Chicago Cubs must soon decide on Matt Shaw’s future

The Chicago Cubs are staring down an absolutely Herculean task this offseason.

As things stand right now, they might have to replace their entire end-of-season starting rotation, a few key bullpen pieces, their left fielder, their right fielder, two valuable backup outfielders, and their catcher.

More News: Chicago Cubs pitching prospect wins top honors amid under-the-radar rise

Among those possibly headed into free agency next month are Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Caleb Thielbar, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Michael Conforto, Tyrone Taylor, and Carson Kelly.

Those are a lot of holes to fill over the course of one offseason for a team firmly in “win now” mode—especially when there’s likely to be an abbreviated offseason due to the coming labor dispute.

And even though they’ll have a lot of money coming off the books, it’ll also be an incredibly costly effort to undergo.

That’s why Chicago may have to make some uncomfortable trade decisions soon.

Making uncomfortable trade decisions

More News: Chicago Cubs bullpen may actually be in a good place ahead of 2027

Unfortunately, the team just doesn’t have all that many young, tradeable assets that they’re willing to part with. Taking that into considersation, the name of Matt Shaw gets tossed around a lot as possible trade bait.

The 24-year-old seems to be the most likely—and potentially attractive—trade chip the Cubs have right now and, maybe, the only one that could bag them a young, controllable starting pitcher.

Shaw was made a position player without a home, pushed into a super utility role, when the Cubs acquired third baseman Alex Bregman this past offseason. To his credit, he did well in his new bench role, spending time at every position but shortstop, catcher, and pitcher over the course of the 2026 campaign. He also, however, spent a lot of time on the IL and only managed to log 202 plate appearances over 77 games.

But, still, Shaw is a 2023 No. 1 draft pick and is still seen as a talent with a high potential upside. As a bench player with this team, he has definite value. As a means to bring in pitching, though, he arguably has greater value.

The value of Matt Shaw

Doug Schwamb of SI.com recently made his case for why Shaw is expendable on this Cubs team:

“Look, there’s no easy way to say this, but Matt Shaw is as inconsistent as clothing sizes. He has had his fair share of good moments, but nothing has ever stood out. With the core group locked up, Shaw is a top-bench player/utility role guy. The Cubs should easily be able to find those types of players in the open market.”

On another team, Shaw could be an every day player at third base or second base and possibly develop into something he might never become as a Cubs backup. In short, there’s still significant value in nurturing his upside.

Schwamb theorizes that the Cubs could land pitcher Reid Detmers from the Los Angeles Angels for Shaw as part of a package. And that would be a no-brainer of a deal if it could be pulled off.

On the other hand, Bregman at third isn’t going to get any younger and injuries do pop up, so having Shaw around could be of great potential benefit. There’s also the possibility that Chicago could use him as a replacement for either Happ or Suzuki in the outfield.

The debate on what to do with Shaw is an interesting one—but it may be coming to an end this offseason as the Cubs make this Shaw decision for themselves.

The post Chicago Cubs must soon decide on Matt Shaw’s future appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-matt-shaw-future-trade-2027/