No Bregman, no problem: Top prospect’s future as Cubs 3B begins now

MESA, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw was at his apartment Wednesday night when his phone buzzed. It was a text message from one of his best friends from Massachusetts, breathlessly telling him the breaking news.

Free agent third baseman Alex Bregman was signing a three-year, $120 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

While everyone in Chicago moaned and groaned, with everyone from the Cubs front office to the players to the peanut vendors at Wrigley Field expressing their frustration, there was whooping and hollering from a certain apartment in town.

Shaw, who’s dealing with a minor strained oblique muscle, strolled into camp Friday for their first official workout as the happiest man in a Cubs uniform.

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‘Oh my gosh, yeah, what a roller coaster of emotions,’’ Shaw said quietly to USA TODAY Sports after speaking to the media. “I followed it closely. Me and my fiancée talked about it. It was kind of exciting and unique in a way that such a big decision also affected my career in such a particular way as a young guy.

‘Now, you see yourself in these conversations and see yourself having the opportunity to hopefully play in the big leagues and have an impact on a team.’

Shaw was told all winter – and reiterated at the Cubs convention in January – that he would be given the first crack to earn the starting third base job. Then, February rolled around, and Bregman was still a free agent. Spring training started, and Bregman was still a free agent.

Suddenly, Jed Hoyer, the Cubs president of baseball operation and agent Scott Boras were talking regularly, numbers were being exchanged, and the Cubs were making a four-year, $115 million offer to sign him.

Shaw knew the ramifications.

If Bregman signed, he was out. Oh, he could have perhaps been asked to switch positions to second base, just as he switched from shortstop to third base last year. Most likely, he would be sent back to the minors. He could even be traded.

‘Now,’’ Shaw said, ‘there is clarity moving forward. For the team, the media, it’s nice to figure out that piece for all of us. There’s less questions about it, you can move forward together. This is our team.’

Certainly, there’s no hard feelings Shaw said. He has played in only 35 games in Triple-A, so he wasn’t about to tell management they’re making a mistake for not believing he can handle the job right now at a whole lot cheaper rate than Bregman.

‘I mean, at the end of the day, you understand it’s a business,’ Shaw said. ‘You want to have a team that’s going to be able to win a championship. You had a great player player like Bregman, it’s always a good thing for your team. And obviously they kind of reflected that in their sadness for not being able to sign him.’

Cubs players spent the past week saying how much they wanted Bregman, not necessarily recruiting him, but telling him how badly they’d love to have him. Two of his former teammates from the Houston Astros, Ryan Pressly and Kyle Tucker, didn’t hide their enthusiasm for the possibility of joining him in Chicago.

‘Breggy, first and foremost,’ Tucker said Friday, ‘is one of the best guys that you can have on a team, and one of the best players in the league. So, any team would be lucky to have a person like that. Obviously sad that I’m not going to be able to play with him this year, but you never know what the future holds.

‘He’s such a phenomenal person and player. I wasn’t trying to sway him one way or the other. It’s a personal decision. But I would have loved to have him.’

Shaw understands. He didn’t take it personal. He appreciated it, but certainly wasn’t expecting Hoyer, GM Carter Hawkins and manager Craig Counsell to talk to him two days ago, keeping him apprised of what’s going on.

‘I think he knows it’s come fast for him,’ Hoyer said. ‘He’s in the 2023 draft (selected 13th overall) and has moved really quickly. Ultimately, spots on the team are earned. He knows that. He’s got a great head on his shoulders, so I don’t think any of that stuff bothered him.

‘He’s here to play well, and we’ll see what happens.’

The Cubs veterans also say there’s no need to personally to say anything to Shaw. He’s just a 23-year-old kid who has never played a day in the big leagues. It’s not as if Shaw was a seasoned veteran and the Cubs were trying to dump him to improve the club.

‘I think he understands that,’’ veteran shortstop Dansby Swanson said. ‘It’s hard to explain, but I think that he knows and understands how valuable he is, and I think he’s smart enough to figure all of those things out on his own.

‘It’s not as harsh as it sounds, but I think so often we can kind of over-coach or over-help, and he’s such a gifted player, he can figures things out himself and be just fine.’’

Said veteran reliever Ryan Brasier: ‘I’m sure he’s like, ‘I’m supposed to be the guy. I want the job.’ But when you can get a guy like Bregman, that’s just part of it. It is what it is. There’s really nothing you can do about it, except now that we didn’t get him, go out and show them they made the right move by sticking with you.’

Shaw knows that he’s the top prospect in the organization, but still is unproven. There are plenty of instances a rookie has a great spring, and still is sent to the minors whether it’s for more experience or even for service-time manipulation.

‘There’s situations as a younger player where you could have an incredible spring and there’s no opportunity,’ second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “You could do nothing impactful in spring training games and have an opportunity. There’s so much out of your control.

‘I think he’s got a good sense of that. He strikes me as somebody who has a very strong sense of who he is as a player. There’s always going to be a new challenge, the next thing, and he seems just very, very adept at handling whatever that is coming his way.

“I’m just excited to see the kind of player he is.’

Shaw, who had a slash line of .298/.395/.534 at Triple-A Iowa, wants to prove the Cubs right by not dealing for a player who could have blocked his path for the next four years. He wants to show his teammates there’s no reason to be disappointed they’re not playing with Bregman.

He doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder, or carry a grudge, but certainly has confidence that one day folks could be talking about him as an All-Star like Bregman.

‘I don’t think anybody said anything that necessarily would have bene hurtful in any way,’ Shaw said. “They’re just being honest, and the honesty about the situation is that Bregman is a great player. So, I don’t think anybody at all needs to say anything to me.

‘At the end of the day, it’s a business, and you’re trying to put together a great team that wins. I’ve hoping to have a similar impact, have a successful season, and help win the division.

‘Really, that’s all I can ask for.’

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