March 19: The latest breakdown from Feinsand marks the deal as a $4.5MM base with a $1.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2023 season. There are also $500K in incentives tied to the 2022 season.
March 17: The Cubs have reached an agreement with free-agent infielder Jonathan Villar, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The ACES client’s contract is pending the completion of a physical. Villar’s deal with the Cubs is worth $6MM, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The one-year deal also includes a mutual option for the 2023 season and performance incentives that can boost that $6MM base, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
Villar, 30, spent the 2021 season with the Mets, where he put together a solid .249/.322/.416 showing with 18 home runs, 18 doubles, a pair of triples and a 14-for-21 showing in the stolen-base department. That marked the second straight season of solid production at the dish for the switch-hitting Villar, who also slashed .274/.339/.453 with 24 long balls and 40 stolen bases as a member of the Orioles.
Unfortunately for Villar, that pair of above-average seasons at the plate bookended a disastrous 2020 showing that has hampered his earning power in free agency to some extent. Splitting the 2020 campaign between Miami and Toronto, Villar posted a combined .232/.301/.292 line through 207 trips to the plate. Small sample or not, that marked the least-productive year of what is now a nine-year career as a big leaguer — and it came on the cusp of Villar’s first venture into free-agent waters.
The Cubs’ infield picture is largely up in the air at the moment, so it’s not yet clear just where Villar will slot in. He’s capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, though he’s better suited for the former two positions than the latter. The Cubs are hopeful that former No. 4 overall pick Nick Madrigal, acquired from the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel at last year’s trade deadline, will be able to step up as their everyday second baseman. Madrigal, however, is recovering from surgery to repair a full tear of his hamstring last year, so it’s not a given that he’ll hit the ground running.
At third base, the Cubs currently look like they’ll rely primarily on journeyman Patrick Wisdom. Although Wisdom came out of nowhere to smash 28 home runs last season and post a .231/.305/.518 (115 wRC+) batting line as a rookie, he did so while striking out in a staggering 40.8% of his plate appearances. He can’t be counted upon to repeat last year’s surprising power display if he’s going to continue striking out at a near-41% pace, and Villar will give Chicago some cover at the hot corner if Wisdom takes a step back.
Looking to shortstop, the Cubs will hand things over to veteran Andrelton Simmons. The longtime Braves and Angels defensive standout struggled through an awful year at the plate in his lone season with the Twins last year (.223/.283./274) but remains one of the sport’s best gloves. He’ll probably log the lion’s share of innings at shortstop as he searches for a rebound to prior levels of offense.
Villar can back up any of the three positions, and the Cubs still have former first-round pick Nico Hoerner as an option to fill in around the infield as well. Hoerner, much like Madrigal has virtually no power but possesses excellent bat-to-ball skills and a sharp eye at the plate (14.7% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate in 2021). Each of Madrigal, Simmons, Wisdom and Hoerner hits right-handed, so Villar’s switch-hitting bat gives manager David Ross some more flexibility and additional matchup options.
Wonder if he got as much as he rejected from Toronto.
As always, we await developments.
This bit is not as good as the Riddler bit, but I respect the grind.
Note to Steve Adams:
Please consider changing the headline to “Update” when the news was previously reported. Many times I say to myself wasn’t this reported already when the headline pops up as if it were new.
Bluejays should be trying to get Reynolds from Pittsburgh and/or Jram from Cleveland
Martinez headlines Reynolds trade.
Moreno headlines Jram trade.
Jays heavy lifting is done.
Bench piece and a reliever, Biggio and espinal deserve a chance to play 2b.
More like Sowlinal now, guy got juiced to the gills over the offseason
Read a rumor Villar would start at SS if he signed with Cubs. Maybe it had nothing to do with money and more with Jays having him as a utility guy.
He had a really tough time with the Jays in the Covid season. Feel like even if he got offered less than the Blue Jays did it was not where he wanted to be. Baseball players are very superstitious if he has a 2022 like his 2020 season he could be looking at a minor league deal in 2023
Villar had a tough time in 2020 period. We were happy to be rid of him in Miami at the deadline that season. He didn’t follow what the team was trying to accomplish. It was no surprise when Miggy Rojas and a couple of the vets made statements alluding to Villar a couple of days before the Marlins traded him because it was getting ridiculous.
Personally, I feel Villar is a very talented player who doesn’t maximize his talent because he has a 10-cent head.
The Cubbies just paid $1MM per brain cell for this guy. Sorry to be so harsh, but I’ve never seen a big-leaguer with less baseball smarts & instincts. Absolutely drove Craig Counsell insane with the aforementioned deficiencies.
This signing notwithstanding, I really like what Hoyer is doing with this team, forgoing the tank, rebuilding on the fly with intentions of contending for that 6th playoff spot. A little over-performance from some of his pitching and they could be buyers at the deadline.
I don’t know what you’re reading but there is no way that Hoyer would promise that to Villar. As Steve points out, shortstop is not his best position. Plus they have Simmons.
Nope. Toronto offered 6.5 + 1MM incentives.
…. according to Villar’s agent, and the Cubs fell for it.
So no Correa or story for the cubs looks like. Phewww
That was never gonna happen. Media made that stuff up. Cubs were interested but only if his market completely fell off. Ricketts isn’t spending 300MM.
While I agree that it was never going to happen, happy about that, his market seems to have completely fallen off.
It would appear that way altho we await developments (ha). Seriously, it only takes one team to make it happen for Correa tho I don’t know who that team might be. Seems like a candidate for a big one year deal.
The Cubs have quite the collection of shortstops in the minors, so this stop gap measure makes sense.
Ricketts aint spending 200MM
Maybe not in baseball but he’s willing to spend $1B (that’s a B) on Chelsea soccer team. Rickett’s the cry poor rich guy outed himself.
I have to admit (and I’m not proud about it) but I find great pleasure in seeing Correa’s suitors crumble. If his agent wasn’t Boras, I’d feel CC was completely cooked by now.
Had the same not-proud-of feeling when Arrieta/Boras went unsigned so long in 2018.
Whew. Glad he didnt come to the Jays
Yeah, the guy sucks
Mets fans were happy with Villar last year.
Loved by Met fans
Loved by Mets fans, but hated by fans from his previous stops.
Good luck to the Cubs. Maybe they’ll get the good Villar, not the headless chicken one.
Incorrect. I have watched Villar for years and watch 85% of the Met games last season….dude can still play. He is a great veteran presence who can play most days and contribute. For $6m, he should easily be worth that if he can put up similar numbers.
Not a Cubs fan, but I like what they’ve been doing. They probably won’t compete for the NL Central title, but they’re going to be competitive.
Really? I thought he was actually a good guy to sign given his versatility, switch-hitting, & OPS+ just below league avg. is he that bad though? Serious question….
He just had a rough stretch for the jays and had an incident when he was pinch hit for.
Overall you are correct, he does provide some value as a versatile part time piece
We had him on the Jays couple years ago. Ran wild on the bases kept getting thrown out, couldn’t hit anything. I don’t know, he definitely sucked as a Jay. Wouldn’t be surprised if he hits in the low .200.
I am probably being a little unfair, but he was so terrible for the Jays in 2000. He had an OPS+ of 36! He looked bad at SS and on the bases. When he got pinch hit for in the playoffs he gathered his stuff and disappeared from the dugout.
And the Jays reportedly offered him $6.5 M + for this year. That’s pricy for a backup
I’d rather they just go with Biggio/ Espinal who should make a fine platoon at 2B and as utility guys
@Ducey yeah even the speed he supposedly has. Haven’t seen a guy run the bases that bad in awhile. For us he played baseball like a wild child. Jays probably paid him to not come to Toronto again.
You’re definitely being unfair. He played literally 22 games for the Jays. He’s a solid player who can play anywhere in the infield.
He’s a careless, unprofessional player. Glad the Cubs got him.
Ducey & Mario: Wow, that is really, really bad. I don’t recall seeing that, but I don’t blame you guys. It’s like the trauma we go through when we hear Sonny Gray…
He got pinch hit for, threw a hissy fit grabbed all his bats walking out on the team. Don’t think that’s unfair reaction by fans
It’s the same person commenting on two accounts lmao
He’s a very useful player
Villar was a problem with the Marlins too. They traded him after they couldn’t take it anymore and after Miguel Rojas and a couple of other vets made statements alluding to him not playing within the team. There was also the clip of when Francisco Cervelli was seen questioning him sternly in the dugout a couple of games before we traded him, the game just before Rojas’ statements. There was another moment when Jesus Aguilar was seen scolding Villar in the dugout about a week before we traded Villar to Toronto.
Very talented player with a 10-cent head.
As a Mets fan, I loved having him on the team last year. He does a little bit of everything and doesn’t hurt you anywhere. He has pop, speed and can play anywhere. His versatility was a big help.
Great sign. Much better than Baez.
Uh, no.
Hoerner, Madrigal, Villar, Alcantara and Simmons. That’s a whole lot of mid IFers. Looks like one will be pushing Wisdom for 3B.
I’m guessing Madrigal starts the season on the IL and Hoerner in AAA. Villar at 2B, Simmons at SS, and Alcantara as backup for both
Hoerner going to AAA would only happen if he struggles mightily this spring, Madrigal seems to be healthy and Alcantara is not on the 40 man roster.
So it’s fair to assume that Hoerner, Madrigal, Villar and Simmons all make the roster.
Alcantara is on the 40 man roster, but even with Villar declining he is still a better hitter than Alcantara and is still a very good defender. I wouldn’t be shocked if Alcantara was removed from the 40 man and put through waivers.
Thought he was dfa’d and then signed to a minor league deal… Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alcantara was put on waivers.
Madrigal and Hoerner haven’t shown they can stay on the field. He’s a better hitter than Simmons and I don’t think Alcantara is a serious option. Looks like a solid signing to me.
He’s only 30? Feels like he’s been around for 15 years.
He fix his age every offseason!
His mental mistakes just make days feel like years when you’re watching him.
So with Simmons at short & nd at second,
I meant to say Cubs have starters so I’m guessing Villar will be a utility guy.
Always underrated. Solid reserve who can fill in for short stretches.
Batting 4th and leading the team in HRs!
He might hit 4th for a very short time. My guess is Suzuki will bat 4th with Wisdom and Schwindel hitting 3rd and 5th.
Best of luck to you Vill!
Damn.
I’d kind of settled on Villar as an excellent fit & some more much needed offense for the Yankees. Plays all over the dirt & on the grass. Switch hitter. Power, speed. This guy can help a lot of teams. Good signing for the Cubs here.
My thoughts exactly, Ducky. I recall you bringing him up very early in the stopgap discussion …..
As long as we get our catcher, I’m good. But…. Cashman is awfully quiet again. I hope he’s not hibernating….
I did.
But I had recently come to view him as a perfect 26th man for our squad. I am still trying to scrape together offense, Clip. Catcher & 4th outfielder seem the obvious places to still add bats.
Gotta trade for Contreras, man.
Especially in light of what the rest of the AL East is doing. Our division is going to be a gauntlet. Extra WC spot be damned.
Wha do you think about Tyler Naquin? My proposal…. I missed if you responded the other day. Seems the perfect cheap candidate for CF from the Reds. Then Hicks can be the 4th OFer. I think PSA originally had that proposal.
I am not all that familiar with him, Clip.
Just looked him up on B-Ref & Savant.
Looks like he hits the ball hard & runs well. I do like that .809 OPS. Defensively, he doesn’t seem to be very good. But: Judge & Gallo are elite defensive outfielders so we can probably get away with adding a sketchier glove out there.
He’s an offensive upgrade. So: I am all for it.
Yeah, he’s not good defensively, but he is fast (base running & offense). Two corner OFers that are GG-caliber? Yep.
I understand why we traded Phat Sancho.
When the dust settles, I think our lineup is a little better all around. However, I think we have – at best – held serve when it comes to offense. & considering we were the 19th “best” offense in MLB that strikes me as a problem.
Say what you want about Gary, but our offense looks less intimidating without him.
Agreed. He’s always one swing from launching one. I forgot to mention, Naquin is also a LH bat! Very useful offensive, speed, hard hit lefty bat in the lineup….. I’d take that, man. Plus, if we needed D and Hicks could rotate in. BTV (for what it’s worth) has him at a 0.1 MTV….. that has Cashman written all over it.
Andujar for Naquin!
Anyway.
Yeah. Seems like a good fit & more than likely available. & – as you point out – Cash shouldn’t get sticker shock in re the cost. I’d absolutely take him as one of those two bats we need.
We all know Cashman is just working up the nerve to call Brett Gardner and Gardner is sitting by the phone waiting giddy everytime it rings…
Damn i wanted the dodgers to sign villar. Solid speed guy who plays multiple positions.
Underrated player, very good pick up by the Cubs.
In 2022 .249 is solid?
He is a switch hitter that put up an OPS of .729 with 18 jacks & 14 steals. Considering he is a utility player, I would say that’s actually better than “solid”.
Why are some of you guys still so hung up on batting average? Bill James taught us 40 years ago that it’s just not that important. And we still have people rating players by this fluky stat in 2022. Unbelievable.
chs1902: are you seriously using batting average as a stand alone stat to judge a player? You need to do a little research on how this sport and it’s stats work.
Name a White Sucks bench player that plays similar positions very well and batted the same. I’ll wait here.
Thought the Snakes might sign him to play 3B.
Yeah Correa isn’t going to Chicago lol.
No, they are waiting for there own prospects (Christian Hernandez, Ed Howard to develop.
Christian Hernandez, Ed Howard, James Triantos, Reggie Preciado… Pretty solid group of middle infield prospects.
And at the MLB level, former top prospects Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal.
Signing Correa was never a must.
Not all Cubs fans wanted Correa in Chicago… I’d rather see the Cubs fill several holes with 300 mil than to blow it on one player… Not to mention the health risks he brings.
Another “smaller” player that helps you build a winning 40 man roster. Underrated player can play second, short, or third and can still steal a base. Also has a litter pop in his bat. It’s the Corey Dickersons, Johnathan Villars, and Kevin Pillars that fill out a winning roster. Would have loved to have him on the Yanks, but the recent trade with the Twins made that impossible. With Steinbrenner’s comments yesterday about the Yank’s attention turning to extending Judge I suspect that there will be no signing of free agents. I think they need a starting pitcher more than a catcher. Hope they can snatch one of those A’s starting pitchers. At any rate, good for the Cubs and for Villar!!!
This guy is fine, but… We are a big market team. We have room on the payroll for 2-3 star level players, there have been many of those available this offseason. Why are we trying to dumpster dive our way to .500? Its an insult to us fans. I’m not going to be paying $100+ to go watch this roster live, no way.
Because signing 2 or 3 stars and maxing out the payroll does not equal making the playoffs… Seen the Mets and Padres try to go that route and fail in recent years.
Well, another thing that does not make the playoffs is starting a bunch of players that should be backups. That said we actually have a nice supporting cast in place and if we could actually get a main piece or 2 then we might be solid contenders again like we should always be.
Villar is effectively replacing Bote, who had that nasty injury last year and is going to be put in the 60-day.
This doesn’t stop them from letting the market for Conforto or Castellanos settle a little and making a push for them to play LF/DH, or for another mid-tier starter.
Oh yeah there’s still time and if they do something I won’t be upset. Add a Correa and a Conforto and we’re probably right back in the division mix instead of praying to make the last spot and get swept by the Dodgers. But they have to actually do it at some point.
“The Cubs’ infield picture is largely up in the air at the moment” prominently displayed on the scoreboard?
Wisdom can’t be in the lineup at Wrigley when the wind is blowing in from the northeast. So Villar will play 3B in those games, as well as when Wisdom is at DH or 1B. He can also play some SS when the Cubs have a fly ball starter out there, and some 2B if Madrigal isn’t fully recovered physically.
This is spot on. Villar will play all over just like Nico and gives them tons of versatility. I’d still like to see a Jorge Soler type added.
A Jorge Soler type? So you need a player that does nothing but hit homers? Soler is gonna help some team this year but nobody needs that “type”.
I want to see who the Cubs play DH
I bet Gomes and Contreras will both be in the lineup most days.
I like villar, hope they still havnt given up on Correa tho. Media made it seem like he was going back to the Astros a couple days again and since then nothing. Something has to be happening. I’d also settle for Castleanos or Conforto though at this point
Don’t look now, but the Cubs are starting to accumulate low-key, quality pieces. FWIW, I think this will be the future of baseball.
They definitely are in contention for a playoff spot. Though these days, who isn’t but a few teams.
The Cubs are making some shrewd moves and definitely aren’t rebuilding. I’ve always liked Villar cuz he has the power/speed combo.
I like this move by the Cubs because it means he doesn’t end back up in Toronto ;p
I was legit sweating when there was a “report” Jays were interested. Luckily most things are the internet are a lie.
it wasn’t a lie. he turned down their offer in Dec and they kept dialogue open. just because a team doesn’t get the player doesn’t mean they weren’t interested
You read it on the internet from some person that he turned down an offer.
In Toronto, we saw him produce some of the most inattentive, brain-dead plays imaginable. It got so bad, I confused him with Ball-face once! Let him make those mistakes in Chi. Thanks Cubbies!
Yeah keep rating him off of that tiny 22-game sample size. Lucky for you that your GM doesn’t do that.
Let me re-phrase that: A professional doesn’t make the kind of mistakes he does …repeatedly. He did it before Tor, he did it after, and so often in that 22-game sample, you can tell it’s who he is as a player.
If it was just defense, or base-running, or understanding the game situation, maybe he could be worked with. When it’s all of those, let someone else pay for the privilege.
@jdgoat yeah .. Villar can honestly kiss our arse. Never wanna see him wear our precious Blue Jays uniform ever again.
You can be a good player and hit a bad patch during your time with one team. (See, e.g., Sonny Gray)
Damn it, I was hoping the Mets would’ve resigned him , as a super utility guy.
That one bad 2020 season didn’t seem to hamper Kris Bryant’s earning power though. He was awful.
Good luck Jonathan. Eppler is a moron to let you and Loup go.
As a long time Met fan I agree with mrmet5
Jonathan Villar hit better than linwhore for 10% the cost and a positive team attitude.
Lindor plays great defense. Lindor is Simmons with more thump in his bat. If Lindor had been signed to six years $96 million, I would have said good deal.
Speaking off Linder, the fact that those ppl on the network ranked him top 10 (one of them ranked him #5) is laughable. The guy has always been overrated.
Not sure why the Jays even wanted Villar.
He’ll sub for Madrigal when they need an extra base hit….
Villar gets more money than Simmons, who starts? Simmons, right?
Gotta believe Schwindel and Wisdom start the season at the corners. Madrigal and Hoerner are more than enough to cover the keystone and one of them might even DH..
Suzuki and Happ have the corner outfield spots.
Villar might have the lowest baseball IQ since Cark Crawford. If it’s the ninth inning in a tie game, Villar will either (a) get thrown out trying to steal 3B with two outs and the clean-up hitter at the plate or (b) mishandle a routine ground ball or (c) be utterly out of place for a cutoff throw, which he’d probably drop anyway. Jim Palmer’s frequent comment watching Villar was “Oh no!”…..
He’s one of those guys that you either look at the numbers or watch the games. If you’re the former, you sign him. The latter? You run away fast as you can.
Maybe Ross can teach him how you play this here game
He’s a good player but you’re right, very low baseball IQ. His mental blunders ARE factored into analytical stats though. Look at the right numbers and they reflect accurately who he is. He’s good. If he were a better base runner he’d be better but he’s a very useful player.
Sucks to hear that. Having not seen very much of him, although I do watch a lot of baseball, I’m disappointed. You want your bench guys to have a strong IQ, so they can help teach the young guys when they’re not playing.
Sounds like you don’t want this guy teaching anyone.
As for Ross, I didn’t see him doing a lot of teaching since he’s become the Cubs manager, but maybe it’s all behind the scenes. Also, it may be easier for him now that his buddies are gone.
The Cubs have a sneaky good team.
Sure, if by “sneaky good” you mean very average.
Yep. This team screams .500. That might get you a wild card.
14-for-21 is not good.
For sure will be dealt at the deadline. Good piece to add in July
Beware the pick-offs.