The Chicago Cubs are getting desperate.

This offseason presented Jed Hoyer with plentiful opportunities, and he delivered … some of the time.

The Kyle Tucker trade was huge — the sort of aggressive swing this front office too frequently passes on. He may leave next winter, but even so, Tucker meaningfully elevates Chicago’s stature in a wide-open NL Central.

Beyond the Tucker trade, however, it has been a slow-moving offseason for the Cubs. Roki Sasaki was pinned on every dream board in the greater Chicago metro area for a year, but he never seriously considered the Cubs when it came time to put pen to paper. Chicago has a two excellent top-line starters in Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, but depth is a major concern — a concern Hoyer has stubbornly ignored until right now, when the pickings are frightfully slim.

Yes, the Cubs need another dependable starter, but it matters which “dependable starter” Chicago targets. Not every addition is an improvement. As for who the Cubs are currently in negotiations with? Well, it falls in the category of subtraction by addition, and it’s the sort of classic Jed Hoyer blunder St. Louis Cardinals fans can take extra pleasure in.

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Cubs in negotiations with ex-Cardinals ace Lance Lynn on one-year contract

Chicago has “entered negotiations” with veteran right-hander Lance Lynn on a one-year contract, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

While nothing is believed to be imminent, there’s a lot of smoke there, and Chicago’s need for rotation upgrades is well-documented. All the dots connect, except for Jed Hoyer’s apparent belief that Lynn meaningfully changes things on the North Side. If anything, the fact that Chicago can’t get Lynn on a more flexible Minor League deal is a bit shocking. He has not exactly earned a full-on MLB contract with his recent play.

Lynn, 37, spent last season back with the Cardinals, where he spent some of the best years of his career more than a decade ago. Lynn has bounced around the league quite a bit of late, however, and there’s a reason for it. He just is not the borderline Cy Young candidate he once was. Instead, Lynn has regressed into more of a borderline MLB talent, period.

He made 23 starts for the Cardinals last season, posting a 3.84 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 117.1 innings. Those are fine numbers, but Lynn is on the downswing of an impressive career. The plateau is sloping. It’s that simple. His numbers have been in free fall ever since a 2021 peak with the Chicago White Sox.

Sure, Lynn can still handle a starter’s workload, but it’s up for debate if he can do it successfully. Last season saw his velocity hit a career low, with troubling metrics across the board. He’s not missing bats or keeping baseballs in the infield. His expected ERA (xERA) sat at 4.94, a sign that he was probably lucky to end the campaign with the impressively mediocre numbers he did post. St. Louis’ defense and good, old-fashioned variance kept Lynn from complete disrepute.

The Cubs know the risks of investing in past-prime vets. Hector Neris was a complete whiff in the bullpen a season ago. Now, Lynn threatens to provide a similar experience as a starter. When Cardinals fans are celebrating the possibility of facing Lynn multiple times over the course of a season, well, that’s a sign. Hoyer should probably hang up the phone.