Cubs GM Jed Hoyer
The Cubs have been disappointing to this point of the MLB season, putting up a record of 32-34, and hardly the start that they’d hoped to get off to under new manager Craig Counsell. They currently have just one player—Christopher Morel—who has knocked double-digit home runs (he has 12), and they rank 19th in baseball with 64 homers overall. They are 16th with 284 runs scored and are hitting a combined .229.
GM Jed Hoyer knows well that this is a team in need of some offensive pop. And, according to former GM Jim Bowden, they’ve been in talks to bring that pop to Wrigley Field.
Bowden wrote this week that the Cubs have had conversations with the Mets about first baseman Pete Alonso, a pending free agent whom the woebegone Mets could look to move at the trade deadline.
“The Cubs are searching for more offensive help at catcher with the Rockies’ Elias Díaz a strong trade possibility. Interestingly, they’ve also touched base with the Mets on Pete Alonso and the Blue Jays on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.,” Bowden reports.
Pete Alonso Heading Into Free Agency
A move for Guerrero would be an upgrade, and Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins acknowledged this week that Toronto has had talks about trading Guerrero as well as shortstop Bo Bichette, but he also said that any deal involving those two, “doesn’t make sense.”
So Alonso is the more promising target. He’s a three-time All-Star in the meat of his career, putting up his usual power numbers, at .240 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs. The Mets have had a terrible season, and a fire sale could be coming soon.
Because Alonso is a pending free agent, the asking price for him could be relatively cheap, as he is expected to warrant a hefty offseason contract worth more than $250 million. He would likely be only a temporary rental, then, unless the Cubs wanted to pony up to pay him. It’s believed he’d prefer to return to New York, though, after the season.
Alonso has been very durable, missing only 24 games in five MLB seasons entering this one, and, more important, he has been very productive. Alonso led the league with 53 home runs as a rookie in 2019, and has knocked 40-plus homers in each of his last two seasons. He drove in a league-high 131 runs in 2022 and batted in 118 last season, despite hitting only .217.
Cubs Move Michael Busch to 2B
The Cubs’ interest in Alonso and Guerrero comes as Chicago made a noteworthy move in Sunday’s 4-2 win over the Reds. They played Michael Busch at second base, after he had made 51 starts at first base. Busch came up with the Dodgers as a versatile infielder, but was slotted in at first by the Cubs.
Busch has had a solid season (.242/.341/.440) but is not the slugger the Cubs need, not at first base. Because there are expected to be a handful of good hitters possibly on the trade market who are first basemen, it makes sense for the Cubs to move Busch and clear the way for a potential addition there.
The move was necessitated by the hand injury suffered by second baseman Nico Hoerner, but could open some new possibilities for the Cubs. Cody Bellinger played first base on Sunday. He could move back to the outfield if the Cubs did make a trade, or stay at first base if the Cubs acquire an outfielder.