As Cubs chase pitching, how would they approach potentially replacing a third of their lineup?

LAS VEGAS – The Cubs plan to focus most of their energy – and resources – this offseason on improving their pitching.

The goal, team president Jed Hoyer made clear, is to get the pitching staff closer in quality to the team’s position-player group, which led baseball in runs scored last season and had far and away the sport’s best defense.

But that position-player group isn’t getting carbon-copied over from 2026 to 2027.

A third of the lineup is on the free-agent market: left fielder Ian Happ, right fielder Seiya Suzuki and catcher Carson Kelly.

The Cubs extended Suzuki a qualifying offer, a safeguard move that ensures they’ll receive a draft pick should he sign elsewhere. Given he’s one of the best free-agent hitters out there, he could very well be lured away as the Cubs focus on arms.

The Cubs aren’t closing the door on any of their free agents returning, though Hoyer said, “We’re not going to be able to bring back all of them.”

Happ has been a mainstay, an elite defender whose potential departure had tears flowing from teammates’ eyes the night the Cubs’ season ended.

Kelly, meanwhile, was excellent in two years as the team’s top catcher, swinging a bat that gave the Cubs an edge at a position that doesn’t always produce.

But should any or all find new gigs, the Cubs have plans for internal replacements.

In the corner-outfield spots that were this year manned by two Gold Glove finalists, the Cubs plan to turn to infielders in Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez.

Shaw played plenty of outfield in 2026 after Alex Bregman’s arrival moved him from third base. Though he was limited by injuries, Shaw received praise for his work.

Ramirez doesn’t have even that minimal experience. But the Cubs spent the 2026 season lauding him as a wise-beyond-his-years rookie, and there’s confidence he could handle a position change, too.

“Pedro’s someone I could see playing in the outfield for us and will need to put himself in a better position defensively to do that,” general manager Carter Hawkins said Tuesday during the GM meetings. “But I have a lot of confidence he’ll be able to make those adjustments and be even more versatile than he already is.

“When you have someone that’s athletic, that’s willing to work, willing to listen, they can do a lot of things you didn’t think they could do.”

Behind the plate, the top job would go to Miguel Amaya, whose Cubs tenure predates Kelly’s. He played 117 games in 2024 before shining with the bat in 2025, when he posted a 127 OPS-plus.

Those numbers dipped last season, his OPS-plus down to a below-average 98, but the Cubs were impressed with how he performed in the many other facets of a big league catching job.

“We’ve all seen a little more out of Miggy offensively,” Hawkins said, “and that’s the expectation, that he gets himself in shape physically and mentally to have a type of offensive year that we know he can have in 2027.”

The Cubs are also high on minor league backstop Owen Ayers, their No. 2 ranked prospect who played at three different levels last season, with a .929 OPS, 25 home runs and 82 walks in 125 games.

“We’re going to figure out where we’re going to allocate our resources over the course of the next few weeks,” Hawkins said. “That could be at the catcher position. It could be that we stick internally. But it’s an area where people are going to need to step up.

“Carson was a great player for us the last couple of years. It could be Carson that steps up for us. But someone’s going to need to step up and fill those wins, and we’re excited about our ability to do that.”