Chicago Cubs: This shortstop would be perfect on North Side

Javier Baez was one of the Chicago Cubs‘ best players during his time with the club. There were MVP chases, a World Series title, and plenty of other deep playoff runs. However, with his contract expiring, the Cubs purged their roster and Baez was one of the players traded away. He became a part of the New York Mets and is now a free agent.

This shortstop free agent group is elite. There are five or six guys who are looking to play that position at an elite level on a new team. However, Baez returning to the Cubs feels unlikely at this point. Truth be told, he is the fifth-best shortstop on the market anyway and there are plenty of better options out there.

One of those options for the Cubs is Corey Seager. He played his entire seven-year career up to this point with the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is where he accumulated a Rookie of the Year award, two Silver Sluggers, an NLCS MVP, World Series title, and World Series MVP on top of two All-Star collections. His first seven years literally couldn’t have gone any better.

Now, he is looking to get paid on the free-agent market as his contract is up. The Chicago Cubs should really go for him to fill that spot. They are going to be able to promise him a lot of money and a lot of playing time which are two of the three things that free agents of his status want.

The other is a winning team which might take a year or two. If he is willing to help this team grow and get back to that winning level, he would be a hero in town not long after his arrival. With that level of regular-season and postseason experience (and success), he is valuable beyond his numbers.

Corey Seager’s production on the Chicago Cubs going forward would be amazing.

Speaking of his numbers, he was awesome in 2021. Seager slashed .304/.394/.521 for an OPS of .915. He hit 15 home runs and had 57 RBIs with 54 runs scored. All of this came in only 95 games as he dealt with an injury during the year. When he was healthy, he was amazing as his 3.7 WAR showed. The numbers would have been silly had he not missed 11 weeks’ worth of games.

As mentioned before, it may take a year or two for the Cubs to get back to being division winners but Seager’s arrival would really help them out. If both sides were willing, he makes so much sense. With Nick Madrigal set to return, this could be a very good middle infield if everyone stays healthy this time around.