Pressure is on Matt Shaw after White Sox snatch the Cubs' ideal infield fit

The Chicago Cubs finally made the big splash fans had long awaited this offseason, acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros in a four-player trade that brought a potential MVP candidate to Wrigley Field (for one season, at least). But for as good as Tucker is, he didn't singlehandedly solve all of this roster's problems, and there remains plenty of work to be done between now and Spring Training.

That work got a little harder on Thursday, when Jed Hoyer lost out on infield target Josh Rojas ... to the Chicago White Sox, no less.

The news comes just days after Rojas was linked to the Cubs, who remain very much in need of some infield depth. The picture at third base remains awfully murky after Isaac Paredes was included in the Tucker deal, with Miles Mastrobuoni and recent trade acqusition Vidal Brujan the two likeliest internal candidates. Neither of them profile as everyday players, however, and there's still the matter of second baseman Nico Hoerner, who still doesn't have a firm timetable to return after undergoing flexor tendon surgery in his throwing arm back October.

Add it all up, and there are more questions than answers for Chicago on the dirt right now. And with Rojas off the board, the available options are drying up — which could put a whole lot of pressure on the team's top prospect to hit the ground running in the Majors.

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Cubs lose Josh Rojas to White Sox, putting pressure on top prospect Matt Shaw

Shaw is the crown jewel of the Cubs' loaded farm system, and he's spent the past 18 months learning third base with shortstop and second blocked in Chicago. The 13th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Maryland, Shaw enjoyed a monster 2024 season, slashing .284/.379/.488 with 21 homers and 31 steals in 121 games spread across Double-A and Triple-A. He's passed every test with flying colors so far, and he sure looks the part of a future All-Star, ranking No. 22 on MLB Pipeline's most recent top 100 list.

But even a hotly anticipated prospect is still a prospect, and there's no telling just how Shaw will respond to his first taste of Major League action. That's why Hoyer was clearly interested in adding at least one more veteran infielder to the mix this offseason, so that Shaw could have a bit of runway before being handed the third-base job.

Now that runway is all but gone; while the team could still land someone like Jorge Polanco or Ha-Seong Kim, plenty of other teams are also interested in their services, and there aren't very many starting-caliber players left on the market at this point. Barring something unexpected, it sure looks like the Cubs will head to camp next month with Shaw penciled in as the guy at the hot corner. Maybe he's up for it, but that's asking a whole lot of a rookie stepping in to a team with postseason-or-bust expectations in 2025.