Interest in Free Agent Sparks Cubs Trade Rumors
Trade rumors kind of died down this past weekend as the Cubs celebrated the 10-year anniversary of winning the 2016 World Series at the team’s fan convention in Chicago. Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner have each had their name discussed in the media as potential trade pieces after the signing of Alex Bregman and those whispers are picking up again as the Cubs are reportedly interested in veteran hitter Miguel Andujar.
The 30-year-old has not been healthy in a while, but in 2025 Andujar finally was and produced a 125 wRC+ in 94 games. He began the season with the A’s and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the deadline. Andujar was a monster at the plate for the Reds in the final two months of the regular season, slashing .359/.400/.544, with a 159 wRC+ in 34 games coming off the bench.
Andujar began his career with the New York Yankees as a third baseman from, but the right-handed hitter has primarily logged most of his starts in the outfield since 2021. Still unsigned, Andujar could certainly bring a decent bat for any contender looking to add on the margins or be a bridge player and eventual trade chip for a rebuilding team.
According to Jon Heyman, several teams are showing significant interest in signing Andujar, including the Cubs.
Miguel Andujar, off big 2025 season (.318 BA, .822 OPS), is drawing significant interest. Rangers, Padres, Cardinals, Reds, Cubs, A’s among many in play.
Andujar can help sure up the Cubs bench, creating more roster flexibility with his ability to play both corner infield and outfield spots, while also mashing left-handed pitching throughout his career.
It’s a small sample size, 192 plate appearances during the past three seasons, but since the start of 2023 Andujar is slashing .374/.406/.560, a 169 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
So, how would Andujar fit into the Cubs 2026 roster? Well, the Cubs would have to make some room if they did end up signing Andujar because the bench currently looks like this: Matt Shaw, Miguel Amaya, Tyler Austin, Kevin Alcantara.
You could theoretically make it work by simply shifting Alcantara back to Triple-A, but then that leaves Craig Counsell without a true backup center fielder. So, it’s hard not to think about the potential of a trade and while Hoerner’s name has taken most of the headlines the past two years, Shaw is now gaining more attention in the rumor mill.
On Monday, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi connected Shaw to the Boston Red Sox, who are still looking to add an infielder after they botched their Bregman pursuit.
The Red Sox connection is especially intriguing because Cubs fans have been foaming at the mouth thinking about a potential trade for one of Boston’s young starting pitchers, either Payton Tolle or Connelly Early.
Pitching will always be a need, but the Red Sox would be trading from a position of strength. As for the Cubs, they reportedly remain in the starting pitching market and are still engaged in talks with Zac Gallen.
Is the interest in Andujar by the Cubs a precursor to a trade? That’s probably the only way it makes sense for the 2026 Cubs because having Andujar on the roster means someone is the odd-man out. Maybe it’s a just in case type of thing through and not the Cubs already having something in the works with the Red Sox or any other team.
Nothing wrong with exploring your options and the Cubs are still operating like a team that isn’t done adding this offseason, so we’ll see what’s next.