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Cubs Designate Alexander Canario For Assignment

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The Cubs are designating outfielder Alexander Canario for assignment in order to open a roster spot for Justin Turner, reports ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Canario is out of minor league options and would’ve either needed to break camp with the team or else be designated for assignment (and subsequently waived or traded) at the end of spring training.

Canario, 25 in May, came to the Cubs alongside righty Caleb Kilian in the 2021 deadline swap that sent Kris Bryant to San Francisco. At the time, Canario was considered among the Giants’ ten or so top prospects due in large part to his plus raw power. Just 21 years old and in Low-A at the time of the trade, he’d undergone shoulder surgery to repair a labrum tear the year prior. His 2021 season produced sub-par results, but that’s not a surprise for a player trying to get back into the swing of things following a canceled 2020 campaign and a notable surgery.

Subsequent seasons have yielded better results at the plate but ongoing questions about Canario’s hit tool, approach at the plate and ability to stay on the field. He crushed 37 home runs while batting .252/.343/.556 across three minor league levels in 2022. He was limited to 59 games in 2023 — including a brief six-game MLB debut — when an ankle injury and further shoulder troubles slowed him. Canario popped 18 homers in 64 Triple-A games in 2024 and logged a .280/.357/.443 line in 28 big league plate appearances.

Even beyond the durability concerns, Canario’s performance in the upper minors gives reason for pause. His surface-level stats, particularly his power output, look quite appealing. He hit .248/.329/.552 with 24 homers in just 350 Double-A plate appearances and .252/.345/.521 with 32 homers in only 528 Triple-A plate appearances. However, Canario fanned at a 26% clip in Double-A and a 28.9% clip in Triple-A.

Canario’s strikeout troubles have actually risen even as his time in Triple-A has progressed. He fanned at a 25% rate in his first 20 games there back in 2022 but saw that number rise to 28% in 36 games in 2023 and a huge 30.4% in 64 games last year. He’s only taken 45 MLB plate appearances but has punched out in 42.2% of them (19 times). The 63.5% contact rate Canario posted in Triple-A last year would’ve ranked dead-last among qualified big league hitters by a margin of more than two percentage points. In his 45 MLB plate appearances, he’s made contact on only 59.8% of his swings.

Defensively, Canario is limited to a corner and is not regarded as a plus defender — despite having a plus arm. He’s a slightly below-average runner who lacks the range for center field. That profile, paired with his plus raw power and notable platoon splits, has prompted scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs and other outlets to project him on the short side of a right field platoon in the majors.

At this point, Canario had presumably fallen to no better than sixth or seventh on the Cubs’ outfield depth chart. Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker form the starting trio, with Seiya Suzuki slotted for regular DH work and occasional corner duties. Kevin Alcantara is on the cusp of MLB readiness and is younger with better defense, multiple minor league options remaining and a vastly higher ceiling overall. Fellow top prospect Owen Caissie is also on the 40-man roster and had surely leapfrogged Canario as well.

Given his huge raw power, Canario could very well end up with another club by way of a small trade or waiver claim. But Canario’s prodigious swing-and-miss rates, broad-reaching susceptibility to breaking pitches and minimal defensive upside all combine to make him less appealing to big league clubs than some might expect when looking at his surface-level numbers. Former Cardinals outfield prospect Moises Gomez found himself in a similar spot last spring and went unclaimed on waivers.

Canario’s DFA window will last for one week, but if the Cubs are to trade him, they’ll need to do so within five days. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, so if Canario isn’t traded within five days’ time, he’ll head to the waiver wire.

Jim Todd Passes Away

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Former major league pitcher Jim Todd passed away earlier this month at 77. A right-handed reliever, he pitched six seasons in the majors during the 1970s.

The Cubs selected Todd in the ’69 draft coming out of Millersville University in Pennsylvania. He was a starter throughout his minor league career but moved to the bullpen upon reaching the majors in 1974. Todd pitched to a 3.89 earned run average across 88 innings for the Cubs as a rookie. Chicago dealt him to the A’s that offseason.

Todd had his best season for Oakland in 1975. He recorded 12 saves while turning in a 2.29 ERA over 122 innings out of the bullpen. He received a down-ballot MVP vote in the process. Todd pitched in all three games of the ’75 AL Championship Series. Oakland was swept by the Red Sox in what would be his only career playoff action. Todd spent another four years in the majors, alternating good and bad seasons while splitting his time between the A’s, Cubs and Mariners.

Over parts of six seasons, Todd posted a 4.23 earned run average across 511 major league innings. He struck out 194 hitters, picked up 25 wins, and recorded 24 saves. He finished 119 of 270 career appearances. According to his obituary, Todd had a career in real estate after his playing days concluded. MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.

Cubs, Chris Flexen Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are in agreement with veteran righty Chris Flexen on a minor league contract, report Sahadev Sharma and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The signing is pending a physical. Once finalized, it’ll presumably include a non-roster invite to big league camp for the O’Connell Sports Management client.

Flexen spent last season on the other side of Chicago. He inked a one-year, $1.75MM free agent deal with the White Sox. Flexen provided the Sox with a reliable source of innings. He led the team with 160 frames across 33 appearances. He turned in a 4.95 earned run average with a below-average 17.4% strikeout percentage and an 8.9% walk rate. While it wasn’t the most exciting rate production, there was value in taking the ball every fifth day on an otherwise inexperienced pitching staff. That was particularly true in the second half, as Chicago had traded Erick Fedde and was limiting Garrett Crochet to short starts to avoid overworking him.

The 30-year-old Flexen has topped 100 innings in all four seasons since returning to affiliated ball after a stint in Korea. He posted a sub-4.00 ERA in consecutive years for the Mariners in 2021-22. The numbers took a turn for the worse in ’23, as opponents tagged him for nearly seven earned runs per nine across 102 1/3 frames between Seattle and the Rockies.

Flexen has an uphill battle to securing a spot in the Cubs rotation. Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd have the top four spots secured. Javier Assad seems the frontrunner for the final rotation job, though he’ll face competition from Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and potentially swingman Colin Rea. If Rea ends up in long relief, there’s limited flexibility amidst a bullpen that features a number of pitchers who cannot be optioned (e.g. Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier, Tyson Miller, Julian Merryweather, Caleb Thielbar, Keegan Thompson).

The Cubs could view Flexen as rotation depth for Triple-A Iowa. However, he’ll have the right to retest free agency if he doesn’t break camp. Under the collective bargaining agreement, MLB free agents who sign minor league deals more than 10 days before Opening Day have three guaranteed opt-out opportunities: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1. Flexen qualifies after finishing last season on the Sox’s MLB roster.

Cubs, Dixon Machado Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are bringing infielder Dixon Machado back on a minor league contract, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’ll be the Octagon client’s third stint with the organization. He also played for the Cubs in both 2019 and 2022, spending the interim two seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Machado, 32, spent the 2023-24 seasons in the Astros system but wasn’t called to the majors with Houston. He slashed .230/.369/.356 in 293 Triple-A plate appearances in 2023 and hit .228/.335/.305 in 202 minor league plate appearances last year.

Though Machado has twice been a part of the Cubs organization previously, he’s never played in a big league game for them. His most recent MLB work came with the 2022 Giants, and the rest of his MLB tenure has been spent in a Tigers uniform. The Venezuelan-born shortstop has played in 177 major league games and batted .226/.285/.292 in 522 turns at the plate. Though he’s never provided much value with the bat, he does have good contact skills, evidenced by an 18.4% strikeout rate in the majors and just a 14.4% rate in the minors last year.

Machado is a versatile defender who’s typically been capable of playing quality defense at any of shortstop, second base or third base. Since signing out of Venezuela as a teenager, he’s played more than 12,000 professional innings at shortstop (majors, minors and KBO combined). He’s also logged close to 1300 innings at second base and more than 300 at third.

The Cubs’ infield in 2025 figures to include Michael Busch at first base, Nico Hoerner at second, Dansby Swanson at short and top prospect Matt Shaw at third base. Veteran Jon Berti was signed to a big league deal to take a utility role. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman and out-of-options former top prospect Vidal Brujan are both on the 40-man roster, but neither is any kind of lock to make the team. Non-roster options for backup jobs in the infield include Nicky Lopez (who signed a minor league deal) and James Triantos, another top prospect in a loaded Cubs farm system.

Tigers Made Six-Year Offer To Bregman

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Alex Bregman is headed to Boston on a three-year deal that comes with a massive $40MM average annual value (albeit with deferrals). The two-time All-Star was also known to have multiple six-year offers on the table, one of which was from the Astros.

The Tigers also proposed a six-year offer, as first reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. Petzold initially reported that Detroit’s offer was for narrowly above $170MM and included an opt-out clause after the second season. It had some amount of deferred money. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale specified it as a $171.5MM offer.

Detroit’s offer came with an approximate $28.58MM average annual value, before accounting for deferrals. Bregman obviously fared much better on an annual basis on the agreement with Boston. It seems as if Detroit offered the highest overall guarantee. The Astros had a six-year, $156MM offer on the table for most of the winter. While they reportedly bumped that towards the end of the process, they didn’t seem optimistic about getting a deal done.

Indeed, it doesn’t seem that Houston was even in the running by the end. Nightengale reports that the Cubs, Tigers and Red Sox were the finalists. As with Boston, Chicago only seemed interested on a short-term deal. However, they weren’t willing to match the Sox’s offer on an annual basis. Nightengale reports that the Cubs proposed a four-year, $120MM deal. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, that would have included opt-outs after the second and third seasons.

The Tigers and Cubs would each have kept Bregman at his traditional third base position. They’re likely to turn the hot corner to young players with top prospect pedigree but little to no MLB experience (Jace Jung and Matt Shaw, respectively). Bregman is ticketed for second base work in Boston, where Rafael Devers will stick at the hot corner.

Poll: Will The Cubs Extend Kyle Tucker?

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The Cubs have made a number of moves to push in towards a return to the postseason in 2025 after missing the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and not winning a playoff game since the club’s NLCS loss to the Dodgers back in 2017. After decent showings the past two seasons, both of which saw the club finish with 83 wins, the Cubs have gotten more aggressive in their efforts to improve. While the additions of Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea to the rotation mix, Ryan Pressly and Ryan Brasier to the bullpen, as well as Jon Berti and Carson Kelly to the bench are all more or less par-for-the-course moves for the Cubs in recent years, they made a major splash by swinging a trade with the Astros for Kyle Tucker.

The acquisition cost was steep, as they gave up top third base prospect Cam Smith as well as All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and young right-hander Hayden Wesneski, but the acquisition of Tucker was a major upgrade for the lineup relative to Cody Bellinger and figures to provide the Cubs with an impact star who can anchor their lineup. Tucker’s slated to become a free agent after the 2025 season, however, and while youngsters Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara are waiting in the wings at Triple-A as potential replacements for Tucker in 2026 it would be an incredibly tall order to expect either youngster to become the sort of to player Tucker has fashioned himself into.

With the club having already given up substantial assets to just land one year of Tucker, the minds of many fans immediately go to an extension. It’s far from uncommon for star players traded just before their final year of team control to promptly extend their stay with that new club, with Francisco Lindor, Paul Goldschmidt, and Mookie Betts among the most notable star position players to work out long-term extensions shortly after being traded. With that being said, it doesn’t always work out that way as the Yankees found out when they gave up a massive haul for one year of Juan Soto’s services last winter only to watch him depart in free agency back in December.

Soto’s record-shattering $765MM deal won’t be an even remotely realistic target for Tucker, who will crucially head into free agency three years older than this offseason’s star free agent. Even so, that massive contract figures to raise the bar at least somewhat on the price tag for Tucker’s services. After all, both lefty-swinging right fielders are among the most valuable outfielders in the game over the past few years. Tucker’s 19.1 fWAR since the start of the 2021 season trails Soto’s 24.6 figure, but that’s with Tucker having missed half of the 2024 campaign due to a shin injury. Tucker lacks Soto’s generational plate discipline, but the former’s .280/.362/.527 slash line is in at least the same ballpark as Soto’s .279/.423/.520 slash line.

As previously mentioned, Soto’s youth and stronger overall offensive contributions mean his deal will greatly eclipse Tucker’s. Even so, it’s wholly reasonable to think that Tucker could exceed the $330MM guarantee Bryce Harper landed with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season and even Aaron Judge’s $360MM guarantee from the 2022-23 offseason. With major market clubs like the Dodgers, Yankees, and Giants all poised to have a hole in the outfield next winter, it’s not hard to imagine the bidding for Tucker’s services surpassing $350MM or even reaching $400MM so long as he’s healthy and as productive as expected this year. Signing a player to that sort of deal would be completely unprecedented for the Cubs, who have never signed a player for more than the $184MM deal they gave to Jason Heyward prior to the 2016 season, and it seems unlikely that a Tucker extension would come at much of a discount.

While doubling the franchise’s record contract would be a bold move, its one the Cubs should be able to afford. Despite playing in one of the league’s largest markets, Chicago has tended to treat the first luxury tax threshold as something of a hard cap in recent years. That first threshold will sit at $244MM in 2026, when RosterResource projects the club to have just $136MM in guaranteed contracts on the roster. That’s before likely raises for arbitration-eligible players like Justin Steele and a decision on Shota Imanaga’s deal that seems likely to raise the southpaw’s salary, but there should at least theoretically be plenty of room in the budget for a Tucker extension even after considering those factors should the Cubs wish to work one out.

There’s plenty of reasons to wonder if the Cubs would really have the appetite to sign Tucker to a massive contract, however. As noted by The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, the Cubs appear to be acting quite cautiously when it comes to guaranteed contracts that extend beyond the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement in 2026. At the moment, Imanaga and Dansby Swanson are the only two players the club has guaranteed money to beyond the 2026 campaign. Even that ignores the possibility that Imanaga is allowed to opt out of his deal after the 2025 and ’26 seasons, which will depend on whether or not the Cubs are willing to pick up a series of club options that would extend his stay with the club through the end of the 2028 campaign.

One other potential wrinkle in the situation is Chicago’s pursuit of Tucker’s longtime teammate Alex Bregman. The Cubs have emerged as one of Bregman’s suitors over the course of the past month, and while they’re generally viewed as only interested in adding Bregman on a shorter-term deal (as was the case with their pursuit of Bellinger last winter), it’s at least possible that the club signing Bregman to a deal that guarantees upwards of $30MM annually could leave them uninterested in adding another high-dollar contract like the one Tucker figures to command.

What do MLBTR readers think about the situation? Will the Cubs and Tucker work out an extension before he reaches free agency in November? Or will Tucker follow in the footsteps of Soto and hit the open market? Have your say in the poll below:

Cubs Outright Rob Zastryzny

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Cubs reliever Rob Zastryzny cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transaction log. The southpaw has the right to elect free agency, as he has been outrighted multiple times in his career.

Chicago squeezed Zastryzny off their roster when they acquired Ryan Brasier last week. They had claimed the southpaw off waivers from the Brewers in the first week of the offseason. The Missouri product returned to his original organization. Chicago drafted Zastryzny in the second round in 2013. He tossed 16 innings for their 2016 World Series team as a rookie. Zastryzny remained with the Cubs through 2018, when they outrighted him.

He bounced around between a few organizations and spent time in the independent ranks. He returned to the big leagues with a brief stint for the Mets in 2022. The southpaw suited up for the Angels later that season and threw a career-high 20 2/3 frames with the Pirates in ’23. He spent last year with the Brewers, making nine MLB appearances and working 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball.

Between five teams, Zastryzny has thrown 67 innings with a 4.30 earned run average in his MLB career. He had a nice year with Milwaukee’s top affiliate in Nashville last year. Zastrynzny managed a 3.03 ERA with an excellent 32.5% strikeout rate across 29 2/3 frames. That intrigued the Cubs enough that they brought him back on waivers, though he had an uphill battle sticking on the roster.

That’s largely because he has exhausted his minor league options. Chicago couldn’t send him to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. The Cubs don’t have a ton of flexibility in a bullpen without many pitchers who can be optioned. If Zastryzny elects free agency, he’ll likely be limited to minor league offers elsewhere.

Cubs Notes: Assad, Birdsell, Rotation

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to camp for all 30 clubs this week, but the Cubs started a little earlier than everyone else. That’s due to the fact that the Cubs and Dodgers are starting the regular season early, flying to Tokyo to play a couple of games there in mid-March.

Inevitably, the opening of camp leads to revelations of injuries that weren’t previously known to the public. Cubs manager Craig Counsell relayed a couple of those to reporters, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. Right-hander Javier Assad is dealing with some oblique soreness while fellow righty Brandon Birdsell is dealing with an issue in the back of his shoulder. Per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, Assad is getting some imaging today.

At this point, it’s unclear if either issue is serious, though the club’s rotation depth could suffer if one or both of these hurlers have to miss some time. On paper, Assad would be in the club’s Opening Day rotation. Last year, he made 29 starts and logged 147 innings, allowing 3.73 earned runs per nine. He was probably a bit lucky to allow so few runs, as his 80.3% strand rate was well above the 72.1% league average, while his 19.4% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate were both subpar. Still, his 4.64 FIP and 4.72 SIERA still point to him being a passable back-end guy.

As of right now, the rotation to start the season would include Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd in four spots. Assad and Colin Rea would be candidates for the back end. If Assad is healthy, Rea could wind up in a long reliever role, or he could hold down the number five spot if Assad needs some time on the shelf.

Birdsell is further down the depth chart. A fifth-round pick from 2022, he is not yet on the 40-man roster. But he finished his 2024 season with 12 Triple-A starts with a 4.26 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate. He’ll likely be back in the Iowa rotation to start 2025 as a top depth option, alongside guys like Jordan Wicks, Cody Poteet and Cade Horton.

Adding to the club’s starting mix is seemingly still a possibility. The Cubs were recently connected to the rumors surrounding Dylan Cease of the Padres. They also still have a bit of wiggle room in terms of the competitive balance tax, assuming they would rather not pay it this year. RosterResource puts their current CBT number at $209MM, more than $30MM away from the $241MM base threshold.

Cease is going to make $13.75MM this year, so he could easily fit into that remaining space. There are also a few mid-rotation pitchers still available in free agency, such as Andrew Heaney, Nick Pivetta, Jose Quintana and more. The club isn’t likely to rush out and make a panic move just because of a few spring injuries, but it’s an area they had their sights set on already. It’s possible that further developments that impact the overall group could increase the club’s desire to pivot to backup plans.

Cubs Among Teams With Interest In Justin Turner

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The Cubs are considering Justin Turner as an alternative to Alex Bregman, write Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Turner will be limited to one year as he enters his age-40 season. Bregman has reportedly continued to seek a deal of six-plus years, while the Cubs seem to prefer a much shorter term.

Turner remains a quality offensive player. He combined for a .259/.354/.383 slash across 539 plate appearances between the Blue Jays and Mariners last season. His production improved after a deadline trade to Seattle, no small feat for a hitter adapting to the game’s most pitcher-friendly home park. It was the 11th consecutive season in which Turner has been an above-average hitter. While he doesn’t have the same power that he did during his peak years with the Dodgers, he’s still a strong on-base presence with very good strike zone discipline.

Chicago isn’t the lone team with interest in both Bregman and Turner. Mooney and Rosenthal write that the Tigers and Red Sox have also shown some level of interest in Turner. That comprises three of what appears to be the top four suitors — alongside the incumbent Astros — on Bregman. Houston has not been linked to Turner and wouldn’t make sense as a landing spot with Yordan Alvarez ticketed for DH work.

The Cubs could be a tough roster fit in their own right. Seiya Suzuki will get the majority of at-bats at designated hitter. He’s capable of playing right field but squeezed out of a starting outfield of Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker. Turner would be a target as a role-playing corner infield bat. The Cubs have lefty-swinging Michael Busch lined up for the bulk of the first base work. They don’t have any kind of established third baseman after including Isaac Paredes in the Tucker trade. Unless they make a late-offseason strike for Bregman, they’d very likely turn the hot corner to top prospect Matt Shaw.

Turner is not an everyday third baseman at this point of his career. He started four games there last season after logging seven starts in 2023. He hasn’t played more than half a season at the position since 2021. Turner has played more frequently at first base, where he started 40 games last year. He could take some at-bats from Busch against lefty pitching, though Busch had a respectable showing (.258/.330/.382 in 100 plate appearances) in unfavorable platoon situations as a rookie.

The Tigers and Red Sox have each been seeking a right-handed bat. Boston has limited flexibility to accommodate another player at the bottom of the defensive spectrum. The Sox have Rafael Devers and Triston Casas as their corner infield tandem. Masataka Yoshida is lined up for the bulk of the DH work going into the third season of his five-year deal. Boston would probably use Bregman at second base if they landed him. The Sox gave Turner himself four starts at the keystone when he played in Boston in 2023. He wouldn’t play second regularly but could rotate through the position alongside Vaughn Grissom and David Hamilton if top prospect Kristian Campbell opens the season in Triple-A.

Detroit signed Gleyber Torres to play second base. That kicked Colt Keith over to first base, squeezing righty-hitting Spencer Torkelson out of the starting lineup. Turner’s right-handed bat could play well in a lefty-heavy corner infield/DH mix. Keith and Jace Jung, the projected starter at third base if they don’t sign Bregman, each hit from the left side. Kerry Carpenter, who’ll split his time between right field and DH, is a lefty hitter who mashes when he holds the platoon advantage.

Seattle showed interest in a Turner reunion early in the offseason. That’s less likely now that they’ve added righty-hitting Donovan Solano on a $3.5MM free agent deal to platoon with Luke Raley at first base. Mooney and Rosenthal report that the Reds have also spoken with Turner this offseason, though it’s not clear if that interest is ongoing. Cincinnati acquired Gavin Lux to deepen the infield and could give righty hitters Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer a decent amount of run at first base.

Jed Hoyer, Craig Counsell Discuss Cubs’ Third Base Plans

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Pitchers and catchers reported to camp for the Cubs today, and as part of the start of camp president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and manager Craig Counsell both spoke with the media about a number of topics. Third base was a particular focus of the media session after Chicago dealt incumbent third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker trade back in December. Notably, the Cubs have reportedly remained on the periphery of the market for longtime Astros third baseman Alex Bregman this winter as he’s lingered in free agency. While it does seem as though Chicago has interest in Bregman’s services, Hoyer made clear the club is currently focused on the players they already have internally in comments relayed by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“Unclear,” Hoyer said when asked if another major move was coming before Opening Day. “I think you always look for opportunity, but right now we’re going to focus on the guys we have in camp. That’s the plan.”

Nightengale reports that the Red Sox, Tigers, and Astros have all made offers of at least four years to Bregman at this point, and that’s largely consistent with previous reporting that has suggested Bregman has been presented with five- and six-year offers throughout the winter. As for the Cubs, Nightengale writes that there’s been “no indication” that the Cubs would be willing to offer more than a three-year deal, but added that they could be willing to offer Bregman the highest average annual value of any of his suitors should he settle for a short-term deal.

It’s a model that the club followed to re-sign Cody Bellinger last winter when they landed him on a three-year, $80MM pact in late February, and other high-profile free agents like Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty have had to settle for similarly short-term offers previously this winter. Whether Bregman’s market will make it necessary for him to follow that same path remains to be seen, however, and it’s easy to imagine the Cubs simply going with their internal options at the position rather than committing to a lengthy contract with Bregman.

Of those internal options, the most exciting one for Cubs fans is surely top prospect Matt Shaw. The club’s 2023 first-round pick has done nothing but hit as a professional, with a .303/.384/.522 slash line across four levels of the minors to this point in his young career. That includes a fabulous 35-game stint at Triple-A late last year, where he hit .298/.395/.534 with a strikeout rate of just 19.7% in 152 trips to the plate. Shaw’s ascent has put him firmly on the big league radar headed into the 2025 season, and it seems as though (barring a surprise acquisition like Bregman) the 23-year-old will get every opportunity to open camp with the club this spring.

With that being said, Hoyer made clear (as relayed by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers) that Shaw will have to earn the position this spring and won’t just be handed the position. While Hoyer emphasized that they don’t plan to “anoint” the rookie, it’s worth pointing out that there isn’t a clear veteran option for the hot corner should they decide to pivot away from Shaw at this point. Vidal Brujan was acquired from the Marlins earlier this winter but has less than 100 innings of third base experience in the majors and is a career .189/.261/.270 hitter. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman is viewed as a plus defender at third base and hit well for the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate in Erie last year, but he hasn’t even played at the Triple-A level before making him arguably less experienced than Shaw himself.

Perhaps veteran utility man Jon Berti is the best internal third base candidate besides Shaw, though the 35-year-old is coming off a season where he was limited to just 25 games due to injuries and would be risky to rely on in an everyday role. He’s also reportedly under consideration to back up Michael Busch at first base, suggesting his best role may be one where his versatility is leveraged to allow him to fill in at multiple positions off the bench. Further complicating the Cubs’ infield mix is the uncertain timeline of second baseman Nico Hoerner. The Cubs revealed in late October that Hoerner had undergone flexor tendon surgery without providing a timeline for his return, and the latest update on his recovery process was that he had yet to begin throwing or hitting post-surgery and that his availability for the start of the season was in question.

Given all of that uncertainty around the infield, another infielder would certainly make sense for Chicago even if they aren’t willing to extend themselves to land Bregman. Free agent infield help is scarce at this point in the offseason, however. Aside from Bregman, the best third base options available are bench pieces like Paul DeJong and Luis Urias. It’s possible a trade could be had, with Brett Baty of the Mets, Oswaldo Cabrera of the Yankees, and Willi Castro of the Twins among speculative trade candidates who could still be available at this point in the winter, but the Cubs haven’t been tied to any of those names to this point.

Until and unless the Cubs add another infielder to give Shaw more robust competition for the Opening Day third base job, it seems very likely he’ll be at the hot corner for the club when the season begins. That figures to be true even if Hoerner isn’t ready for Opening Day, as Counsell told reporters (including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com) that Shaw’s focus is on third base this spring when asked if Shaw could spend some time at second base this spring to make him an option at the keystone should Hoerner begin the season on the IL.

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