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MESA, Arizona – 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 be within reach. For Jed Hoyer’s camp, it appears to be more about getting the right deal than choosing between a former MVP and a Gold Glove third baseman. Uncertainty is a persistent theme surrounding the Sloan Park training complex. Inside the clubhouse, there is curiosity about what it will take to break the stalemate. Starting with the standard spring training question: Who will be your Opening Day starter? — a reporter jokingly asked new Cubs manager Craig Counsell to name his favorite Boras client.
Counsell speaks as someone who works in the front office, highlighting the overall health of the organization and the untapped value of young talent. With his open-minded nature and problem-solving ability, Counsell will change your thinking and adapt to the moment. This isn’t even necessarily an attempt to create leverage because the Cubs are monitoring the situation rather than aggressively pursuing Chapman. But Counsell’s updated plan to play Christopher Morel at third base is intriguing.
“Christopher has done so much with the bat that it’s our job to find the best way to deploy it,” Counsell said Saturday. “My idea at the beginning of camp is to focus mainly on third base. Let’s see where we are. Let’s evaluate that as we go. But let’s give him a chance at third base. Let’s give him some consistency at third base and see where we are, roster-wise, at some point in camp and then move forward from there.”
Morel will be there for the first full-squad workout on Monday, which wasn’t guaranteed when last season ended and trade speculation began. Morel’s most natural position would likely be second base, where Nico Hoerner has become a Gold Glove defender and one of the team’s most valuable players. The Cubs’ two primary corner outfielders, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, are each signed through 2026 and earn around $20 million per season. Former manager David Ross, who always collaborated closely with his coaching staff and management, believed that it was unlikely that Morel would remain as an everyday third baseman.
As the offseason progressed, 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 hitting 26 home runs in 107 games. Morel’s .821 OPS represented an 80 percentage point improvement over his rookie season. It’s also worth noting that he helped when Ross gave Morel a midseason timeout on the bench to observe and exhale. At last month’s Cubs Convention, Hoyer described some of the trade rumors as “laughable” and “an alternate universe.”
“It’s a good thing to be asked about the players,” Counsell said. “Those are good players, so there’s nothing wrong with that. I see this as a young player who has had a lot of offensive success at a young age. We have to solve it positionally. We don’t have to decide today. But hopefully we get some definition of what we’re asking him to do defensively because there’s too much offense to ignore.”
In short, 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 don’t control Águilas Cibaeñas’ lineup, so Morel didn’t get game reps at first base. From the Winter Meetings to the Cubs Convention, team officials stressed the value of Morel’s versatility. When Rhys Hoskins, for example, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, he didn’t dramatically change the offseason trajectory because the Cubs had already acquired Michael Busch as their primary first baseman and had placed Morel as their primary right-handed designated hitter.
Rather than sending a message to Boras, it seems that Counsell is intervening 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 a minor league season in 2020 and made his major league debut after a minimal number of at-bats in Triple-A. With Morel and third base, it doesn’t seem like the Cubs have exhausted that possibility yet.
“I’m very excited about the offensive potential and I know that defensively he’s still a young player,” Counsell said. “It’s a job that we’re going to have to do and see where that work takes us.”
(Top photo: Benny Sieu / USA Today)