The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran infielder Eric Sogard, reports ESPN’s Jesse Rogers (Twitter link). The Octagon client figures to join their Major League camp as a non-roster invitee.
The 34-year-old Sogard has spent three of the past four years with the division-rival Brewers and been quite productive in two of those four seasons. Poor showings in 2018 and 2020 have weighed down Sogard’s production overall, but dating back to 2017 he’s a .257/.343/.377 hitter (93 wRC+) in just shy of 1000 plate appearances.
Sogard has never offered any pop at the plate outside of 2019’s juiced-ball season, but he’s posted a strong 10.8 percent walk rate over the past four years while striking out at just a 14.6 percent clip. He’s regarded as a strong defender at second base but also has experience playing shortstop and third base, making him at least a potential bench piece for the Cubs.
Former first-round pick Nico Hoerner and utilityman David Bote give the Cubs a pair of second base options on the 40-man roster, but Hoerner struggled quite a bit in 2020, hitting just .222/.312/.259 in 126 plate appearances. A strong showing in camp could still put him in position to seize the Opening Day role, but Sogard’s left-handed bat would make for a natural pairing with the right-handed-hitting Bote if Hoerner continues to look overmatched this spring.
Nice signing… Now Sign Cole Hamels.
You putting a team together to face The Yankees on Old Timers Day?
He hit a home run last year and he wears glasses.
It is an odd-numbered year. So he’ll do well.
The face of MLB still chugging along!
Meh… not too excited about this signing. Should I be?
Sogard is simply an insurance policy, so if insurance excites you, let the party begin.
This guy is so damn gard you’re gonna need to change the c in Eric to a K
nice addition for little commitment
And there’s the Cubs starting 2B on Opening Day
Hopefully it’s Nico.
Hopefully it is Nico, but I could see them sending him back to Iowa and giving Sogard/Bote the 2B opportunities at the beginning of the season
He is simply competing for a bench spot. They needed a left handed option on the infield. Nothing wrong with this move.
He was so good for the Jays, it’s too bad he’s been off and on most of his career
Agreed. And he came to the Jays on a minor league contract, then made the team. Maybe history repeats itself.
He played well for three Jays. Really enjoyed watching him play.
Cubs getting ready to Cub.
Sox troll. So jealous of the Cubs. Sox will always be 2nd in Chicago. Enjoy!
They’re not even second. The defunct Chicago Blitz, Fire & Sting have a better fan base.
Must be tiresome maintaining 6 different identities. Do all y’all hang out in the same basement?
Ahhhh, the troll gets trolled, classic
The Cubs are not better than the White Sox.
Talking about the fan base. Cubs will always be more popular than the Sox.
One injury to Giolito and they are screwed. Or if Moncada does not improve. the Sox are a really good team, but lack depth at Catcher, SP, and OF to make a run.
how much depth at. catcher do you need? Tampa was starting Zunino last year
Cubs fans follow like sheep. Baaaaaaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaa.
I was at the Cub game the day they announced they had acquired Kenny Holtzman from the Yankees. This was late 70s i think. Holtzman was washed up. But the whole park roared and cheered for 5 minutes. It was embarrassing. And Cub fans have not changed one lick.
He was their main catcher all year long?
It is a goat, get it right
yep! Sox should be better than the Cubs this season but the they are still and will always will be the secondary team in Chicago.
@PeteWard8 Sounds like you should be old enough to know better than get on message boards to troll.
Android- I’m a Sox fan and turning 65 and its funny. Its not just this site. I text or call my Cub fan friends every move and game. And they hit me the same. All our lives been having fun back and forth. Its not trolling or being mean. No need to take to heart. Its funny.
Cubs fans support their team through think and thin unlike the southside club. Sox Park was largely empty during their roster rebuild.
I have in-laws that are Sox fans and they would give me tickets to take my son, his friend and a in-law nephew to Sox Park. Not exactly a free outing once you pay for parking, souvenirs, etc. Anyway, nice park, good food and drink but as soon as we sit down we hear F-bomb Cubs, Wrigley is a F-bomb dump, yada, yada, yada from some older Sox fans who are already drunk and the game hasn’t started yet! Their hatred of the northside is ingrained, no denying it. They can’t help themselves.
djmac- your in-laws are very kind and generous. Cub fan complain about the paying for parking. And we used to go to the Cub Met games just to see the fights in the stands. It was great. And ladies day? whew! We always did pretty good hound dogging on ladies day. Met some very nice young ladies. I have to admit Wrigley Field ranks right up there with the laundrymat for meeting women.
You wouldn’t say that my in-laws are kind and generous if you knew my in-law nephew. We must have walked 4 miles around the park, probably 8 trips to the restroom, and 5 trips to the souvenir stand. The kid wore me out and I don’t remember much about the game except for the foul language from drunk Sox fans.
I’ll take the experience at Wrigley any day.
Wrigley Field is good. As a kid I saw Rose Aaron Clemente Mays Gibson Koufax play there. Can’t say I ever had a bad experience at Wrigley. After one game in 1969 we decided to walk home rather than take the bus. It took us almost three hours to get home and not once did we think to jump on the bus along the way. Crazy
Same post over and over with at least 3 screen names
In baseball yes. Overall in Chicago. They’re no
5th.
Cubs
Bears
Blackhawks
Bulls
White Sox.
That’s questionable. Not sure how many people follow wmnba and MLS.
Same post with 3-4 screen names.
Says Davro the troll
Love those sox fans…or is it fan? Have done nothing for a decade and a half, make a few pickups in the offseason, and it is smack talk time! I cannot imagine having the time–or lack of life–to allow me to just troll Cubs articles. But whatev. Hopefully when you get to high school, or get a job, you will find there is more to life.
Says the troll
Bryant trade deal
Insurance?
Prediction:
Giants vs. Cubs NLCS
Tigers vs. Orioles ALCS
Giants vs. Orioles in WS
Giants win.
Lol
Long Island Ducks in 4
Cubs are like 20/1 to win the pennant.
yep! Sox should be better than the Cubs this season but the they are still and will always will be the secondary team in Chicago and that will never change.
Never say never Dunk. You just jinxed the Cubs. It’s on you.
Posting under at least 3 different names too
The question is will Sogard be the new Jason Kipnis or the new Daniel Descalso?
Neither. Sogard will be the new Mick Kelleher.
Hopefully Kipnis, as Descalso was never healthy.
Sogard should be a third base coach for an A team in the minors.
Great reference to Mick Kelleher. Sox do look as if they are ready to make a HUGE jump this year. Cubs will always be Chicagos team. Go Cubbies
Chicago is a Bears town. Cubs recent resurgence has put them back on the map and while there will always be more Cubs than Sox fans, this is the Sox time to shine. Rick Hahn grew up a Cubs fan but has done a terrific job of emulating the Cubs rebuild.
the Cubs get this guy cheap — the same guy the boy wonder Stearns signed for $4mil last year. tough to be the boy wonder. sign some more over the hill vets David.
Good to see them bring in the professor. Hamels might be pretty good if he comes at a reasonable rate. Would be nice to see some LH starters as possibilities. Maybe someone that can pass 90 MPH would be a good choice too. It’s great to actually see box scores again.
There’s an old saying when teams sign mediocre aging players after unloading salaries. It goes like this:
“When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout, Reorganize! Reorganize!”
Winner winner
Must be tiresome maintaining 6 different identities. Do all y’all hang out in the same basement?
Must be tiresome to spew out the same lame comment a half dozen times. I know reading it is.
And really original, Willie Wildkat, to steal someone else’s catchphrase as your username. Even Chitown311 has moved on from that one, gets a decent comment in every dozen posts or so, and has some notion of humor which you clearly do not.
I really wanted the Cubs to do this for the 2019 season, sign Sogard, trade Zobrist, non-tender Russell and keep LaStella…. Instead we kept Zobrist, Russell and signed Descalso, trade La Stella and Sogard went on to hit .300 for the Jays.
Oh well, better late than never I suppose.