I don’t want to make a huge deal out of this but it’s getting pretty late in the winter and Alex Bregman still remains unsigned. If you asked me last week I would’ve said that would be impossible because he would have everything figured out by the Super Bowl.
Turns out I was very wrong and that’s the purpose of the blog.
Yesterday I re-introduced Cubs News & Notes – a roundup blog to talk about a bunch of different things about the Cubs all at once. The purpose is to spread talking points around otherwise you get too deep or too narrow with your time. There’s a lot to cover when it comes to baseball and I think that should be reflected in the writing.
However, there are some things and topics that deserve exclusive attention and Alex Bregman playing third base for the Cubs is one of those topics.
Specifically, people are concerned about two major things that I want to address right now. First, that he’s a filthy cheater. And second, he would block Matt Shaw.
The cheating is simple. He was in the clubhouse and apart of the cheating scandal. He benefited from it in the numbers. You can clearly tell that Bregman used the signs and was a scumbag in that clubhouse with a .924 OPS in 3 full seasons of cheating.
HOWEVER – he’s still very good when he’s not cheating. The last 5 seasons he’s had a 122 OPS+, averaging about 4.5 WAR per 162 while playing gold glove defense and rarely striking out.
That’s worth $25,000,000 from your 3rd baseman when you consider the rest of the Cubs roster. So even though he’s objectively a cheater, the Cubs are paying for the other version of him that is still very good at baseball.
2nd and most important – the Cubs would not have to give up Matt Shaw to play Alex Bregman. It would just mean Matt Shaw wouldn’t be forced into an automatic 550 plate appearances his rookie year before we even know if he can handle that for a team that should win the division. It feels like that’s too much of a risk for all the surrounding circumstances. If there’s an opportunity to improve 3rd base for the medium-term future then the Cubs absolutely need to do that vs. hope Matt Shaw can be that good tomorrow.
Some times I think Cubs fans are just way too soft on competition and making each other better. Too many think it’s like a video game where you have these graded attributes that determine your limited success over the course of a season. Like it’s already preprogrammed and part of the Matrix as a simulated reality, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
The reality is that Matt Shaw needs to earn a job before you start crying about his playing time. Same thing went for Rizzo and Kris Bryant and Javy Baez. And the same thing should go for the next wave of young players. For example: PCA is good but we don’t need to crown him the centerfielder of the future for any particular reason. Michael Busch had a good first year but that’s all it is: one year.
There’s nothing about Matt Shaw that should influence the way you feel about Alex Bregman as a Chicago Cub and that’s because doing so would be moronic.
And one step further – they’re the perfect teammates that would push each other every day. If anything, we want Matt Shaw to be EXACTLY like Alex Bregman (minus the filthy scumbag cheating stuff). They’re such complimentary players that it really bothers me other people don’t see it so easily.
So maybe calm down about Bregman ruining your experience or your fantasy team or whatever sick and twisted scenario you’ve cooked up in your head for Matt Shaw. My advice is that Bregman makes the better infield while also creating more internal competition that’s going to make everyone better in the long-run, and that most certainly includes Matt Shaw.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to patiently wait for Jed to make a move. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before.