The Cubs shouldn't be afraid to pay the Alex Bregman "penalty"
There's zero evidence that they'd do anything productive with those draft picks. And in other news, the Cubs get some back end of the bullpen help.


On the surface, the Cubs continued conversations with Astros third baseman Alex Bregman about a short term contract make a lot of sense. He's been a very good player for nearly a decade, with a career slash line of .272/.366/.483 and a career OPS+ of 132. Last year he won the Gold Glove (and Cubs fans can tell you that those are always super meaningful). His numbers have remained very consistent, especially the last five seasons, though his on base average took a nose dive (down to .315) last year. He'll be 31 on March 30, so his desire to get a long term deal has been met with "nope" by teams around the league. The trade the Astros and Cubs made yesterday might help the Astros clear some room in their budget for a Bregman return. You could say the Cubs played themselves, but let's be honest, they don't really want to pay Bregman anyway.
The Cubs don't currently have a third baseman. Last year Christopher Morel, Nick Madrigal, Miles Mastrobuoni, Isaac Paredes, Patrick Wisdom and Luis Vazquez all got starts there, and Michael Busch made a couple of cameos late in games. Only Busch figures to make the big league roster this year and only Busch and Vazquez are even still in the organization. And Busch is going to be the starting first baseman again, and it's really hard to play third and first at the same time.
The most likely outcome is that rookie Matt Shaw gets the job and tries to hang onto it for dear life. That could be fine. He's a good prospect, he's done nothing but hit in the minors and he was a college shortstop with plenty of minor league time at third base.
But there's also the pesky issue of second baseman Nico Hoerner having his forearm operated on during the offseason with no clear idea of when he'll be able to play second base at 100%. That's another place Shaw could help.
The Cubs pushed a bunch of their chips into the middle of the table in December when they traded for one season of Kyle Tucker. But they've mostly stopped since then. Just a bunch of fringe moves that make you wonder why they even bothered with the Tucker move in the first place. Signing Bregman to a deal that would allow him to be a free agent again next season, or stick around if he a) sucks or b) is injured, seems a pretty worthwhile risk.