It is no mystery to anyone that the Chicago Cubs front office will be on the lookout for starting pitching options to fill out the voids left in the rotation made by free agents Jake Arrieta and John Lackey. The real question is regarding the way in which Theo & Co. wish to fill out the back end of that rotation. Will it be with top of the rotation starters? Two middle of the rotation guys? Will they let guys come in on “prove it” deals?

The Cubs started out the offseason with advanced talks with Alex Cobb, previously of the Tampa Bay Rays. The fit seemed just about perfect for the two sides. The Cubs had been linked with Cobb and other Rays starters in trade talks for years. Cobb’s former pitching coach Jim Hickey is now the man in charge of the arms in Chicago. He is a middle of the rotation starter that shouldn’t cost too much but is better than the back-end starters that are available on the market.

But the talks have seem to have stalled out. Chicago still seems to be the ideal destination for the 30 year old righty and even the most likely landing spot. So what gives? Well, the thing holding up a deal between the two parties is actually one other player. A player by the name of Shohei Ohtani.

The Shohei Ohtani saga has been dragging on for weeks now, and by this point we all know the story. There have been reports that the Cubs are now one of five teams still in the running for the incredible Japanese two-way star and it appears that the team is holding out on signing Cobb in favor of a potential deal with Ohtani. And here is how it works:

This scenario can be compared to the wise words of comedian Aziz Ansari in one of his recent stand-up specials. In the performance, Ansari explains that in today’s world we have a lack of commitment. People today (The Chicago Cubs) are invited to a party that has the potential to be a great fit for them and one that would be very enjoyable (Alex Cobb). Those same people (Cubs) refuse to fully commit to the good party (Cobb) in fear that the best and most fun party of the season (Shohei Ohtani) might happen and they could be invited to that party also. So why fully commit to the good party (Cobb) when you might have a chance of going to the best party (Ohtani) instead?

The Cubs have made it very clear that this is the way they plan on handling the filling of their starting rotation this offseason. The front office will look for one starting pitcher that could fit into the top of the rotation to middle of the rotation and fill the rest of the rotation later. If their vision was to sign two high quality starters they would have signed Cobb by now and then been able to focus on Ohtani after. Since Ohtani is holding up the Cobb deal, it appears that it will just be one of those guys instead.

In that scenario, the fifth spot of the rotation will likely be filled with the likes of a starter on a “prove it” one year deal much like the team did with Brett Anderson in 2017. There are plenty of options on the market this year including former Orioles righty Chris Tillman, potential swingman Jhoulys Chacin, and even former Chicago Cub Andrew Cashner.

One or multiple of those “prove it” starters would then compete for a rotation spot during spring training with the likes of in-house talent like Jen-Ho Tseng and Alec Mills to be the Cubs 5th starter on Opening Day 2018.