Breaking news : Matt Shaw update adds injury to insult of Cubs cheaping out on Alex Bregman

 

 

The Chicago Cubs fell short in the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, and while Jed Hoyer defended the team’s pursuit of the star third baseman — calling the four-year, $115 million offer that included multiple opt-outs the “best offer we could make” — it’s hard not to notice that the “best offer” the team could make fell short of the Detroit Tigers in both years (six) and total value ($171.5 million) and the Boston Red Sox in average value per year ($40 million). Bregman was an obvious fit, the best player available at the biggest question mark in the lineup, and all the team in the third-largest market in the country could do was come up short.

The Ricketts family budget is what it is, and Hoyer likely comforted himself and his ownership group by saying that the team had a pretty nice fallback plan at third base in top prospect Matt Shaw. But the baseball season is long and full of uncertainties; if the Los Angeles Dodgers have taught us anything, it’s that “good enough” is never good enough, and you should always do whatever you can to add more talent if you’re as motivated to win in 2025 as the Cubs should be. Chicago ignored that lesson, and it didn’t take long for it to come back to bite them in spring training.

 

Shaw is one heck of a prospect, a former first-round pick who’s spent the last 18 months or so blitzing every level of the Minors put in front of him. Unfortunately, what seemed set up to be a breakout year has gotten off to a rough start, as the infielder has had his spring training delayed by an oblique issue.