Jed Hoyer did a little early Christmas shopping when he landed Craig Counsell, but the front office hasn’t bothered to fill so much as a single stocking since. As such, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy still has a full wish list just six weeks from Cubs pitchers and catchers officially reporting to the team’s Sloan Park facilities. Maybe Hoyer is just waiting for all the fire and smoke to go away so he can slide down the ol’ chimbley with a sack full of free agents.
The pitching staff has some pretty glaring areas of need, especially after things fell apart for the bullpen down the stretch.