Cubs' Opening Day roster still needs 12 player subtraction, 2 potential additions

The Chicago Cubs are taking their time to finalize their Opening Day roster.

In fact, they've still got a ton of roster moves to make before they know who will be on the 26-man squad to open play later this week.

The Athletic's Patrick Mooney wrote in a new article that the Cubs still have 38 players with them in camp. That means 12 cuts are coming, mostly of guys being sent to the minor leagues but with other roster maneuvers possible, too.

Mooney adds that the Cubs could actually still be looking to add to the roster, too, if anyone cut by another team could be a possible addition to infield depth or bullpen bolstering.

There's been a lot of odd timing issues about this spring for the Cubs.

"The Cubs went into Sunday’s final Cactus League game with 38 players still on their spring roster, a sign of their deliberate, opportunistic approach and the disjointed nature of this training camp," Mooney writes. "With final cuts looming, the Cubs still have two more exhibitions against the New York Yankees at Sloan Park. The World Baseball Classic pulled players such as Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Daniel Palencia out of Mesa for stretches. The extreme heat blanketing the Phoenix area forced clubs to stage more Cactus League night games, further disrupting routines."

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Chicago just wants to make the best calls for its team to have the best chance at success in the season ahead.

Giving an extra day or two to really finalize everything isn't a bad thing. It's just taking the time to make sure the choices are correct.

The Cubs won 92 games last season but couldn't quite keep up with the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. This time around, they'd like to flip that script. And in an effort to do so, they're taking all the decision-making window they can get to ensure they have the best team for the job.

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