Earlier this month, huge news about the free agent market is probably that Alex Bregman and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a 5-year deal. Bregman has played in the majors for 10 seasons and is a 3-time All-Star.
Reading news about his decision with the Cubs, I’m just thinking whether this is a great move for the Cubs. To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, let’s remember one thing. There’s a player who played a key role for the Cubs in 2016. The Cubs won the 2016 World Series title and Kris Bryant made the final out to help the Cubs end the drought. Kris Bryant was certainly an important player in Cubs history. He played 7 seasons for the Cubs, hitting .279/.378/.508 with 160 home runs and 465 RBI. During his time with the Cubs, he played mainly at third base. However, Kris Bryant was traded to the Giants in July 2021.
So, after July 2021, Kris Bryant wasn’t the third baseman for the Cubs anymore. After the 2022 season, 4 players each spent a certain amount of time at third base for the Cubs and had more than 400 plate appearances. Looking at their stats, Christopher Morel played for the Cubs from 2022 to 2024, hitting .228/.308/.439 with 60 home runs and 168 RBI. Patrick Wisdom played for the Cubs from 2020 to 2024, hitting .208/.290/.462 with 84 home runs and 196 RBI. From 2022 to 2024, he had a .200 BA and an OPS of .727.
In addition, Nick Madrigal played for the Cubs from 2022 to 2024, hitting .251/.304/.312 with 2 home runs and 45 RBI. Moreover, Matt Shaw made it into the big leagues last March. In his rookie season, he slashed .226/.295/.394 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI.
As we can see, from 2022 to 2025, among Cubs players who played mainly at third base, none of them owned an OPS over .800 as Kris Bryant did. They didn’t crush home runs as frequently as Kris Bryant did. Well, Matt Shaw just made his MLB debut last year and the Cubs fans might be patient with his development.
Finally, we can take a look at Bregman’s stats. From 2022 to 2025, Bregman hit .263/.351/.451 with 92 home runs and 328 RBI over 575 games. In 2025, Bregman played 114 games for the Red Sox, hitting .273/.360/.462 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI. He did miss some playing time last season, however, he certainly can hit when he’s healthy.
After sending Kris Bryant to the Giants, the Cubs didn’t find a third baseman that can contribute as much as Kris Bryant. Well, Kris Bryant won the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year award and the 2016 NL MVP award. It’s not easy to play as well as he did for the Cubs. Nonetheless, after signing Alex Bregman, it will be very interesting to see if the Cubs have found the right third baseman that could contribute much to the team. However, there’s one thing worth watching. So far in his career, Bregman’s OPS is below .600 at Wrigley Field. Let’s see whether things will change in 2026.
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