Skip to main content

5 Position Player Free Agents the Cubs Should Target

 Yes, I believe the Cubs should primarily focus on pitching this offseason, but we also shouldn't ignore that the offense needs some work, although that was mainly due to players under-performing this season.

The position players the Cubs will target will most likely not be really expensive players, but will be lower-cost, yet result-producing players. Here are 5 players I think the Cubs should target to help fill some offensive needs.

1. Kyle Schwarber (LF or DH). An long-time face in Wrigley Field, eh? This depends on whether the NL adapts the DH in 2022. If they do, I think Schwarber would make a ton of sense. A little more on the expensive side, as Schwarber got paid 7M in 2021, but I think it would be worth it. 

Schwarber's off year in 2020 certainly did not affect his 2021  season, as we see his numbers went back up to over his career average, hitting .266 BA, 928 OPS, with 106 hits and 32 HR.

And maybe he'd make a good leadoff hitter for the Cubs like he's been doing for the Red Sox?

2.Jorge Soler (RF) Yes, I know, another more expensive option, being paid about 8M in 2021, but I promise this will be the last expensive player we'll talk about today. Soler is another old face, playing for the Cubs 2014-16, but the lack of productivity from Heyward, and the plus of getting a good bat that has always played better in NL than AL, seems like a good fit for the Cubs.

Soler played well for the Braves, who picked him up at Trade Deadline, batting .269 with a .882 OPS, as compared to .192 with a .658 OPS with the Royals in the first half of 2021. 

3. Wilmar Flores (3B). A low-cost option player that played well for the Giants this year, batting .262 with a .782 OPS, and a low 12.8% K rate. He was paid about 3M in 2021, so he's not an overly expensive player in case he doesn't end up doing well.

But, I know what you're thinking...what about Patrick Wisdom? I believe Wisdom will be a part of the team, howbeit possibly a bench role, but he needs to work on his striking out rate(!). I think the Cubs should really target a more reliable third baseman, with Wisdom playing third off and on.

4.Jose Iglesias. (SS). Ok, Nico Hoerner is going to be playing next year, but he's shown himself to be injury-prone, and how about an Iglesias-Hoerner platoon? Iglesias was paid 3M in 2021, so another low-cost player. He hit REALLY well with the Red Sox in the latter half of the season, hitting .356 with a .915 OPS.

So, maybe either Iglesias or Hoerner will cement his spot there, and the other can get a bench role, or perhaps the Cubs will have Hoerner play outfield, like he's shown he CAN play.

5. Robinson Chirinos.(C). I think the Cubs should bring back Chirinos, their only successful back-up catcher, a cheap option compared to other catchers on the FA list. Although if the Cubs trade Contreras (which I hope they don't do), I think they should target Mike Zunino, who was pretty decent this year for the Rays.

Chirinos hit .227 with .778 OPS, so not GREAT, but also not terrible like a lot of the Cubs catchers. I don't think Amaya is planned to make the big leagues in 2022, but if Chirinos is really bad, they could either possibly call-up Amaya or trade before the deadline.

The Cubs always surprise me though, so we'll see what they actually do and who they sign. These are just options I think would make sense for the Cubs. If they did make these signings, this would probably be what the Cubs lineup would look like:

  1. Kyle Schwarber DH
  2. Frank Schwindel 1B
  3. Jorge Soler RF
  4. Nick Madrigal 2B
  5. Rafael Ortega CF
  6. Willson Contreras C
  7. Ian Happ LF
  8. Nico Hoerner SS
  9. Pitcher
Bench: Robinson Chirinos (C), Jose Iglesias (SS), Patrick Wisdom (3B), David Bote (2B, 3B) Jason Heyward (RF)

But that is purely my ideas. Excited to see what the Cubs Opening Day lineup will be!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reliving the Cubs' 2016 Postseason Highlights

 As we enter the final stretch for baseball in 2021- a Braves/Astros World Series, it's a good time to look back at memorable Cubs' history in 2016, when the Cubs broke a 108 year WS win drought to beat the Indians in the World Series. The Cubs cruised to a 103-58 standing at the end of the season, getting the NL Central pennant and meaning they'd face the winner of the Wild Card, who ended up being the Giants. Game One of the NLDS Jon Lester threw 8 shut-out innings, Chapman closed the 9th with a shut-out against the Giants and Javier Baez solo-homered in the 8th to give the Cubs a 1-0 win against the Giants and get the 1-0 series lead. Game Two of the NLDS Kyle Hendricks started the game, only allowing 2 runs, and he drove in 2 runs himself in the 2nd with a single, but he left the game in the 3rd due to a line-drive injury. Reliever Travis Wood replaced Hendricks, and hit a home run, yes a home run in the 4th to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead. That was the first homer to be hi...

Iowa Cubs Roster Evaluation: Infield Depth

The last article I wrote evaluating the Iowa Cubs' roster, I analyzed the pitching depth. This article we'll discuss the infield depth of the Iowa Cubs including catcher, first, second, shortstop and third. If you are unfamiliar with the minor league system, here is my explanation from my previous article: " Players are drafted by a team from high school or college, and when that team drafts them, they start training in that team's farm system, starting with the bottom, usually a complex league or rookie league. Then they jump to the official minor leagues, starting with Low A, and they work their way up to the Triple-A level from which it is one step to reach MLB." That's just a simplified explanation, but it'll give you an idea if you are unfamiliar with the topic. Anyway, as a precursor to my evaluation, I do want to say that infield prospects do a lot of shifting around the infield instead of strictly staying with one position. While some shift around ...

Which Top FA Outfielders Would Be A Good Fit for the Cubs?

 Let's start with some overall news and then get into our subject for today. Noah Syndergaard signed a 1-year deal with the Angels today. Kind of an interesting move- seems like they want to get Trout and Ohtani a World Series victory, maybe? Noah Syndergaard agrees to $21M, 1-year Angels deal. @jonmorosi and @JeffPassan 1st — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 16, 2021 #Angels make their first splash of the offseason; https://t.co/0O5D9wpMUz pic.twitter.com/FyN7v1M421 — MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 16, 2021 The Blue Jays have extended their trade-deadline pickup Jose Berrios...   #BlueJays ' big trade-deadline acquisition will be staying in Toronto a lot longer now: https://t.co/1oaDT73uFn pic.twitter.com/Wco3kBiB8G — MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) November 16, 2021 Looks like the Mets finally have their GM after interviewing scores of candidates. I was wondering if they were going to start interviewing fans.  Billy Eppler is finalizing an ag...