Cubs non-tender OFs Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr.

Almora Jr. was the No. 6 overall pick by the Cubs in 2012. Schwarber was selected No. 4 overall in 2014.

Change is finally here for the Cubs.

After months of speculation on which member of the core might be leaving, the first domino fell on Wednesday as left fielder Kyle Schwarber was non-tendered.

Schwarber was entering the final year of his contract before entering free agency next winter. The 28-year-old outfielder had a career .230/.336/.480 slashline over six seasons in Chicago to go along with 121 home runs. After what appeared to be a breakout 2019 season that saw him his a team-high 38 homers with a 122 OPS+, Schwarber was one of many Cubs position players that struggled at the plate in 2020.

Center fielder Albert Almora Jr. was also non-tendered on Wednesday, which was MLB’s non-tender deadline. Almora slashed .271/.309/.398 over five seasons with 28 homers. Most of his appearances came in a platoon role or as a defensive replacement.

Both Schwarber and Almora Jr. helped the Cubs in their quest to capture the franchise’s first World Series in 108 years, but the overall body of work and production never came close to what the expectations were.

Almora was the first first-round pick of the Epstein era (No. 6 overall in 2012) and at the time was viewed as the center fielder of the future. Schwarber might have had the most hype of any Cubs draft pick of the last decade besides Kris Bryant.

Drafted as a bat-first catcher, Schwarber’s power and plate discipline always drew rave reviews, even getting occasional, while also hyperbolic Babe Ruth comparisons. While the power was often on display after becoming a full-time outfielder in 2017, the rest of Schwarber’s offense never quite reached the ceiling the Cubs had for him.

But the lack of production is not necessarily specific to Schwarber or Almora Jr.

The Cubs’ core has struggled to maintain consistent production over the past four years and has been an issue current president Jed Hoyer and former president Theo Epstein identified as organizational shortcomings in recent months.

According to MLB Trade Rumors arbitration projection, the Cubs will save roughly $9.5 million by non-tendering the two outfielders.

Other non-tendered players included right-hander Ryan Tepera and DH/1B Jose Martinez. Martinez struggled after being acquired at the July 31 trade deadline from Tampa Bay. The 32-year-old first baseman went hitless in 22 plate appearances. Tepera was the more effective relievers out of the Cubs’ bullpen and was second on the team with 21 appearances.

With the non-tender deadline now past, the Cubs will start to get some financial clarity on what they can do this offseason. Even with the Winter Meetings scheduled to begin virtually next week, activity isn’t expected to move nearly as quickly as a normal offseason.

‘‘I think with this offseason there is a lot of uncertainty,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘I think it’s gonna probably move a little bit slower than some offseasons, so I think we may try to get a sense of the landscape before we move forward.”

With one member of the team’s core four gone, attention now turns to Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo. The team is not currently engaged in extension talks with any of their current players, according to Hoyer. The Cubs may also begin to look for potential suitors for players that they won’t be able to keep and the market takes shape.

“We have some guys that had great years last year, and we have some guys that had down years, but I certainly wouldn’t speculate about the future of any one guy at this point,” Hoyer said. “Certainly we have players on this roster that we’d love to have here for a long time. So at some point in the future, I think we’ll probably pick those [talks] up.”