CHICAGO – It sounds like a good problem to have, but roster decisions like those the Chicago Cubs soon will have to make never feel "good." With outfielders Jorge Soler (hamstring) and Chris Coghlan (rib cage) nearing a return from their rehab stints, who will stay and who will go?

“There’s all kinds of conversations taking place when you’re going through these moments,” manager Joe Maddon said Thursday afternoon. “It’s not an easy conversation, but it has to be done.”

The difficulty for Maddon and the Cubs front office is that the players who could be sent to the minors without clearing waivers – like Willson Contreras and Carl Edwards Jr. – are contributing. And if the Cubs instead choose someone to designate for assignment, they'd lose some much-needed depth. Sometimes the easiest decision is to simply send down the players with options because it buys time with no one leaving the organization.

“It’s not easy,” Maddon explained. “The players, to a certain extent, they will understand, but deep down it's hard to swallow.

“I’ve been faced with that coming out of spring training, with starting pitchers, for example. It’s really difficult if both [players] don’t have options.”

So what are the possibilities with Soler and Coghlan? Soler actually can be optioned to the minors without clearing waivers, and considering he’s just 1-for-12 at Double-A Tennessee the team might conceivably do that until he finds his stroke again. Coghlan is a different story. With a healthy roster he might find himself looking for a new gig as there really isn’t a position player to replace. It still won’t be an easy call by the front office, since veteran left-handed hitters are coveted at this time of year, and Coghlan has been hitting well at Double-A.

“You never want to lose inventory because you know that person is there to help you in the future,” Maddon said.

Both Edwards and Contreras have said they never want to return to the minors, but if either were having any struggles they would be the ones to go; and major league rosters expand in about a month anyway. But both might simply be too valuable to send down even for a month. So is righty Matt Szczur – who’s out of options -- and lefty Tommy La Stella. They are Maddon’s top two hitters off the bench.

Unless the Cubs make a surprise move and say goodbye to Justin Grimm or newly called-up reliever Joe Nathan, Soler might simply be stuck in the minors until further notice and Coghlan might be on his way out. Then again, a new injury or a trade could alleviate the “problem.”

And of course the Cubs will have another decision to make when righty Trevor Cahill (knee) is ready.

“It’s tough,” Maddon said. “But they are decisions all teams make.”