By Jordan Long
The Chicago Cubs’ pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 13. The 1st full team workout is on February 18th. The Cubs wanted to address the bullpen in free agency. The Cubs were 2nd in all of Major League Baseball with a 3.35 ERA by their relievers last season. The only problem with the bullpen was the walks, giving up 273 which was tied for 4th in all of baseball. They have yet to make a change with the bullpen to this point. Chicago floated the idea of trading Ben Zobrist.
Zobrist is up there in age for a MLB player, turning 38 in May. On defense, he plays 1st base, 2nd base, left field, and right field. Zobrist was reliable. In 107 games last year, he committed an impressively low 1 error, occurring at right field.
On offense Zobrist isn’t a hitter who drives the ball for home runs with a total of 9 all of last season. He is patient at the plate and works the count which ended up in 55 walks. When Zobrist has a chance to smack the ball, he will for base hits and drive his teammates in. Zobrist hit .305 with 58 RBI’s.
Chicago may still trade him. According to sportingnews.com, Zobrist said, “I’m one of the pawns. You kind of recognize where you’re at as a player and then you own it. I don’t have a no-trade clause at this point, so I could be traded.”
Zobrist is entering the final year of his contract. It will pay him $12.5 million. The Cubs know his days in MLB are numbered and they would like to receive something back for him even if it is just for prospects. It might be unlikely for them to make a deal right now since it is so close to Spring Training. Chicago is most likely going to keep Zobrist for the start of the season. They could still trade him during the year. It all depends on how well the team is playing. If they start slowly and don’t look like they are going to make the postseason then make a move.
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