The direction of the Chicago Cubs’ 2024 season has seemed to hang on their willingness to re-sign Cody Bellinger, a slugger who enjoyed an NL Comeback Player of the Year with the team before hitting free agency at the end of last season.

But ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan recently cast doubt on the notion that the Cubs would bring Bellinger back, suggesting that the team was more likely to add one of the other impactful players left on the market.

“I do think the Cubs are going to sign one of the four Boras guys,” Passan told ESPN Chicago, referring to Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, all of whom are represented by Scott Boras. “(But) I think with Bellinger, they don’t want to go seven or eight years. They don’t want to go 200 million-plus dollars.”

Passan added that the Toronto Blue Jays have more “desperation” to meet Bellinger’s $200 million asking price. But that the Cubs could still be a fit if Bellinger is willing to agree to a shorter-term deal, which seems unlikely.

How Adding Matt Chapman Impacts the Chicago Cubs

Chapman has long been projected as a “backup” plan for the Cubs should they decide against a reunion with Bellinger.

In the batter’s box, Chapman might be a poor replacement for one of the best left-handed bats in MLB. His numbers have dipped after seven professional seasons, and his 2023 slash line was a pedestrian .240/.330/.424.

But Chapman is a gamechanger on defense, earning four Gold Glove awards in his time anchoring third base. With that skill set, the Cubs could find bigger roles for top-ranked youngsters Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, who might fill the centerfield and first base spots vacated by Bellinger.

That would certainly be a cheaper route for 2024.

How Adding Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery Impacts the Chicago Cubs

The other “Boras guys” highlighted by Passan make for more tantalizing possibilities than Chapman as two impact additions at baseball’s most premium position: starting pitcher.

Snell is coming off of the second Cy Young season of his career while Mongtomery ended 2023 by hoisting a World Series trophy with the Texas Rangers. Either southpaw would immediately jump to the top of a Cubs rotation that just said goodbye to Marcus Stroman.

Montgomery is likely the more durable option, pitching more than 150 innings for three different teams in each of the last three seasons. But Snell projects to bring nastier stuff — and has an asking price that certainly reflects that.

“Snell’s a super exciting pitcher … there’s a ton of punch,” the Cubs’ senior pitching coordinator, Casey Jacobson, told Essentially Sports. “He’s the kind of guy that, you know, he’s going to give you a good opportunity to win games even when he’s facing really good lineups … there’s just so much swing-and-miss in that arsenal.”

If they go without Bellinger and the 97 RBI he racked up for them in 2023, the Cubs could definitely use an upgrade at defense. Chapman patrolling the infield or Snell or Montgomery on the mound would provide such an upgrade, and if spending is the issue, Chapman seems like the best bet to join the Cubbies before Opening Day.