Chicago Cubs Continue Weighing Options at Third Base Before Next Season

Despite the prevailing thought that Matt Shaw is going to take over third base for the Chicago Cubs next season, it sounds like they are still weighing their options.

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs made a splash by acquiring Kyle Tucker, but it also created another roster question about who will play third base in 2025 with Isaac Paredes being a featured part of the package sent out.

When the Cubs traded for Paredes ahead of the deadline this past season, the thought was he would be manning the hot corner for the foreseeable future since he was a cost controlled player who was arbitration eligible until 2028.

But when he posted an OPS+ of 82 across his 52 games with Chicago, the front office began to assess some things, especially with star prospects coming up the ranks who could potentially take over third base going forward.

With Paredes now out of town, the prevailing thought is Matt Shaw, the No. 1-ranked player in their pipeline, is going to be the Opening Day starter at the hot corner after he reached Triple-A for the first time in 2024.

Shaw looked the part, slashing .298/.395/.534 with seven homers, 16 extra-base hits and 21 RBI across his 35 games and 148 plate appearances.

That is a small sample size to go on, though, and it's perhaps a reason why the Cubs seemingly are still weighing their options at this point in time instead of outright committing to the talented prospect before Spring Training begins.

"There's opportunity for our guys in the Minor Leagues ... And certainly, I think if I'm a guy in Double-A or Triple-A last year that plays third base, I'm looking at Wrigley Field right now and saying, 'Hey, I've got a path,'" general manager Carter Hawkins said per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

While that sounds like a direct statement about Shaw, there are other options Chicago can go with as well to open up the year.

Veteran utility man Miles Mastrobuoni would be the easy choice since he has 119 games of experience at the Major League level, but he doesn't provide much on offense with just a 54 OPS+.

The other part of the statement Hawkins made was about them potentially bringing in someone from the open market who can take over third base.

"If there's players on the free-agent market that match up with us, that's something we'll tackle here in the coming weeks," he added.

That will be something to keep an eye one.

Shaw seems to be the guy, though.

The Cubs would love nothing more than for the elite prospect to win this job during the spring and start carving out his role in the MLB.

But, it's not a given that this will happen at the start of the season.