Who is the highest-paid player on the Chicago Cubs?

It has been an aggressive offseason for the Chicago Cubs, as the franchise is looking to return to the postseason following a disappointing 2022 season. The club finished with a 74-88 record, 19 games behind the division-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

The Chicago Cubs have had an eventful offseason, bringing in Cody Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon, Eric Hosmer, Tucker Barnhart and Brad Boxberger. The revamped lineup should be an immediate upgrade from the 2022 roster.

"Column: Dansby Swanson signing marks the Chicago Cubs' biggest step forward since the beginning of the sell-off," iamCubsessed tweeted.

The new additions will help usher in a fresh era of Cubs baseball, as the team has lost several notable players to free agency. Notable departures include Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward and Frank Schwindel.

Even though Dansby Swanson has signed a massive seven-year, $177,000,000 contract with the Cubs, he will not be the most expensive player on the 2023 roster. That title belongs to veteran Marcus Stroman, who is set to make $25,000,000 next season.

"I would like to highlight a player I believe has been overlooked in recent years but has been quite valuable: Marcus Stroman, who has exactly 20.0 bWAR After the 2021 season, he signed a 3/$71M contract with the #Cubs and will be a valuable pitcher as they build up their club," @10to20War tweeted.

Stroman will have a $21 million player option for the 2024 season and will become an unrestricted free agent entering the 2025 season unless he signs an extension. The 32-year-old veteran is coming off a solid season for the Chicago Cubs, finishing with a 6-7 record while posting a 3.50 ERA. He also racked up 119 strikeouts through 138.2 innings.

After Stroman, the second highest-paid player for Chicago will be Seiya Suzuki, who is set to make $17 million. The 27-year-old Japanese outfielder debuted for the Cubs last season after signing a five-year, $85 million deal to make the move to the MLB.

A look at Ian Happ's 2022 season with the Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are coming off a disappointing season as they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. While the team did enjoy some promising breakout campaigns from players such as Nico Hoerner and Hayden Wesneski, the real sign of optimism came from Ian Happ.

The six-year pro enjoyed the best season of his career, earning his first All-Star selection as well as his first Gold Glove award. Happ finished the year with a .271 batting average, along with 17 home runs and 72 RBIs.