For the Chicago Cubs, several key goals have been put in place by fans, by the front office, by the owners, and by the players:
- Win more than 83 games.
- Improve the offense.
- Make the playoffs.
If these goals are not met, we have probably seen the last of president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, and most of the front office crew we have grown used to since the departure of Theo Epstein. Throughout this offseason, the Cubs have made it clear that they are not leaving the result to wishful thinking. Moves have been made.
Spring training will start to shed light on how these moves will impact the daily lineup and strategy and whether or not these moves have worked. Throughout Spring Training, we'll follow these major storylines:
- Who is going to play third base?
- What will the rotation look like?
- How is the offense improving?
- Who is going to be the Cubs' closer?
Third Base
Since Kris Bryant, third base has been a bit of a black hole for the Cubs. Recently, Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, Christopher Morel, and Isaac Paredes have tried to fill the void. Morel had great power and a great attitude, but offensive consistency and defensive struggles made him a trade target. Paredes looked like the future of the position, but we aren't going to blame the Cubs for doing whatever they could to acquire RF Kyle Tucker.
Currently, the Cubs have two solutions at the position: MLB top 100 prospect Matt Shaw and veteran Justin Turner.
Shaw was ranked the top collegiate shortstop when the Cubs drafted him in the first round in 2023, but seeing the writing on the wall, the Cubs moved him to third base. He is currently 19 on MLB's top 100 list. Last year, across Double-A and Triple-A, Shaw hit .284 with an on-base percentage of .370 and slugged .488. That slug included 21 home runs and 71 RBIs. By the way, he stole 31 bases.
Noting how CF Pete Crow-Armstrong struggled to adjust to life in The Show, the Cubs went with what they considered "all-in" on the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, only to lose out to the Red Sox. Nolan Arenado looks like he is going to stay at the Cardinals as the Cubs were not on his No-Trade waiver. So, the Cubs get the door prize of Justin Turner.
With the Dodgers, Turner was a household name where he hit .296 with an .865 OPS and a 133 OPS+. That was over nine years. The Cubs haven't had a guy with that type of consistency for a long time. In the playoffs, he was elite, hitting .270 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs over 386 at-bats. Again, the consistency is amazing, and it adds up to a .830 OPS.
But Turner lost some of his power and bite last year, hitting .259 with a 114 OPS+ and an .737 OPS with just 11 homers.
Clearly, Shaw is the future at the position. Questions to be answered in Spring Training:
- Will the Cubs start him at third base and go through the growing pains like they did with Crow-Armstrong?
- Will Turner platoon at first base with Michael Busch?
- Or will Turner start at third, giving Shaw time to mature?