Editor’s note from Dec. 13: The 2025 Cubs roster will look quite a bit different after the blockbuster trade for Kyle Tucker on Friday.

For more on the Tucker deal, head here:

–Cubs swing big in blockbuster trade for Kyle Tucker
–A glimpse at the Cubs lineup with Kyle Tucker in the mix

The MLB offseason has just begun but the Cubs already have a very good idea what their roster is going to look like in 2025.

The big question to start the offseason was waiting for an answer from Cody Bellinger on whether he would opt out or return to the Cubs next season.

He ended up coming back for $27.5 million, which had a slew of ripple effects on the Cubs’ roster.

“It mostly just gives us clarity,” Jed Hoyer said of Bellinger’s return. “Now we know what our roster looks like and we can go about building the team. I think before there was some uncertainty and now it adds clarity.”

[MORE: Cubs Mailbag on free agent targets, trade options and more]

Bellinger’s return means the Cubs have less financial flexibility this winter with nearly $30 million accounted for but it also means the position player group is pretty much set.

Here’s where things stand in mid-November.

Disclaimer: This is not a prediction of who the Cubs will acquire in the offseason, but rather a look at how the roster shakes out at this current moment and areas the front office will need to address.

CATCHERS

Miguel Amaya
Moises Ballesteros

Amaya had an up-and-down first full season in the big leagues, really struggling in the first half offensively and throwing out baserunners. He turned it around in the second half and finished with a 1.8 WAR (by Baseball Reference’s metric).

He’ll turn 26 in March and despite the strong second half, questions remain about whether he is a strong option as an everyday catcher for the Cubs moving forward.

In an ideal world, the team would find a veteran complement to him to split playing time behind the plate.

Christian Bethancourt filled that backup role over the final couple months of 2024 but the Cubs parted ways with the veteran earlier this month due to a roster crunch. The Cubs could reunite with the Panamanian backstop, but for now, they’re exploring other avenues.

That leaves Amaya as the only catcher currently on the 40-man roster, though top prospect Ballesteros performed well at Triple-A and could impact the Cubs lineup as a part-time catcher/part-time DH at some point in 2025.

Expect the Cubs to add to the catching group this winter with a signing or trade.

INFIELDERS

Dansby Swanson
Nico Hoerner
Isaac Paredes
Michael Busch
Patrick Wisdom

Swanson is entering Year 3 of the 7-year deal he inked in free agency. Like Amaya, he had a rough first half but turned it on late and ended up leading the Cubs with 4.3 WAR (FanGraphs).

Hoerner finished 2nd on the Cubs with 3.9 WAR though he underwent surgery on his forearm and his status for the start of the season is in question. If he is unable to go by Opening Day (which begins early this year for the Cubs on March 18 for the 2-game series in Japan), the team will have to find alternative options.

That could mean rolling with utility players like Nick Madrigal and Miles Mastrobuoni at second base. Or it could mean calling up one of the team’s top prospects in Matt Shaw or James Triantos to play second base for a little bit.

[WATCH: 1-on-1 with Hoyer from the GM Meetings]

Busch is solidified at first base after a strong rookie campaign and the Cubs are optimistic about his future both as a defender (believing he is capable of winning a Gold Glove) and as a left-handed power bat hitting in the heart of the order.

Paredes struggled after being traded from Tampa Bay to Chicago but he has 30-homer potential with strong contact rates while playing solid defense at third base.

Wisdom is under team control and may remain as a bench bat that gives manager Craig Counsell an option for right-handed pop. But the Cubs may also look to shake up the back part of the roster and find a different role player to fill Wisdom’s spot.

OUTFIELDERS

Cody Bellinger
Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
Pete Crow-Armstrong
Mike Tauchman
Alexander Canario

With Bellinger back, he will play every day – but where? He could play center field, but Pete Crow-Armstrong provides elite defense at that position and will be the everyday center fielder to open the season.

Bellinger has also played a lot of first base and DH throughout his career and could factor in to both of those spots at times in 2025. Down the stretch last year, he played right field on a daily basis while Suzuki moved to DH full-time.

That could be how Counsell and the Cubs play it next season but there will likely be injuries or other performance factors that could change the equation.

Either way, the Cubs have plenty of depth in the outfield throughout the entire organization. Tauchman has been a valuable contributor over the last 2 seasons for the team but his playing time was cut way down when all 4 of the other outfielders were healthy and the Cubs may part ways with him this winter.

Canario is out of minor-league options so he cannot be sent down to Triple-A without passing through waivers first.

It remains to be seen what the Cubs will do with Canario or how they will fill out the rest of the bench with many question marks in that area of the roster.

STARTING ROTATION

Shota Imanaga
Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Javier Assad
Jordan Wicks

Expect the Cubs to address the rotation this winter in some capacity.

Imanaga, Steele and Taillon are locked into rotation spots and form a strong 3-headed monster atop the group. The Cubs have already confirmed Assad will be in the rotation to begin 2025 after another solid year (3.73 ERA, 1.40 WHIP in 29 starts).

While it’s possible the Cubs turn to one of their in-house options (Wicks, Ben Brown, Hayden Wesneski, Cade Horton) to fill out the final rotation spot, it’s more likely the team adds another arm this winter.

[MORE: ‘Watching him throw a bullpen is like art’: Kyle Hendricks leaves a lasting legacy with Cubs]

Don’t count on Corbin Burnes, but pitchers like Max Fried or Japanese righty Roki Sasaki could be options.

It will be fascinating to see how the league adjusts to Imanaga in Year 2, though the man nicknamed “The Throwing Philosopher” will also likely have some adjustments of his own.

Steele has turned into a Cy Young-caliber performer but the big question is whether he can stay on the field for a full season. He has missed time with forearm issues in each of the last 2 seasons and he also spent a month on the IL with a hamstring injury in 2024.

BULLPEN

Porter Hodge
Julian Merryweather
Tyson Miller
Rob Zastryzny
Nate Pearson
Hayden Wesneski
Ben Brown
Caleb Kilian

The Cubs have a slew of pitchers who are without minor-league options, including Miller, Merryweather, Zastryzny, Kilian and Keegan Thompson.

How those players factor in remains to be seen, but the Cubs head into the offseason in a good starting spot with their bullpen. There are a variety of solid in-house options to build an 8-man unit.

But the Cubs will still need to address the bullpen this winter – namely in acquiring reliable high-leverage options. Injuries will strike this pitching staff at some point next year and relievers are notoriously volatile, so it’s impossible to simply carry over success from 2024 to 2025.

Just because Hodge, Miller and Pearson had success with the Cubs last season does not guarantee they will pitch well in high-leverage moments again next year.

[WATCH: Hoyer’s expectations for Cubs young pitchers]

The Cubs need quality and depth. They need pitchers who have been in big moments and have track records of success.

Last offseason, Hoyer and Co. really only addressed the bullpen by signing Héctor Neris in free agency. It became abundantly clear in April that this team needed more when Merryweather went down to injury early and Adbert Alzolay struggled.

Zastryzny is a good start to address the dearth of left-handed options at Counsell’s disposal. If Little returns to health after a shoulder injury, the Cubs might have a quality pair of lefties in the bullpen.

Expect the Cubs to add several names to this bullpen group before the start of Spring Training.