The Cubs announced that shortstop Dansby Swanson underwent surgery in early October to address an injury to his core. While it is a little surprising that this news is only surfacing two months after the fact, the procedure appears to have been relatively minor, and Swanson is expected to be fully ready for the start of Spring Training in mid-February.
Aside from a knee sprain that sidelined Swanson for a minimal stint on the 10-day injured list back in May, he otherwise had a seemingly healthy season, playing in 149 of Chicago’s 162 games. Swanson hit .242/.312/.390 with 16 homers over 593 plate appearances, translating to a 99 wRC+ and a diminished .148 Isolated Power number, a step backward from the .176 ISO he posted over his previous six seasons.
A core injury might have been a cause here, though Swanson didn’t seem any worse for wear, and actually hit better as the 2024 campaign went on — Swanson had a .632 OPS in 337 PA in the first half, but a .795 OPS in 256 PA after the All-Star break. Swanson was one of several Cubs players who had uneven seasons at the plate, and this inconsistency manifested itself in Chicago’s middling 83-79 record.
Since Swanson will be ready to go for all of spring camp, this surgery might just be a footnote in the Cubs’ offseason. Nico Hoerner’s flexor tendon surgery from October certainly seems like the larger concern, as there still hasn’t been any public word on whether or not Hoerner’s recovery timeline might stretch into Spring Training or the regular season. This lack of certainty hasn’t stopped Hoerner from being mentioned in trade rumors, but since Hoerner is still on the Cubs’ roster for now, it isn’t great news for Chicago that both starting middle infielders are recovering from surgeries.
Cubs would be very dumb to trade Hoerner before midseason
Jed Hoyer setting up for another low 80s win total .
Hoyer spends, but not great at it. Not too fond of the Boyd signing…
Wouldn’t that depend on what the offer is now?
@stymee
I’m sure your comment went beyond their comprehension limit.
There is no downside for shopping Nico now. Certainly not with Shaw in the wings, and the money ‘hopefully’ becomes available for pitching.
Cubs are a large market team and should act like it.
You don’t trade Hoerner when he is at his lowest value and when your shortstop is also coming back from an injury. Not if you are competing for a championship.
Plus Paredes sucked last year, when Shaw is ready he can play 3B, Hoerner can stay at 2B and Paredes can be a utility. If Belli or Suzuki are traded, that also opens up DH for Paredes.
Cubs should keep Hoerner, Suzuki and Belli, and get a catcher and a closer. Time to act like a large market team.
What’s wrong with spending up to, the cap??
Plus their minor leagues are producing nicely. PCA is just the tip of the iceberg.
Dodgers fan here. Good that these surgeries are getting done now.
I like the Cubs core players. I think it would be a mistake to move Suzuki, Belli or Hoerner.
They have the right manager to get this done.
Milwaukee always answers the bell, but they aren’t going to run perfect again this year.
Have to get another arm and your guy is Walker Buehler.
He’s got all the potential to be a #1 again and comes in heavy with attitude (in a good way), wants the ball every 5th day and expects to win.
Surprise team in the mix for Buehler would be the A’s. They aren’t that far off in that weak division with Houston losing Bregman and Altuve being a year older.
You must have missed the news that Buehler isn’t interested in playing for the A’s:
cbssports.com/mlb/news/walker-buehler-turned-down-…
GBS
That was 67 million ago. Buehler will “walk” that comment back if he is offered Sevy’s deal.
Y’all see that iTalk Studios video on Dansby being an albatross contract despite outperforming his WAR value so far on this contract?
I did. I don’t think the contract is good for the Cubs but I thought he over stated his case.
It would be difficult at this point for the contract not be a good contract. Just working backwards, if a FA bWAR is worth $9M each, then his $177M requires 20 WAR. He already has 8.8 bWAR, so needs only 11.2 WAR over the next 5 seasons.
I don’t understand why they seem hell-bent on trading Hoerner and Bellinger and/or Suzuki. If they’re content in being mediocre I’m going to burn my DieHard Cub fan certificate that I’ve treasured since 1977. Sick of Jed Hoyer and his cheapskate garbage.
If you think they are mediocre now, then your vintage 1977-era DieHard certificate is fake because you obviously don’t remember the Tribune years. Just say you started paying more attention in 2016 like everyone else, paid occasional attention because of Sammy Sosa hype in the late 90s, and paid none prior to Harry Caray. Either that or you have dementia and should probably get checked out.
Kindly eat the corn out of my fecal matter, you know nothing.
The Cubs got a little bad luck in 2024. Their run differential was a healthy +67 and they “should” have been in contention for a wild card slot. Wouldn’t be too surprised to see them make the postseason in 2025.
Replacing wisdom/madrigal for Shaw/Caissie is already a massive upgrade. Don’t over think this crap and go get and Ace and a closer. No more Boyd signings.
This article should at least prove to the so called Doctors that post on this site telling everybody that Hoerner will miss time at the start of the season to just be quiet. Nothing has been said, Either by the Cubs or Hoerner about anything except that he will probably not play in Japan in the middle of March. So if anybody says different call him the fool that he is.
They get their medical advice from Dr Ronny Jackson lol.
Maybe Dansby gets traded back to the Braves. He has took a step back on offense so maybe they can pry him away from the Cubbies.
I would love to see Dansby back to the Braves! The Cubs pay $8 million a year the next two years and get Arica and a prospect not in the Braves’ top 5.
As a Cub fan, I’d do it in a heartbeat. People here complain about Belli – SMH – and Dansby gets a free pass? I don’t get it.
Gives the Cubs another $19/$20 million to play with per year plus an excellent defensive SS and a good prospect.
The Braves get the heart of their team back who is still the tops defensively who will likely rake back in Atlanta.
What’s not to like?