Cubs Apparently ‘HAVE’ Interest in a Free Agent Bat!?

As of today, like right this moment, the Chicago Cubs have only one true outfielder on their roster – Jason Heyward. Now, while I have no doubts he ‘could’ play all three outfield positions at once, there’s no sense in having him give his best Bugs Bunny effort out there.

Yes, I know Ian Happ is still on the roster, however, he is a second baseman that the Cubs have utilized as an outfielder. He has taken to the position well, but it wasn’t his position coming into professional baseball. In fact, Kris Bryant played more outfield than Happ had before getting to the bigs, having played centerfield in college along with both corner OF spots.

It is actually humorous looking at the Cubs depth chart as it seems like they just rename the same three players over and over.

So obviously the Cubs have a need, and a need they likely weren’t going to fill with an inexperienced minor league player. Plus, it seems that the Cubs are rather intent on moving Happ to left field with Kyle Schwarber gone. This would leave the CF spot open, and with Cole Roederer (Single-A) being their best organizational CF talent, they will need to search outside the organization.

Enter, Jackie Bradley Jr.

Per Jon Morosi, the Cubs are interested in the former Boston Red Sox center fielder.

Free agent Jackie Bradley Jr. is drawing interest from the Phillies, Cubs, and Blue Jays, among other teams, as I mentioned this morning on @MLBNetwork. Bradley, 30, is coming off a season in which he posted a 118 OPS+, his best since 2016. @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 15, 2020

Now, JBJ isn’t the best offensive player, but he isn’t embarrassing either. Owning a career 93 wRC+ suggests he’s just below average offensively – which is a giant leap forward from Albert Almora‘s offensive production. He’s also a smart player, with great instincts, and a fine defensive asset. In 2020, JBJ finished with a 119 wRC+ (the second-best output of his career) but he does have a lot of swing-and-miss, having struck out in a quarter of his career plate appearances.

He has been a positive value player throughout his career and would help solidify the Cubs defensively while adding another lefty bat. He doesn’t help the Cubs get better against lefties, something that plagued them in 2020, but it does help give the team three everyday outfield starters. He will likely be relatively inexpensive as well.

Long-term fix? Naw. But one-year duct tape solution, sure.