Marcus Stroman immediately resumes recruiting Carlos Correa

Baseball is back! On Thursday, the MLB and MLBPA tentatively agreed to a deal ending the lockout, meaning the Chicago Cubs season will get underway within the next month.

Before the lockout, the Cubs added a power arm in Marcus Stroman, who had a strong 2021 season after sitting out the previous year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 30-year-old was quick to begin recruiting players to join him in Chicago, but all players were locked out a few days later.

Flash forward three months later, and Stroman has resumed recruiting players, specifically shortstop Carlos Correa.

Carlos Correa would be a great fit for the Chicago Cubs and Marcus Stroman agrees.

After going through a roster turnover at the trade deadline last season, the Cubs infield is not cut and dry by any means. On paper, Nico Hoerner would appear to be the Opening Day shortstop, but Correa is one free agent signing that would be a big splash for the north siders.

Still just 27 years old, the former first overall pick in 2012 hit 26 home runs with 92 RBIs to go along with a .279/.366/.485 slash line last season. He also earned his second All-Star bid, first Gold Glove award, and finished within the top five in AL MVP voting.

While he was more of a threat on the basepaths earlier in his career, Correa has just four stolen bases in the last four seasons.

That said, he finished in the 84th percentile in walks last year while putting good wood on the ball, finishing the 70th percentile in barrel percentage and 73rd percentile in hard-hit rate.

Given the metrics above, Correa is THE player you want to be Javier Baez‘s successor at the shortstop to make the Cubs competitive again.

Of course, he alone won’t move the needle a whole heckuva lot. Although he’s projected to finish with a 5.3 WAR in 2022, Correa can be a pillar to re-tool around as the Cubs continue to develop the younger talent while supplementing with players in free agency and or trades.