The Cubs are in agreement with infielder Jon Berti, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a one-year, $2MM guarantee that includes another $1.3MM in performance bonuses, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Chicago has a full 40-man roster and will need to make another move once this deal is finalized. Berti is a client of Ball Players Agency.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week that the front office was looking to upgrade the bench. A multi-positional infielder seemed the likeliest target. Chicago has already added Carson Kelly as a backup catcher and has a strong outfield. Their infield was much less settled after they included Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade.
Berti, who turns 35 today, is a sensible depth pickup. He’s a good athlete who has ample experience at each of second base, third base and shortstop. He has decent defensive grades at all three spots. Berti topped 100 games for the Marlins in both the 2022 and ’23 seasons. He combined for a .268/.334/.373 batting line with solid strikeout and walk rates. While he has minimal power, he’s an excellent runner. Berti stole 41 bases in 46 attempts back in 2022 and continues to grade highly for his overall baserunning acumen.
The Yankees acquired the righty-hitting infielder from Miami just before last season got underway. Berti would have had an opportunity to push DJ LeMahieu for the third base job had he stayed healthy. That wasn’t to be, as he landed on the injured list with respective groin and calf problems early in the year. The latter — a significant strain of his left calf — shelved him between May and September. Berti was limited to 25 regular season appearances and played four times during New York’s run to the AL pennant. He hit .273 with one extra-base knock (a homer) in 74 plate appearances.
Berti finished the season just shy of six years of big league service. New York could’ve kept him for his final year of arbitration eligibility. They opted not to tender him a contract, which MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected around $3.8MM. He falls shy of that number as a free agent but secures a guaranteed deal and an MLB roster spot. As a player with over five years of service time, he can’t be sent to the minors without his consent. He’ll be on Chicago’s big league team.
It will likely be in a bench role. Dansby Swanson is locked in at shortstop. Nico Hoerner will play second base once he’s healthy. Hoerner is rehabbing from flexor surgery and might start the season on the injured list. That’d leave Berti as the favorite to handle the keystone. Prospect Matt Shaw is expected to get everyday run at third base. He’s coming off a monster year in the upper minors (.284/.379/.488 with 21 homers between Double-A and Triple-A). Shaw has significant offensive upside, but plenty of top prospects have struggled in their first look at major league pitching.
Berti offers insurance for Hoerner’s injury and adds a high-floor fallback at third base if Shaw doesn’t hit the ground running. The acquisition is likely to push at least one of Vidal Bruján or Gage Workman off the roster. Workman is a Rule 5 pick, while Bruján is a former top prospect whom the Cubs acquired from Miami last month. Bruján is out of options and cannot be sent down without clearing waivers. It’s highly unlikely that the Cubs carry each of Berti, Bruján and Workman on the Opening Day roster, especially if Hoerner is healthy.
Berti’s modest base salary pushes the Cubs’ luxury tax number to roughly $200MM, as calculated by RosterResource. They’re still more than $40MM below the tax line and should have ample space for another acquisition. Hoyer has called the bullpen a priority and they’ve been tied to a number of high-leverage relievers on the trade and free agent fronts.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
A little Berti told me this would happen
Pshaw!
And on his birthday, no less
We’re just going to have to escort you out peacefully through the back door.
I ain’t do nothin
Most famous Chicago MLB star is “Mr. Cub” also known as “Mr. Sunshine”.
So, now they’ll have had Bert and Ernie.
Man of all the 3B options on the market, this is what they’re going with. Classic Jed. A break even move for sure!
Runs like Mays
Hits like Shiiiiii
I think if they’re giving Shaw the shot, he’s a great backup if he stays healthy. Plus he can backup most anywhere else.
Y’all are gonna miss Mastrobuoni , he could have played this role with his eyes closed. But now I’m stuck with him on the Mariners, so thank you Cubs so very much…the prize of our postseason. (Maybe I should be a Pirates fan.)
Nice bench addition. Able to play several positions and brings pretty good speed to the basepaths
An older, more expensive Mastrobuoni
I’m not wild about the move either–but he is significantly better than Mastrobuoni.
One step closer to Workman getting returned to the Tigers.
This is called dumpster diving for incremental wins
Good for Berti. One nice side effect of all these insanely inflated salaries (guys who normally might’ve made $8M are making $13M, guys who would normally might’ve made $13M are making $18M, etc. etc.) is that lower level veterans are also getting larger than historically typical salaries- so normally Berti might’ve made $850k w/ $250k in incentives and instead he’s gonna make as much as $3.3M.
I’m not exactly saying that Berti is worth this much, but since everybody in the game is overpaid…then again they’ve been underpaid for so long maybe the new normal is just what’s been appropriate and fair all along.
He’s made 1.2M, 2.1M, and 3.6M the last three years it’s pretty in line with his previous salaries.
I think that the main side effect of inflated salaries on the top of the market is a lot of guys in the $5-10 million range losing their jobs to guys making the minimum.
I liked Berti for the limited time he was on the Yankees. Buyer beware however. He spent a significant amount of time on the IL with a groin and calf strain which doesn’t bode well for a 35 y.o. speed and defense player. Wish him well in Chitown!
Last year was unfortunate for us, but he’s a damn good player in reserve. He’ll help get Shaw settled there.
Oh the Cubbies could have done better and picked up Stanton with Berti! They would hammer Wrigley for three weeks until their beach vacation on the DL.
Before I react to this news, I need to hear about Berti’s familiarity with the Roger Beshens Football Slider. I’m sure someone will comment about it soon.
The Roger Beshens Football Slider underground cult is growing larger by the day. It’s foolish of you to mock such an innovative and creative approach of the throwing angle of the classic off-speed pitch. Only true Roger Beshens Football Slider devotees are familiar with its raw strength and untapped power. All acolytes of the Roger Beshens Football Slider will ascend to omnipotence and merge mind, body, and soul to become one being powerful enough to make Cy Young look like a little leaguer. And if, nay, when that day comes, this world will bow to its knees in complete awe and terror. So ask yourself one thing- are you ready to take on the mantle of the Roger Beshens Football Slider?
I apologize. I will say 40 Hail Rogers as penance.
Can someone please take away Jed’s check book and give it to someone who knows what he’s doing?
“Upgrading” the bench doesn’t mean trading Mastrobouni and signing Berti.
Hoyers offseason has not made one bit of sense what so ever. Sign Rae? Why? When Assad is a better swing option. Sign Berti? Sign Kelly when you could have kept Bethencourt who signed a minor league deal? Trade for Brujan?
Cubs made a move for Kyle Tucker and have managed to get worse. That’s seriously impressive.
Mastrobouni is horrible. I have no problem with him getting hacked. I am more pissed about Rea, Theilbar, festa, and all the other bullpen trash hes adding while cutting guys that can throw 100 and are in their early 20s. Hes been doing this crap for 5 years. Use your damn farm system and sign some real players.
Sound like you guys are starting to agree with me that if you want to be a Tax compliant team the last person you want as a POBO is Jed Hoyer. He’s paying guys guaranteed money and some of them won’t even make it out of ST. Brutal.
I’m just waiting for Jed to complain he has no money to work with, after dumpster diving and blowing money on reclamation projects…
Craig Counsell loves Craig Counsells.
It seems like his body is breaking down. He had flashes of usefulness with the Yankees but multiple leg injuries to an older speed guy are not a great sign. Good for him getting another guaranteed deal, I hope he can stay on the field.
@jersey I have a feeling Yankees might ve milked his DL stints to the max. He was clearly more of an insurance policy from the start for them.
My brother played against him for quite a few years growing up. He’s always been a huge fan of his. I hadn’t even realized he was from Metro Detroit til we were talking about fantasy baseball and he came up a few yrs back. Was a nice waiver option in roto for SBs, especially with his position versatility.
Tigers: That one long stint they didn’t milk, not sure about the others. I would’ve sworn he tore his achilles, he went down like he was shot. If he’s healthy he’s a winning spare part.
Was open to him returning to the Yankees in a utility role. He can provide decent value if he can stay healthy.
Well that wrapped up the division.
That seems to be a sensible addition overall, the potential upside with Shaw at third is far too big to ignore and we need solid depth either way. Definitely an upgrade over Mastrobuoni in any case.
Bye, bye Berti. Ahahahaha!
The Cardinals are frustrating to follow. The Cubs are a complete enigma.
Another salary projection that failed
This is actually a prudent signing for the Cubs with Jon Berti’s versatility and athleticism as a bench player who has ample experience at 2B, SS, 3B and all three OF spots. This is especially important with Nico Hoerner remaining a question mark with his health for opening day and their season commencing early with the Dodgers in Japan. Hoerner is not only the Cubs starting 2B as we post but also their primary backup for SS Dansby Swanson.
Berti’s addition shouldn’t preclude the Cubs from taking a serious flyer on Alex Bregman if he’s forced to settle for a shorter, high AAV free agent contract in the coming weeks.
Nah, they’ve moved on from Bregman. Bregman has three really good offers that are considered long term. More than what the Astros offered, which is why they walked. He’s just slow playing to trying to get an extra year and additional cash.
I think Bregman will end up signing with the Tigers. Any big move the Cubs make will be adding to the bullpen.
berti >>> the rotting corpse of dj lemahieu
The Cubs can break camp with all three of Berti, Bruján, and Workman if Hoerner starts the season on the IL. Odds are good that somebody else will get hurt in Spring Training anyway, so the real question is who will be kicked off the 40-man in the next few days.
Why?
Nice little career he’s had.