NEWSLETTER
The offseason – like our perspectives on/expectations for it – is an evolving thing. You can and should have your best laid plans, but you have to build in a certain level of flexibility depending on what happens around you.
To that end, I have always been of the perspective that the Chicago Cubs *SHOULD* be involved in the high-end free agent shortstop market this offseason, even if it is unlikely that they will wind up the top bidder for any of the five big boys. You don’t know for sure how things will play out, you do have an obvious multi-year hole at shortstop, and you do have a lot of money available. You don’t always have to overthink it.
That’s why I found it credible when national reports finally started surfacing that attached the Cubs to the top of the shortstop market. Not because I suddenly think they’re gonna ball out for Carlos Correa or Corey Seager, but instead because it never made sense for the Cubs not to stay connected. You just don’t know how things might play out. Heck, you could be as gentle as to say that, since there was always a small chance of a Javy Báez reunion, it made sense for the Cubs to be staying in touch on all of the shortstops to make sure they had the best possible information on Báez’s market and comps.
Add a little more to the smoke today, just to confirm the Cubs are at least doing their due diligence:
These 13 teams are said at least gauging the SS market so good news for the big 5 (Seager, Correa, Story, Baez, Semien). PHI DET TEX NYY LAD LAA MIN HOU CHIC STL COL SEA BOS). The last 2 are surprising but a couple of top SS also play 2B and positional changes r always possible.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 9, 2021
Obviously that’s a lot of possibly interested teams, which is plenty reason not to go too far in your excitement about the Cubs being included in this rumor. But the Cubs are being mentioned as at least on the periphery here, and that’s precisely where I think – at a minimum – they should be right now. It’s so early in the offseason. No reason to start closing doors already.
And as Michael has laid out before, we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the Cubs can afford to entirely sit out the long-term, pricey part of free agency.
