The 2025 MLB offseason brought a mixed bag of results for Chicago Cubs fans. On one hand, the Cubs made perhaps the biggest trade of the offseason by acquiring Kyle Tucker. That trade has worked out wonderfully so far, as he's played at an MVP-caliber level. On the other hand, though, the Cubs refrained from spending major money on the free agency market, particularly in a couple of areas.
First, the only starting pitcher the team added was Matthew Boyd. Granted, Boyd has pitched extremely well thus far, but their lack of aggression on that front has already backfired with Justin Steele suffering a season-ending injury. Steele, one of their best pitchers, will be tough to replace.
The other area Jed Hoyer neglected was third base. To be fair, Hoyer did pursue Alex Bregman in free agency, but Chicago's offer didn't wind up being particularly close to good enough to end up with his services. This left the Cubs with their internal options, which never seemed to be all that great after they traded Isaac Paredes away.
The Cubs were confident that top prospect Matt Shaw was ready to take the reigns at the hot corner, and he did that on Opening Day. As it turns out, Shaw was not as ready as the Cubs expected, and the team has reportedly sent him back down to the minor leagues as a result, according to Keith Law of The Athletic.
Cubs Option Matt Shaw https://t.co/4EBVU6vQuH pic.twitter.com/HKk79ylXcv
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) April 15, 2025
Cubs admit offseason mistake by demoting Matt Shaw to Triple-A
This is a pretty brutal look for the Cubs. Shaw, a very exciting prospect, was rushed to the major leagues because of the organization's lack of aggressiveness at the third base position. There's no sugarcoating that.
Shaw was selected in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He played just 35 games at Triple-A in 2024 and had just five hits in 24 at-bats in spring training while also missing time due to injury. Despite his lack of experience in the upper minors and his lack of playing time in the spring, the Cubs thought he was ready to perform at the MLB level. They could not have been more wrong.
The 23-year-old had just 10 hits, eight of which were singles, in 58 at-bats (.171 batting average). He had just three hits in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position. To be fair, he did draw an impressive 10 walks in 68 plate appearances, but besides that, Shaw looked overmatched at the dish.
Given Shaw's struggles, sending him down now before his confidence completely deteriorates is the right move. Shaw will get a much-needed mental reset, and will hopefully get promoted back to the majors later in the season ready to contribute. Still, this demotion hurts greatly.
Cubs projected lineup without Matt Shaw emphasizes team's offseason failure
Batting Order | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|
1 | Ian Happ | LF |
2 | Kyle Tucker | RF |
3 | Seiya Suzuki | DH |
4 | Michael Busch | 1B |
5 | Dansby Swanson | SS |
6 | Nico Hoerner | 2B |
7 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | CF |
8 | Miguel Amaya | C |
9 | Jon Berti | 3B |
It's not as if Shaw was producing, but it's also not as if Jon Berti should be playing regularly for a team trying to compete. While Berti offers tremendous speed and defensive versatility, there's a reason he signed a one-year, $2 million deal to join the Cubs over the offseason. With that being said, though, there aren't exactly other options for the Cubs to turn to. Justin Turner is 40 years old and hasn't played third base much in several years. Gage Workman was a Rule 5 pick with nine MLB at-bats under his belt. Vidal Brujan has a .531 OPS in his MLB career.
Based on the options the Cubs had behind him on the depth chart, Chicago was heavily relying on Shaw to not only start the year at the position, but to stick around. Now, they don't really have a third baseman. Unfortunately, the Cubs have nobody to blame other than themselves really for this outcome.