Cubs insider plays down possibility of $260M talent coming to Wrigley Field
The Chicago Cubs have a glaring need at third base and have had a revolving door of players, with Matt Shaw, Jon Berti, Gage Workman and Vidal Bruján all getting chances. Shaw was demoted to AAA after hitting .172 with a .535 OPS and a 55 OPS+.
The trade deadline is another way they could look to address the requirement and one of the top players there for the taking is St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. After spending the entire offseason looking for a trade candidate, the Cardinals felt short in their attempt to take off Arenado's eight-year, $260 million contract (as per Spotrac) off their cap.
With that in mind, on Thursday's North Side Territory show, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma played down the possibility of Chicago shopping Arenado's hefty contract and bringing him to Wrigley Field.
"It's going to be hard to add a third baseman," Sharma said. "I don't know how you do that, frankly. At the trade deadline, maybe stability you can add—I don't know how you add impact.
"I just don't like it. It's going to be hard to pry away... I mean, the Cardinals will probably trade Nolan Arenado. I don't think they're trading him to the Cubs. I don't—I don't see that happening. But maybe—maybe something weird happens."
MLB journalist suggests trade proposal between Cubs' Matt Shaw with Nolan Arenado
The Cubs need to find their starting third baseman and David Schoenfield of ESPN believes it isn't Matt Shaw.
The Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer mentioned that Shaw's demotion was only temporary until he can find his way up back.
“The ultimate hope is that Matt Shaw will go down to Triple-A, find his swinging game and come back up,” Hoyer said.
“We have to do better,” Hoyer added. “We’re not providing much offense out of that position right now, which happens, but we’re providing poor defense, and that’s really what’s hurting us.”
However, Schoenfield believes the Cubs could propose a trade which sends Shaw to the Cardinals and Arenado to Wrigley Field:
“Alec Bohm is struggling with the Phillies, the Cubs demoted Matt Shaw, the Blue Jays aren't getting any production at third, the Yankees have only one home run from their third basemen ... it's a long list. If the Cardinals pay down some of the contract, they could probably find Arenado a new home."
This season, Arenado is hitting .267 along with two home runs, one stolen base and 11 RBIs.