Bo Bichette’s Bat, Positional Versatility Could Interest Cubs
The GM meetings are taking place in Las Vegas this week, which will lead to a plethora of rumors and reports over the coming days. Free agency being wide open now means teams can talk with players and their representatives, although it’s still too early for any big names to come off the board. One of those is star infielder Bo Bichette, who Jon Morosi reported on Tuesday is drawing interest as either a second or third baseman from multiple teams with established shortstops.
Bichette, coming off a trip to the World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays, played 132 games at shortstop before going on the injured list with a sprained left knee. He missed almost all of September and the early rounds of the postseason before being activated when the Blue Jays earned their trip to the Fall Classic. Even though he was still noticeably impacted by the injury, Bichette posted a .922 OPS in the series, including an electric three-run home run off of Shohei Ohtani to begin the scoring in Game 7.
BO BICHETTE BELTS ONE TO DEEP CENTER 🤯@BLUEJAYS LEAD 3-0 IN GAME 7 pic.twitter.com/64ai0Udfyl
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2025
The Cubs have Dansby Swanson under contract through the 2029 season, so they’re not in the market for a shortstop. However, Gold Glove second baseman Nico Hoerner is set to hit the open market after 2026. The Cubs will likely try to bring him back via another extension, but that isn’t guaranteed. Were they to make a splash like this in free agency, Bichette could play third base for at least one season.
Going that route, or even returning to Alex Bregman (which we explored previously), moving Matt Shaw in a trade for a pitcher could be a possibility. Jed Hoyer has plenty of opportunities to move around and change this roster throughout the winter months, with quite a few elite names available.
One valid concern is Bichette’s bat speed, which was in the 12th percentile during the 2025 campaign. It didn’t seem to affect him, though, as he had a .311 batting average and and .840 OPS. He doesn’t walk a lot, but his 14.5% strikeout rate was among the best in baseball, contributing to a .299 expected batting average that landed in the 99th percentile.
As is always the case this time of year, we try to keep our funnel as wide as possible when it comes to all the possibilities. While a vast majority of them will never come to fruition, it’s fun and informative to explore a variety of different angles.
