TRADE RUMORS – The Cubs have optioned third baseman Matt Shaw to the minors, reports Keith Law of The Athletic. It hasn’t yet been officially announced by the team and it’s unclear what corresponding move or moves are also involved.
Matt Shaw looked like dick in his first 18 career games and there’s nothing nice to say about it. He doesn’t look anything like a 3rd baseman and can’t handle the bat well enough to justify for the downgrade. So he’s going to Iowa where he will certainly hit .350+ with a .550 slug and with it will create a never ending cycle. Does he develop in the big leagues? Does he develop at Iowa? And who plays 3rd if he can’t even be on the active roster?
These are logical questions that were routinely asked without any good answer in the offseason. We were told Shaw was ready because he shit on the Arizona Fall League. We were told he could play 3rd because… there’s nowhere else to put him. And we were told Matt Shaw was ready despite being injured and playing like shit throughout all of spring training.
So no, I’m not even remotely surprised with this news.
In fact I’ve been bitching about Matt Shaw to my buddies since losing out on Alex Bregman. I’ve done my best to rationalize positivity but deep down he just isn’t a big league 3rd baseman on a division championship roster. There’s no fucking way no matter how bad you want to argue on his behalf right now. Everything we’ve seen from him tells the exact same story: he’s not ready.
And that’s okay. We drafted him in 2023 and moved him through the minors way too fast because Tom Ricketts can’t pay for a third baseman. And because of that, it’s not Matt Shaw’s fault he can’t play an MLB 3rd base right now.
The problem is I just don’t know where and how he comes back? Matt Shaw will DESTROY the pitching at AAA to the point it’s just a waste of time. But same time he will need extensive time and training to be a competent and valued MLB player. So we find ourselves in a real Mexican standoff.
The term for these players are AAAA guys and I’m afraid that’s exactly what Matt Shaw looks like this year.
He should improve over time and I’m optimistic he’s good at some point. But that point is a long way from now and it’s good to see Jed move so quickly on this.
That said, talk about eating a real shit sandwich for the front office. They were certain Matt Shaw was the guy all winter and turns out the logical questions about experience were worth asking. Where we go from here, I don’t know other than to say I am very happy Matt Shaw is not in the lineup tonight. I don’t want to see him again until we know for sure he can actually play at this level.