Could the Cubs shake up their offense with a trade?

SAN ANTONIO – By the end of the season, the Cubs lineup was far more balanced than it had been earlier in the year, thanks in large part to adjustments made by young hitters Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya.

It still, however, lacked the kind of threat that leaves pitchers scratching their heads in game-planning meetings – a hitter that will hit 30 home runs in a season even as teams pitch around him.

One of those players is available in free agency. And ideally, the Cubs’ market-size, brand recognition and resources would put them at least in the conversation to pursue a hitter of Juan Soto’s caliber.

But chairman Tom Ricketts says he sets the budget based on team revenue. And that restrictive model that keeps taking the Cubs out of the running for superstar free agents, as the baseball operations department makes the calculation that spreading the money across multiple contracts is the most effective way to spend the set budget.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, however, only has positive things to say about his boss.

“Obviously we talked to Tom all the time, he asks us questions and pushes us, and we do research and all those different things, but ultimately, these are our decisions, and we own them,” Hoyer said this week at the GM meetings. “And I think that that's the best thing you could ask for, is that he respects our experience and intellect to make those decisions.”

To Ricketts’ credit, he’s never been one to go around his president of baseball operations to land a deal. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Cubs are counting on players out-performing projections if they’re going to get the level of impact bat that they were missing last season.

Two years ago, Cody Bellinger was able to step into that sort of role in the lineup. And he opted in for another year with the Cubs, picking up his $27.5 million player option over the weekend.

“He's very happy with the situation and his contract,” his agent Scott Boras said Wednesday in a news conference. “I think last year he got nicked for a few days, running into a wall and doing things like that. And he felt that, because of his age, his contract, that he was on a comfortable platform that allowed to put together another season before he considered free agency again.”

Boras was alluding to Bellinger fracturing his ribs running into Wrigley Field’s brick outfield wall in April and fracturing his left middle finger in July.

Most of the Cubs’ defensive positions are filled by everyday starters who are under team control for multiple years – although the Cubs are expected to pursue another catcher to share responsibilities with Amaya.

A trade following the model of the deadline deal that sent third baseman Christopher Morel to Tampa Bay and brought Isaac Paredes to Chicago could shake up that gridlock.

“Baseball trades are sort of hard to make in today's game," Hoyer said, "but I think you have to look for them and find the right teams that will do them.”