Cubs take care of business before, during Meetings

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After winning the World Series, the Cubs didn’t feel they had too many issues to address this offseason, but they took care of nearly everything on their wish list at the Winter Meetings.

The Cubs were the headliners last year, acquiring free agents Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey. Those players all contributed to Chicago’s 103-win season and first World Series championship since 1908. At this year’s Winter Meetings, which closed Thursday, the Cubs did find a new closer in Wade Davis and added another arm to the bullpen with Rule 5 Draft pick Caleb Smith.

“We downplayed expectations because last winter was so busy and we had so many things going on, and we reshaped our entire roster last winter,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Thursday. “We’re really excited to get Wade. That really helps us solidify our bullpen. We’ll continue to make moves in the bullpen and continue to add pitching depth. Our roster wasn’t going to change dramatically — we were just going to be specific in what we wanted to accomplish.”

The Cubs left the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center with more hardware, winning the Baseball America Award as the organization of the year.

Deals done: Manager Joe Maddon knows Davis well after their time together with the Rays, and the Cubs made a deal for the right-hander in exchange for Jorge Soler. In an unusual move, the Royals encouraged the Cubs to have their medical staff check out Davis personally, so head athletic trainer PJ Mainville flew to New York on Wednesday to do a physical before the deal was completed. Davis was on the disabled list twice in 2016 because of a right forearm strain.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said they dissected every pitch Davis threw in September when he did return from …

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