Cubs: How a Mike Moustakas signing could work

Mike Moustakas declined his option with the Brewers and could be a target for the Cubs in free agency. But it would take some doing.

For the second consecutive season, Mike Moustakas will be hitting the free-agent market. Last season was a bit of a mirage as the 30-year-old ended up returning to Milwaukee on a reasonable one-year deal worth $10 million. However, after putting up his best offensive season since 2017, Moustakas wisely turned down his mutual option with Milwaukee. And while no one is immediately linking Moustakas to the Cubs, Theo Epstein should kick the tires on him.

Again, Moustakas was terrific at the plate last season, posting a 0.254/0.329/0.516 line with 35 home runs and 87 RBI in 143 games and earned his third All-Star selection. The knock on him is always going to be his defense but at some point, the Cubs need to sacrifice some defense to boost their offense. They did so last season when they acquired Nick Castellanos from the Tigers at the trade deadline. Castellanos was one of the most consistent hitters for the Cubs down the stretch and is another potential extension candidate.

But the fact of the matter is that signing Moustakas may potentially exclude the Cubs from partaking in the Castellanos sweepstakes. Both players are represented by Scott Boras, so both could receive decent size paydays. Moustakas’ market value is right around $21 million per season, which seems steep and I’d expect him to receive far less than that.

So how would he fit in with the Cubs? Early on in his career, Moustakas was a natural third baseman but consistently put up double-digit error seasons. Milwaukee was the first team to try him out as their second baseman and he posted a 0.993 fielding percentage in 47 games. The Cubs have a budding prospect in Nico Hoerner that appears to soon be ready to take the everyday second base gig but lacks a proven track record.

There’s no denying Moustakas’ offensive prowess. The guy can rake and would look great in this Cubs lineup, especially facing his old team 19 times a year. If the Cubs signed him, he could potentially be moved back to third base which would permanently transfer Kris Bryant to right field where he has a career 0.970 fielding percentage. Or the Cubs could sign Moustakas to be their permanent second baseman which was a revolving door last season. The latter would likely allow Hoerner to be traded, depending on the length of a potential contract.

We’ll see if Moustakas to the Cubs starts to build any legs but this is purely conjecture at this point. He would be a welcome bat in this lineup that has struggled to consistently score runs but would also likely remove them giving Castellanos an extension, as either contract would put them closer to the Luxury Tax threshold.