Chicago Cubs executive Jed Hoyer sounds confident the team will sign a high-profile shortstop this offseason. Who could they land?
Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins have the responsibility to rebuild this Cubs team in their image. With Willson Contreras likely out the door, along with Jason Heyward, many of the final links to the 2016 World Series team are gone.
Chicago has pieces, but shortstop is a position of weakness. It just so happens that this is the second straight free-agent market with some excellent shortstops to choose from.
The Cubs have engaged in extension talks with Nico Hoerner. With that in mind, they’re also well aware that he is likely trending away from the shortstop position.
“We have total confidence in Nico’s ability to play shortstop,” Hoyer said, per The Athletic. “But, yes, the way the game is trending, athleticism in the middle infield will make a big difference.”
Hoerner also projects to be a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman, which will only help matters.
Cubs free agent targets should included these 3 shortstops
Chicago offered Carlos Correa a short-term deal last offseason, so there’s some familiarity there. He’s expected to opt out of his contract with the Twins and join the 2022-23 free agent class.
If Correa doesn’t work out, the likes of Trea Turner or Dansby Swanson could be in play.
Turner will receive the most money of the bunch, one way or another. Perhaps that prices him out in Chicago. Swanson is favored to go back to the Braves, as he’s a homegrown product. Unless they botch his negotiations in a similar fashion to Freddie Freeman’s, he’ll stay in Atlanta.
Unless he’s once again bluffing, Tom Ricketts suggested he’ll given Hoyer the resources necessary to make the “right” upgrades.
“The ball’s in Jed’s court,” Ricketts said in September.
Of the three top shortstops on the market, Correa seems like the most realistic. The Twins cannot match his value, and most of the teams in last year’s shortstop market found their long-term option.
In this case, the Cubs are one of only a few teams which remain.