With Matt Chapman still unsigned, Cubs will have Christopher Morel focus on third base
MESA, Ariz. â Cody Bellinger or Matt Chapman? The Chicago Cubs are keeping both free agents on their radar, league sources said, waiting to see how Scott Boras proceeds and whether a deal will fall into their range. For Jed Hoyerâs group, it appears to be more about lining up the right deal than choosing between a former MVP and a Gold Glove third baseman. The uncertainty is a persistent topic around the Sloan Park training complex. Within the clubhouse, there is curiosity about what it will take to break the logjam. Playing off the standard question in spring training â whoâs your Opening Day starter? â a reporter jokingly asked new Cubs manager Craig Counsell to name his favorite Boras client.
Counsell talks like someone who works in the front office, highlighting the overall health of the organization and the untapped value within young talent. With his open-minded nature and problem-solving skills, Counsell will shift his thinking and adapt to the moment. This isnât even necessarily trying to create leverage because the Cubs are monitoring the situation more than aggressively pursuing Chapman. But Counsellâs updated plan to play Christopher Morel at third base is intriguing.
âChristopherâs done so much with the bat that itâs our job to figure out the best way to deploy him,â Counsell said Saturday. âMy idea at the start of camp is to kind of focus mainly at third base. Letâs see where weâre at. Letâs evaluate that as we go. But letâs give him a chance at third base. Letâs give him some consistency at third base and see where weâre at, roster-wise, at some point in camp and then go forward from there.â
Morel will be there for Mondayâs first full-squad workout, which wasnât guaranteed when last season ended and the trade speculation began. Morelâs most natural position would probably be second base, where Nico Hoerner has become a Gold Glove defender and one of the teamâs most valuable players. The Cubsâ two primary corner outfielders, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, are each signed through 2026 and earning around $20 million per season. Former manager David Ross â who always collaborated closely with his coaching staff and the front office â viewed Morel as unlikely to stick as an everyday third baseman.
Nico Hoerner won his first Gold Glove in 2023 for his work at second base. (David Banks / USA Today)
As the offseason unfolded, the Cubs decided they would not trade Morel, 24, for a rental player. After starting last season with Triple-A Iowa, Morel electrified the team by generating 26 home runs in 107 games. Morelâs .821 OPS represented an 80-percentage-point improvement from his rookie season. It should also be noted that it helped when Ross gave Morel a midseason timeout on the bench to observe and exhale. At last monthâs Cubs Convention, Hoyer described some of the trade rumors as âlaughableâ and âan alternate universe.â
âPlayers that get asked about, thatâs a good thing,â Counsell said. âThose are good players, so thereâs nothing wrong with that. I look at this as a young player whoâs had a lot of offensive success at an early age. Weâve got to figure it out positionally. We donât have to decide today. But hopefully we get some definition of what weâre asking him to do defensively because thereâs too much offense to ignore.â
To recap, the Cubs wanted Morel to work at first base while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic and even assigned coaches to help with that project. But the Cubs do not control the lineup for âĂguilas Cibaeñas, so Morel did not get any game repetitions at first base. From the Winter Meetings through Cubs Convention, team officials highlighted the value of Morelâs versatility. When Rhys Hoskins, for example, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, it did not dramatically change the offseason trajectory because the Cubs had already acquired Michael Busch to be their primary first baseman and slotted Morel as their main right-handed-hitting DH.
More than sending a message to Boras, this seems like Counsell weighing in with all his experience in player development and roster management. After so many years in Milwaukee, Counsell can take a fresh look at Morel, who has been in the Cubs organization since he was a teenager. Morel missed out on a minor-league season in 2020 and made his major-league debut after a minimal amount of Triple-A at-bats. With Morel and third base, it doesnât yet feel like the Cubs have exhausted that possibility.
âIâm really excited about the offensive potential and know that, defensively, this is still a young player,â Counsell said. âItâs work that weâre going to have to put in and see where that work gets us.â
(Top photo: Benny Sieu / USA Today)