Former Top Prospect Non-Tendered by Chicago Cubs Among Best New Free Agents

A former top prospect who was non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs is one of the better new free agents available.

May 14, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Nick Madrigal (1) singles against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning at Truist Park. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have made a few moves already this offseason shaking up their roster.

The biggest, which came early on, was former MVP Cody Bellinger exercising his $27.5 million option for the 2025 campaign. With such a large sum of money being taken up, their plans this winter have been adjusted.

While they didn’t have any say over what the veteran was going to do, they did have a choice to make with former top prospect Nick Madrigal.

The infielder was one of several players the team had to decide whether or not to tender a contract. They opted to non-tender the second baseman, who is now hitting the free agent market.

The former Oregon State Beavers standout is now one of the better players available in the opinion of Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report. He landed in the notable non-tenders list of the piece he wrote.

“The No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft by the White Sox and the prospect centerpiece to acquire Craig Kimbrel from the Cubs at the 2021 trade deadline, Madrigal never lived up to lofty expectations in Chicago. The 27-year-old is a career .274/.323/.344 hitter, and while his contact skills are solid, his lack of extra-base pop is glaring.”

Putting pressure on the defense by continually making contact is certainly a positive, especially given how many all-or-nothing players now exist in the game. His strikeout percentage of 9.0 is miniscule with the league average being 22.8 percent.

However, he doesn’t walk much at 4.6 percent, which is well below the MLB average of 8.5. Also, there is only so much of a threat that a player of Madrigal’s style will instill in an opponent.

His average exit velocity of 84.7 MPH is well below the league average of 88.2 MPH. Madrigal struggles to get the ball into the air, hitting ground balls on 57.3 percent of the at-bats he makes contact.

As a result, that has led to the former top prospect being a negative WAR player in 2024. After two strong seasons with the glove in 2022 and 2023, his work in the field fell off a cliff this past year.

Given his lack of production in multiple facets, it is hard to envision much of a market developing, at least early on in the offseason. But, the pedigree that he has as a top pick is something teams could be something teams look to extract some value out of.

He does bring some versatility to the table with his ability to play third base along with the keystone.