The Chicago Cubs missed out on signing Alex Bregman, and while Jed Hoyer defended the team’s attempt to land the star third baseman, calling their four-year, $115 million offer with multiple opt-outs the “best offer we could make,” it’s hard to ignore that the offer was still outdone by the Detroit Tigers, who offered six years and $171.5 million, and the Boston Red Sox, who outpaced the Cubs in average annual value with $40 million. Bregman was a perfect fit for the Cubs, addressing their biggest lineup need, yet the team in the third-largest market in the country couldn’t outbid the competition.

While the Ricketts family’s budget is what it is, Hoyer likely reassured himself and the ownership group by pointing to top prospect Matt Shaw as a solid fallback option at third base. However, baseball seasons are long and unpredictable, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have shown that “good enough” isn’t enough. If the Cubs are truly motivated to win in 2025, they should always seek to add more talent. Unfortunately, they ignored this principle, and it didn’t take long for it to haunt them in spring training.

Matt Shaw, the Cubs’ presumptive Opening Day third baseman now that Alex Bregman chose the Red Sox, is dealing with an oblique issue that will slow his start to spring training, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) February 14, 2025

Matt Shaw injury throws Cubs’ perilous infield situation into sharp relief after Alex Bregman whiff

Shaw is one heck of a prospect, a former first-round pick who’s spent the last 18 months or so blitzing every level of the Minors put in front of him. Unfortunately, what seemed set up to be a breakout year has gotten off to a rough start, as the infielder has had his spring training delayed by an oblique issue.

The team tried to downplay the injury, labeling it as “day to day” and stressing that they didn’t expect it to significantly affect Shaw’s preparation for Opening Day. However, oblique injuries are known for lingering, and Shaw required all the reps he could get to secure the third-base job and make the most of it—something the Cubs were counting on in the absence of Bregman.

Now, Chicago finds itself with one more uncertainty added to the mix. The case for Bregman was never to completely block Shaw, but rather to elevate the team’s potential in 2025 while giving Shaw some time to develop, knowing that both Shaw and Bregman had enough positional flexibility to share playing time if needed. However, now the position has become a fragile situation, vulnerable to being derailed by a single injury or a development timeline that’s slower than expected.

Shaw might still become a star, but his injury highlights just how much the Cubs were depending on him as a rookie—an unfair burden to place on him. The Cubs had the financial resources to seriously pursue Bregman, but instead, they chose to take a risk.