than ever, the pressure is on the front office to show that this breakthrough season is the start of something bigger, not the peak. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Still Need This Bat While Other Teams Start Moving
The first notable corner-infield move of the offseason came off the board when the Red Sox signed former Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers to a four-year, $56 million deal. Bauers had been expected to move on after Milwaukee extended a qualifying offer, and the agreement gives one more established bat a new home while other clubs continue to sort through their own winter checklists.
For the Cubs, the timing only sharpens the focus on what still needs to be done. Chicago has yet to make any significant moves, and with the market beginning to shift around them, the front office is still staring at the same basic offseason priority: finding the right bat to deepen the lineup and keep pace as other teams start checking off their needs. [Read more 🡒]