Should The Chicago Cubs Trade For A Third Baseman?

Forbes

5 hours ago

Chicago Cubs' Matt Shaw plays during a baseball game Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP ... More Photo/Matt Slocum)
As the trade deadline approaches, many organizations are beginning to line up their plans for how to shore up their teams for August, September, and (hopefully) October. This can mean looking at their strengths and weaknesses in the short term and making moves to address those while also considering the long-term health of the ballclub.
For example, is it wise to trade for a position player that might block a prospect you see as a potential future cornerstone? Cubs team president Jed Hoyer is weighing that question as we speak.
On one hand, he has a team that sure looks poised to win the National League Central for the first time since 2017. The Cubs are three games above the Brewers and 4.5 ahead of the Cardinals with exactly 81 games played. At +100, they have the second-best run differential in all of baseball, behind only the Yankees (+111).
But on the other, Hoyer has a few young players in his system that might be a part of the Cubs' chances at future contention. Where the 2016 World Series champions saw their contention window close rather abruptly, this iteration might be better equipped to last if Hoyer invests in the development of those players. Third baseman Matt Shaw, for example. The 23-year-old was the Cubs' first round draft pick in 2023, and he accelerated through the farm system that year, moving all the way up to Double-A. By spring training of this year, Shaw was already lined up to be the Cubs' opening day third baseman.
Since then, however, Shaw has struggled at the plate. Enough so that he was optioned to Triple-A for a month this spring. He's been back with the Cubs for close to a month and a half now, and Shaw has continued to do poorly on offense. Shaw has slashed .214/.270/.291 in his last 30 games, and in his last 15, Shaw has a paltry .347 OPS.
There are a number of reasons to be patient with Shaw's development, but with the reality of the 2025 season's potential for the team as a whole, Hoyer has to consider whether he needs to make a trade for a third baseman to temporarily plug this hole in his lineup.
Hoyer has been down this road already; last July he made a deal with the Rays for third baseman Isaac Paredes, but he is in Houston now, a part of the swap for Kyle Tucker. If Hoyer is able to convince Tucker to stick around with a contract extension, that will help determine if dealing Paredes was worth it, but it's hard not to think that keeping him would helped with Hoyer's Matt Shaw problem.
Hoyer is under some pressure to succeed with the Cubs this year, as he is on the final year of his five-year deal that started when he took over for Theo Epstein in November 2020. That pressure might lead to him taking a big swing at this year's trade deadline. He is already expected to be active for starting pitching. Hoyer is reportedly keeping a close eye on three different pitchers, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale:
'They are scouring the market for a starter, keeping a close eye on Sandy Alcantara (2 ½ years remaining on his 5-year, $56 million contract), Mitch Keller (3 ½ years remaining on his 5-year, $70 million deal) and Luis Severino of the Athletics (2 ½ years remaining on his 3-year, $67 million contract).'
Starting pitching will likely be the top priority for the Cubs, with Justin Steele out until sometime in 2026 and Shota Imanaga just having returned to the mound after almost two months on the injured list with a hamstring strain. There's also the reality of Ben Brown's struggles, which seem to indicate that he is not quite ready to be a full-time starter, at least not for a contending team.
But because of Shaw's inability to match up with major league pitching thus far, Hoyer might have to prioritize the short-term needs of his ballclub and trade for a third baseman who can help the Cubs secure a division title and then make a deep run in the postseason. They have not advanced past the wild card since 2017, and although getting to the playoffs at all would be a first for the Cubs since 2020, Hoyer needs more success than that to ensure he is not looking for a new job come November.
Perhaps the most sought-after third baseman on the trade market will be the Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez. Since July 7 of last year, he has driven in more runs than Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. He will likely cost a lot, prospect-wise, so depending on how badly Hoyer wants to leverage the Cubs' future for the sake of winning this year, he might be on the phone with Arizona's front office.
Otherwise, there are other options at third base who won't cost Hoyer and the Cubs quite as much. Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon is a strong defensive third baseman, and he has posted an OPS well above .800 since early May. He could boost the Cubs offense at third base significantly without costing as much in a trade.
Beyond those two players, the options get rather thin and have a greater number of question marks, and eventually Hoyer would be weighing whether he is truly getting an upgrade at third base. Shaw might still turn things around at the plate, and in the meantime, he is providing excellent defense at the position.
In the next few weeks, Hoyer will almost certainly be prioritizing his pitching staff. That is clearly the greatest area of need, and compared to a light-hitting third baseman, a rotation and bullpen lacking enough out-getters will sink a team's playoff dreams much more quickly. But given that Hoyer has just a few more months to prove he is the right man to stay at the helm of the Cubs organization, there is a good chance he is one of the more aggressive front offices at this deadline, even if that means trading for a third baseman to fill Matt Shaw's spot for the next few months.