It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the cold. We’ve got a fire going in here. There’s no cover charge. We can check your coat for you. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone
else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you who will lead the Cubs in home runs this year and I stupidly forgot to include Seiya Suzuki as an option. In any case, 60 percent of you picked Michael Busch. Fourteen percent of you picked “other,” which I assume meant Suzuki.
Here’s the part where we listen to jazz. I don’t normally do movie stuff on Tuesday nights, so just enjoy the tunes.
Tonight we’re featuring vibraphonist Sasha Berliner at SFJazz this past December. She’s joined by Tristan Cappel on tenor sax and flute, Javier Santiago on keyboards, Giulio Xavier Cetto on bass and the drummer is Myles Martin.
This is “Did You Get It?”
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.
The natural position for Matt Shaw is second base. Can he play other positions? Sure. But he’s going to be most valuable at second base.
This is a problem for Shaw and the Cubs now that they have signed Nico Hoerner for the next six years. Hoerner is not moving off of second base. Third base, where Shaw played last year, is occupied by Alex Bregman for the next six years. So unless you think Shaw can be a corner outfielder, the Cubs are looking at keeping Shaw as a utility player until he reaches free agency if they don’t trade him first.
At this time last year, Shaw was a Top 50 prospect in all of baseball. After one year in the majors, he still has some of that top prospect sheen. He was the Cubs starting third baseman last year and while his overall numbers weren’t great, they were much better in the second half after he got adjusted to the majors. His defense at third base was good. Baseball Reference and Fangraphs had very different evaluations of his overall WAR (3.1 on BR and 1.5 on Fangraphs) but even if you go by the lower value, a 23-year-old who was worth a win and a half usually has a promising future.
But it doesn’t look like Shaw has a promising future with the Cubs. They’re trying him out in right field and while there isn’t enough of a sample size to draw any conclusions from the stats, Shaw isn’t passing the eye test out there. Maybe he gets better. But is Shaw’s best value as a corner outfielder?
I would argue that it isn’t. Even if Shaw learns to play a decent outfield, I don’t think he’s going to hit like a corner outfielder hits. Shaw profiles as an above-average hitter as a second baseman. I think he’s a below-average hitter as a left or right fielder.
So the answer appears to be to trade Shaw. However, the Cubs had a major weakness last season: their bench. Shaw is a huge upgrade over Jon Berti, Vidal Bruján and everyone else whom the Cubs used as a backup infielder last season. Even Willi Castro, who turned into a pumpkin right after the trade deadline.
So it would seem that the Cubs could really use Shaw this year to shore up their bench. The problem with that is that the longer Shaw plays as a utility player, the less his value on the trade market gets. Sure, some top 50 prospects end up as utility infielders (Iowa Cub Scott Kingery is one), but if another team thinks that Shaw can be their starting second baseman for the next five years, maybe it’s better to trade him now, even if the Cubs have to accept 75 cents on the dollar for him.
So how urgent is the need to trade Matt Shaw? Should the Cubs try to get a deal done as soon as possible, or should they wait until the offseason? That way the Cubs would have Shaw ready to step in for any injuries during the season and there might be a bigger market in the winter. On the other hand, there might be teams looking to dump players who are approaching free agency whom the Cubs could get for Shaw now who would not be available in the winter. No, I don’t think the Tigers are trading Tarik Skubal unless they completely fall out of playoff contention, but there might be other quality players whom teams would deal for Shaw.
Or maybe you think the Cubs should keep Shaw for next season. Maybe you think he can hit and field well enough to be a quality corner outfielder. Maybe you just want to keep him around as a utility super-sub.
If you think the Cubs should trade Shaw as soon as possible, just vote “by the trade deadline.” Most teams aren’t willing to make deals before June, but you never know when a team might suffer an injury that Shaw be the answer for.
Thanks for stopping by tonight. We’ve enjoyed hosting you. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.
