Who knows, maybe it was a throwaway comment from Mike Scioscia, but after the United States won the bronze medal at the Premier12 Tournament he might have just revealed a Cubs secret about Matt Shaw.
For the most part, I think when fans have put together their offseason plan for the Cubs and if they have Nico Hoerner traded away, those fans have automatically slotted Shaw as the team’s next starting second baseman. Makes sense, right? The Cubs traded Christopher Morel along with right-handed pitching prospects Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson for third baseman Isaac Paredes, who is under team control through the 2027 season.
You look around the diamond and on the surface there might not be enough at-bats to give for Shaw, the team’s top prospect heading into 2025, who is knocking at the MLB door. I still think Shaw should be used all over the field to get him in the lineup as much as possible and that can be done without needing to trade anyone. But if you do think the Cubs will move someone to make room for Shaw, is it actually going to be Hoerner?
Scioscia, the 2002 World Series winning skipper with the then Anaheim Angels and current US Baseball manager, had high praise for Shaw’s development at third base following Team USA’s 6-1 win over Venezuela on Sunday in Japan. While giving Shaw props for his defensive improvement at third base after working with infield coaches Dino Ebel and Keith Johnson, Scioscia may have inadvertently spilled the beans on Shaw’s future role with the Cubs.
Via The Japan Times.
“I talked about our young players in this experience, and I don’t know if anybody benefited more than Matt Shaw did,” Scioscia said. “From when we started working out about a month ago in Arizona and where he ended up.
“He had the opportunity to work with two of the best infield coaches that we have in the United States — Dino Ebel and Keith Johnson. The work they put in with Matt — it paid off quickly. You saw him play great defensive third base in this tournament. It’s a newer position for him, but with the Cubs, I think that’s where they’re projecting him to play as he gets in the major leagues.”
Oh, so the Cubs are projecting Shaw at third base you say? Again, maybe this was simply Scioscia making his own assumption about the Cubs’ future plans with Shaw. I mean in 2024, Shaw started 63 games at third, compared to 24 each at second and shortstop, respectively. That included 21 of 31 infield starts at the hot corner once Shaw was promoted to Triple-A Iowa in early August.
Or maybe Scioscia knows something we don’t because once again the assumption at the moment is that Paredes will be the starting third baseman in 2025 and beyond, but if the Cubs think Shaw is the future there, then where does Paredes actually fit in?
There could be a few moving parts this offseason for the Cubs as Cody Bellinger’s name has also been in trade rumors. The Cubs seem desperate to unload the left-handed hitter’s $30 million+ salary for next season. We also saw an interesting move at the non-tender deadline, when outfielder Mike Tauchman was let go, maybe signaling the Cubs will give younger players more opportunities in 2025.
Putting aside our speculation on Scioscia’s comment about Shaw and his projected position with the Cubs, the biggest development that’s happened in the past month is that Shaw has gotten better defensively. There have been question marks regarding the infielder’s defense, regardless of where he’s started, so it’s great to see that Shaw has improved playing with Team USA.
Cubs fans, I can report that Matt Shaw is putting on an impressive defensive clinic at 3B in Tokyo today.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 23, 2024
Join us on @DAZN_Sport now for the call of Team USA vs. Team Venezuela. @MLBPipeline @WBSC @670TheScore @WatchMarquee
Shaw finished the tournament slashing .412/.500/.706, with a pair of home runs and led the United States with 14 RBI. The right-handed hitter also had great plate discipline, drawing six walks to only five strikeouts.
“On the defensive side, he improved so much in just one month. On the offensive side, I think you saw his ability to drive the ball to all parts of the ballpark, and he runs the bases well. He’s got a great future.”
Matt Shaw: RBI Machine
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) November 23, 2024
pic.twitter.com/2wc9jNWqJn
Interesting to think about, though, what if the Cubs do have confidence in Shaw to play third in 2025 on a full-time basis? Paredes has to be traded, right? What’s his value after struggling for the majority of the 2024 season? Or do the Cub shift around other guys, trade Bellinger, move Seiya Suzuki back to RF and Paredes becomes the DH?
So many questions and hopefully we get some actual answers in the coming months.
