Jed Hoyer and the Cubs are heading into a pivotal offseason. After 4 straight years without a trip to the playoffs, Hoyer and Co. are looking to build a roster that can get the franchise back into October. As they work to enhance this group, we are analyzing the Top 10 building blocks already on the Cubs roster. Next up: Honorable mentions.

Paring the Cubs roster down to the Top 10 most important building blocks was a difficult endeavor.

We had a lot of discussion that went into who should crack the Top 10 out of the entire roster (including minor league players) and where each player should be ranked.

So inevitably, there were going to be some important players kept off the list.

Among big leaguers, it was tough leaving off Jameson Taillon, Nico Hoerner and Miguel Amaya for various reasons.

And we found room for only 1 prospect (Cade Horton at No. 10) in the original rankings, but Owen Caissie and Moisés Ballesteros certainly look to be a big part of this team’s future.

Let’s break it down individually:

Jameson Taillon

The veteran right-hander was as reliable as ever in 2024, posting a 12-8 record with a 3.27 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 16 quality starts.

He is a stabilizing presence in the rotation and is a big reason why the Cubs feel confident about their starting staff entering 2025 with Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Taillon leading the charge.

But Taillon is more of a short-term building block and that’s why he ended up outside the Top 10. He will turn 33 on Nov. 18 and is signed for only 2 more years (through 2026).

At $18 million a season, that is a relative bargain. And after a tough first half in his debut season in Chicago, Taillon has looked exactly like the pitcher the Cubs hoped they would get when they inked him to a 4-year deal.

But there are simply players who fit into the mold of “building block” a bit more than Taillon given his age and contract structure.

Nico Hoerner

This was the toughest one for us to leave outside the Top 10. Hoerner is an integral part of the Cubs’ daily lineup as a key defender and valuable baserunner/table-setter on offense.

Hoerner is also only 27, so he is firmly in his prime playing years. But even with the extension he signed, he remains under team control for only 2 more years (through 2026) and it is hard to argue with the production of players like Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki (who also have 2 years of control remaining) higher on this list. Hoerner doesn’t have a no trade clause unlike Happ, Suzuki and Swanson, making it possible he is dealt at some point.

Hoerner finished 2024 with the 2nd-best WAR on the Cubs by FanGraphs’ valuation – 3.9, behind Dansby Swanson’s 4.3 WAR.

The second baseman combines with Swanson for arguably the best defensive middle infield tandem in the league and Hoerner has also led the team in stolen bases and hits each of the past 2 seasons.

His offense took a bit of a step back for most of 2024 but a hot finish brought him to near-career levels across the board. He still does not hit for much power (29 career homers in 548 MLB games) but boasts an elite contact rate.

Only 2 qualified hitters struck out less than Hoerner in 2024 (10.3%) – San Diego’s Luis Arraez and Cleveland’s Steven Kwan.

[WATCH: Is the Cubs offense in a good spot entering the offseason?]

That kind of high-contact ability mixed with speed and basestealing prowess brings a unique skillset to any lineup and helps diversify the Cubs’ offense.

But at the end of the day, Hoerner is not be a middle-of-the-order bat and is only guaranteed to be in Chicago for the next 2 seasons, so he fell off this list.

Miguel Amaya

This was a difficult ranking, though for different reasons than Taillon and Hoerner.

Amaya is only 25 years old (he’ll turn 26 in March) and is under team control through the 2029 season. He is also on a pre-arb contract, so he’ll make less than $1 million each of the next 2 seasons.

But it was only a few short months ago that there were legitimate questions about whether Amaya was the long-term answer at the catching position.

In early July, Amaya was hitting only .186/.249/.256 (.505 OPS) and was struggling to throw out basestealers. Given that he was an unproven player with only 53 MLB games under his belt before this season, it was unclear if he could materialize into the catcher of the future or how much patience the Cubs would have for him to be the everyday catcher for the rest of the 2024 campaign.

But then Amaya turned things around offensively and had better success throwing out baserunners. Combine the strong second half with his work behind the plate – he drew rave reviews for how he handled the pitching staff and boasted a strong catcher’s ERA (3.63) – and Amaya looks to be a building block for this team.

Owen Caissie

As we mentioned earlier in this series under the Michael Busch entry, left-handed power bats don’t grow on trees.

Caissie is one of the best prospects in baseball, ranking No. 34 on MLB Pipeline’s list. He just turned 22 in July and has played a full season at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

He could be ready to factor into the big-league roster equation as early as Opening Day after slashing .278/.375/.473 (.848 OPS) with 19 homers, 75 RBI and 69 runs scored in 127 Triple-A games. All that came while being more than 5 years younger than the average Triple-A player in 2024.

Caissie is big (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) and athletic as a corner outfielder. He can hit for power, gets on base and has impressed those within the Cubs organization with his speed.

[MORE: Are the Cubs set up to be a playoff team in 2025?]

Given his age and the fact that he is under team control through at least the 2030 season, Caissie is one of the most important building blocks on this team.

Though a couple questions remain – how will he adjust to the big leagues and what position would he play in Chicago?

The Cubs already have left field (Ian Happ), center (Pete Crow-Armstrong) and first base (Michael Busch) locked in with Seiya Suzuki playing either right or serving as the full-time DH. That would leave room for Caissie to potentially carve out a role at whatever spot Suzuki doesn’t fill.

Moisés Ballesteros

Like Caissie and Horton, Ballesteros has yet to make his MLB debut. So that means he’s under team control through at least 2030.

The left-handed-hitting catcher/first baseman will turn 21 on Nov. 8 and ranks 44th on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list.

Ballesteros reached Triple-A during the 2024 campaign and performed well (.281/.340/.454 – .794 OPS in 68 games). He has an advanced approach at the plate, displaying power and high average while also walking at a good rate and limiting his strikeouts.

Will that translate to the big leagues?

His bat could be MLB-ready in 2025 but will his glove? Ballesteros has only caught 223 minor league games while also seeing time at DH and first base. Would the Cubs trust him to handle a big-league pitching staff on even a part-time basis next season? Or would Ballesteros be utilized more as a DH bat in Chicago?

Those are questions without answers right now but the future is certainly bright for Ballesteros to impact the Cubs lineup at some point soon.

Among those who missed the cut, there are a slew of top prospects who don’t have a clear pathway to big-league playing time as of right now.

Matt Shaw is a highly rated prospect but the Cubs infield is set at the moment. James Triantos and Cam Smith fall into the same category. It’s possible Kevin Alcántara may leapfrog Caissie on the outfield/DH depth chart — he’s already debuted in the big leagues — and he has the advantage of playing center field as well.

Some of those players may ultimately be moved in a trade to add an important building block to this current Cubs roster. Or the other possibility is things change and they shoot their way up this list a year from now.

Top 10 Cubs building blocks

1. Pete Crow-Armstrong
2. Justin Steele
3. Shota Imanaga
4. Dansby Swanson
5. Seiya Suzuki
6. Ian Happ
7. Michael Busch
8. Isaac Paredes
9. Ben Brown
10. Cade Horton