MLB star catcher Willson Contreras recently signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chicago Cubs are gaining a former Cards player in return.
Willson Contreras was one of the hottest commodities on the market this offseason, and he ultimately signed a five-year deal worth $87.5 million with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs, in return, made a move to signing former Cards outfielder Ben DeLuzio to a minor-league deal, per FanSided’s own Robert Murray.
Those two signings aren’t directly correlated, of course. But seeing the former Cardinal switch allegiances just days after Contreras betrayed the rivalry is, at the very least, somewhat comical.
DeLuzio doesn’t have much experience in the majors as he just made his MLB debut in 2022 and only played 22 games, but he’s still a player taken straight from the farm system at a time when the Cardinals are undergoing roster construction.
St. Louis lost a core of veterans following the 2022 season, including Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. Contreras is expected to fill the hole in the roster left by Molina, but overall, the team is going to look much different.
Considering DeLuzio was on the farm and came up to the majors over the past year, he’s someone they could’ve used in a spot role.
While he was far from an impact player and they could replace him with minimal damage, it still leaves them at a slight disadvantage by having to look to replace him at all.
The Cubs, on the other hand, could be doing well toward their own roster construction.
The Cubs could be making all the right moves toward roster construction
According to MLB.com, the Cubs have the 10th-best farm system in the league. This is a significant increase from the past few years as they ranked 26th during midseason in 2020 and 18th during preseason 2022.
They’re paying more attention to their farm and building it in order to chase the same success they found in 2016. DeLuzio is a solid outfielder to add to the system, which the Cubs have focused a lot on considering all three of their Top 100 Prospects are outfielders, according to MLB.com.
The outfield is particularly important as there isn’t much depth and Ian Happ hits free agency in 2024, which would leave a massive hole to fill.
If the Cubs continue to make the strategic moves they’re making, they could become sneaky contenders within the next few seasons.