With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training for the Chicago Cubs, the franchise will be excited to see what the upgraded roster can accomplish in 2025.
Few teams in baseball had as good a winter as the Cubs. Chicago didn’t really attack the free-agent market this winter, but they made a lot of upgrades via trades.
A couple of the notable additions this winter were both Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly from the Houston Astros. While both trades happened at separate times, they did fill some big needs for the Cubs.
Tucker provided Chicago with a true superstar in the middle of their order and Pressly helped upgrade the back-end of a bullpen that needed help.
Now, with the Cubs taking a step forward on paper this offseason, they will be hoping that it will result in some more wins and an NL Central crown.
Even though the team is built to win now for the most part, they do have one area of uncertainty in their infield and that is at the hot corner.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the situation at third base being the biggest question mark for the team heading into the year. There appears to be a potential answer.
“But after trading away both Isaac Paredes and prospect Cam Smith to get Kyle Tucker, it sure is looking like rookie Matt Shaw or bust for the foreseeable future.”
To acquire Tucker, Chicago had to give up both Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith in the trade. Paredes would have likely been the starting third baseman for the Cubs in 2025 and Smith has the potential to be a future starter at the position.
Luckily, Chicago was trading from an area of strength in the Tucker deal. With a lot of talented young prospects, the Cubs felt like they could afford to move those two.
Just recently, Chicago did make a play on Alex Bregman in free agency to try and bolster the position. However, with Bregman signing with the Boston Red Sox, the Cubs will likely be turning to Matt Shaw at the position on Opening Day.
This might work out well for Chicago despite Shaw’s inexperience. In the minors last year, he slashed .284/.379/.488 with 21 home runs and 71 RBI in 121 games.
The talented prospect has done all that the Cubs could have asked of him in the minors last year, making him well deserving of getting a chance to start.
However, with this potentially being a small window of opportunity to contend for the Chicago, they are running a bit of a risk having someone who hasn’t started as their third baseman entering the year.
