The Cubs are in agreement on a deal with first round selection Matt Shaw, as first reported by Keith Law of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be paid the full $4.85MM slot value associated with the 13th overall selection.
Shaw, a University of Maryland product, was generally perceived as a mid-first round talent. He ranked 7th on Law’s pre-draft rankings, 13th at Baseball America and 16th for MLB Pipeline. Evaluators praise his hit tool and solid power potential. The MVP of the Cape Cod League last summer, the righty-swinging middle infielder hit .341/.445/.697 with 24 home runs and more walks than strikeouts during his final season in College Park.
While Shaw played shortstop for the Terps, reports suggest he’s likely to move to second base in pro ball because of a below-average arm. He’s expected to stick at the keystone and could potentially move quickly through the minors as an advanced college bat.
The Cubs have Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner penciled into the middle infield for the next few seasons. If Shaw hits well enough in the minors to push to the MLB level within the next year or two, the extra depth would be a nice “problem” to have.
They got that done fast.
July 25th is the deadline to sign unless the player has exhausted his college eligibility.
In today’s lineup: Mastrobouni, Young, Barnhart – then on the bench: Mancini, Wisdom!!
With those guys in Chicago, Shaw would help the lineup immediately. These guys are bums.
Mervis should be up. Amaya should be catching half the games. Velazquez and Vazquez might as well be brought up and playing tomorrow. This group isn’t getting it done and is underachieving badly.
And Happ and Suzuki have shown all the power of a clean up hitter on a T-ball team.
Cubs should just trade everyone that has value and let the kids play!