Mutual Interest Between Chicago Cubs And Trea Turner

Sometimes the winter hot stove season starts heating up before the weather cools down. According to a report out of Chicago, the Cubs and current Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner may be discussing numbers this November.

On his YouTube “REKAP” NBC Chicago and ESPN 1000 reporter David Kaplan said that there is at least “mutual interest” between the two parties.

“Heard something interesting today. Trea Turner? Definitely interested in the Cubs. Definitely. And the Cubs? Mutually interested in Trea Turner,” Kaplan said.

A deal would make sense for both parties. After making $21 million from the Dodgers this season, Turner is set to become an unrestricted free agent. He will be a part of a deep free agent pool at shortstop, along with Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson. The Cubs are in the early stages of a rebuild, but they might be ready to start turning the corner. Team owner Tom Ricketts told reporters recently that he intends to spend this offseason.

“The fact is we have to follow through on how you build a consistent winner, and the way you build a consistent winner is to find a good, young core and supplement them with the right guys at the right time,” Ricketts said.

That right time might be now. The Cubs spent on Marcus Stroman and Seiya Suzuki last winter, and with additions like Turner in the next free agency period, they could take the next step toward contending again. Though the Cubs are 60-82 for the season, they have posted a much better winning percentage since the August 2 trade deadline. In August, Chicago went 15-15, their first month with at least a .500 record since May of last year. Breakout performances by young pitchers Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele and utilityman Christopher Morel have helped the Cubs win more often in the second half of the season.

Financially, the Cubs are in an enviable spot. The Roster Resource projections on FanGraphs have their 2023 payroll below $100 million. This year, they have been roughly $90 million below the first tier of the luxury tax threshold. The Cubs under the Ricketts family have never been particularly shy about doling out big contracts when they feel the time is right, so that space in the payroll might start getting filled this offseason.

The only potential roadblock, and it’s a minor one, is the guy currently playing shortstop for the Cubs. Nico Hoerner is currently nursing a triceps injury he suffered Sunday night against the Giants, but he has amassed four wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. That puts him ahead of Correa and not too far behind the likes of Turner, Bogaerts, and Swanson.

So why spend on a shortstop when you already have a good one?

“I think it’s like when you want to buy a new car, but you don’t have to,” Cubs manager David Ross told reporters over the weekend. “You can be picky.”

The Cubs would hardly be the first team to sign a free agent at a position that they already have filled. Depth is essential for a winning team, and good athletes like Hoerner can handle being flexible on defense. Hoerner logged a lot of innings at second base in 2020 and 2021, and he has even spent a little time in the outfield and at third base.

It helps that Hoerner is open to the possibility, even likelihood, that he will be asked to move from shortstop next year.

“If they’re spending money to give us the best chance to be in the postseason and be not just a competitive team but a dominant team, which is what you want to go towards, obviously that’s the biggest priority,” Hoerner said.

This openness to change is at least partially fueled by a frustration with losing.

“I don’t want to be at the trade deadline doing the selling thing again or being in September and seeing Wrigley partly empty,” Hoerner said.

Turner would be a natural fit for the Cubs. Hoerner can move back to second base, where the Cubs lack for depth. Since trading for Nick Madrigal at the 2021 deadline, he has played just 59 games for the Cubs this season thanks to a variety of injuries. Even if Madrigal is healthy next year — and stays that way — the Cubs will have open spots on the depth chart at third base and potentially center field. There will be places for Hoerner to play.

September is too early to start getting any hopes up about who is going to sign where, but that doesn’t mean the rumor mill won’t be active anyway. Especially when it comes to the four top tier shortstops who are expected to hit the open market. Players have to wait at least five days after the season ends to sign a new contract, and if the World Series stretches seven games this fall, that would mean the earliest Turner or anyone else could be signed is November 10.