Jon Berti doesn’t match the profile of your typical first baseman. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, Berti is best known for his speed. From 2018-23, his sprint speed consistently ranked in the 95th percentile or higher. In 2024, his age-34 season, he still ranked within the top 10% of baserunners with a sprint speed of 29.0 feet per second. Meanwhile, his average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrel rate all would have ranked among the bottom 10% if he had enough batted balls to qualify. He managed just one extra-base hit in 74 trips to the plate. Since his debut in 2018, only 10 players (min. 1,500 PA) have a worse isolated power than Berti’s career .107 mark.
Indeed, up until this past October, Berti had never played first base – at least not professionally. The keystone was his primary home in the minor leagues. In the majors, he had split his time between second base, third base, and shortstop, while also filling in, on occasion, in all three outfield positions. However, in Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Royals, New York skipper Aaron Boone penciled Berti into the lineup at first base. The veteran utility man would end up starting two more games at first throughout the playoffs; all 12 of his 2024 postseason plate appearances (and all but one of his defensive innings) came at this brand new position.
The Yankees asked Berti to play first base out of desperation. Anthony Rizzo was unavailable for the ALDS, while DJ LeMahieu missed the entire postseason. Set to face the dominant southpaw Cole Ragans in Game 2, Boone decided he’d rather have the righty-batting Berti in the lineup over Ben Rice or Oswaldo Cabrera, both of whom have had their struggles against left-handed pitching. Yet, it seems as if Berti’s new club, the Cubs, could enter the 2025 season with Berti as their go-to backup at first base. Discussing the crop of position players who will suit up for the Cubs in the Cactus League this spring, Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic suggested Berti could be “the primary backup” at first base this year.
Michael Busch will return as Chicago’s everyday first baseman in 2025 after a strong rookie campaign. Over 152 games, he popped 21 home runs, walked 11.1% of the time, and finished with a 119 wRC+ – well above the league average, even at a position with high offensive standards. After Busch, however, the team doesn’t have many options to cover the right-most bag. None of the other Cubs players who spent time at the position in 2024 (Cody Bellinger, Patrick Wisdom, Garrett Cooper, and Matt Mervis) remain in the organization. Other than Busch, the only player on their 40-man roster with more MLB experience at first base than Berti is Ian Happ (61 innings from 2018-20). Needless to say, the Cubs aren’t going to play their three-time Gold Glove-winning left fielder in the infield unless it’s as a last resort.
Two of the four spots on the Cubs’ bench are spoken for; one belongs to Berti and one belongs to whichever catcher, either Miguel Amaya or Carson Kelly, isn’t in the starting lineup. Top candidates for the remaining bench spots include utility man Gage Workman, a Rule 5 draft pick; utility man Vidal Bruján, an offseason trade acquisition; utility man Nicky Lopez, a minor league signing; and utility man Ben Cowles, whom the Cubs protected from the Rule 5 draft. Oh, and they’ll need at least one bona fide outfielder, too. Alexander Canario is already on the 40-man roster, so he could have the inside track on that job. Simply put, that doesn’t leave much room in the mix for a true first baseman, even if the Cubs had one to consider. First base prospect Jonathon Long will be in camp, but the 23-year-old has played less than half a season above High-A, and his chances of earning a spot on the Opening Day roster are slim to none.
The Cubs could think about adding someone like Mark Canha or Justin Turner, but they don’t have the playing time to offer to make such a signing seem appealing for either side. Alternatively, they could bring another first baseman into camp on a minor league deal (names like Rowdy Tellez or Yuli Gurriel come to mind), but players of that caliber might not move the needle enough to be worth pursuing.
So, it seems as if Berti will be Chicago’s best bet to spell Busch at first base on occasion. That might not be the best use of Berti’s skill set – his bat is well below average at first, while his plus glove is wasted at a low-impact defensive position. That said, it’s not as if first base is a position that necessarily requires a strong backup. If Busch can play another 152 games (or more), Berti’s job at first will be minimal. His primary responsibilities will still be at second base, third base, and/or shortstop. He proved last October that he could play first base in a pinch, and that could very well be all he needs to do for the Cubs in 2025.
Incredible journalism. “Utility player could play multiple positions”. WOW!
It’s February…slow news day for the MLB
MLB, not “the MLB”
lol relax prof
Alan must be fun at the parties
Stick up the butt 101 right here.
butt, not “the butt”
Pitchers and catchers report today. A lot of focus is on the super bowl Eagles vs. KC Refs
Post your articles for our criticisms.
Oh, don’t have any? Too happy to just gripe and anomalously complain lazily about someone else’s hard work? How original.
His bat won’t play there as a regular, but defensively he looked like a natural there when he was asked to fill in.
Only 4 firstbasemen hit 30 HRs or more last season compared to 5 shortstops and 7 outfielders. I think traditional power positions are a thing of the past and teams are now more focused on utilizing the best players and play them anywhere. The Padres plan on using Luis Arraez at first base and the Yankees did so too last season with DJL. 10 or 15 years ago, that would be unfathomable for players with little pop.
In 60 years, I have NEVER heard this before, “the right-most bag”.
Is 2nd base “the center-most bag”?
It’s that new generation.You know the ones always talking about anal lick ticks.
The Eastern Bag
The Deuce Bag
More like “serve time”.
It seems like Justin Turner would be a great fit as the backup 1B and occasional DH for a Cubs team that is very light on bench players…Berti can occupy other bench spot for all of the other holes the Cubs bench has.
DH is occupied by Suzuki and occasionally for whoever Suzuki gives a half day off in the outfield
Also backup option at 3b, especially if Shaw struggles out of the gate. Also, Hoerner may miss the first few weeks of the season recovering from wrist surgery. Slide shaw to 2nd and Turner to 3rd. He will get plenty of opportunities. Backup DH as well.
Problem is Turner probably won’t sign to be a bench player and the relative silence on any interest in him all winter says he may not sign at all
Coming up on almost 10 yrs in a row of bad baseball. A little better than 108, but not really. But let’s get excited for Spring Training and the glory of the hopes and aspirations of the Cactus League.
Troll post…1-2-3 disappear!!!
@CubsIn25,
Take off the rose-colored glasses and go read the drivel on Bleed Cubbie Blue or Bleacher Nation.
Look!! Another dunce!!!
@jhanley: do you follow MLB baseball?
Just proves how bad Hoyer is at roster construction. Instead of seeing what a guy like Long could do who can play 1st, 3rd and OF we’ll sign 5 cheap utility IF’s and see if we can pound the old square peg into the round hole. Well played..
He loves those cheap utility infielders. Nick and Miles must be replaced with similar players.
Let’s see what Long can do in Iowa first. He’s not Christopher Morel, you know, but then again, maybe he is.
If we don’t sign Bergman ( Which is slim chance) they should use capitol to trade for someone who can both 1 st & 3rd or even DH on occasion ( Baty, R. Urias,Schmitt, Cabrera, ) there are many options but Canha & Baty would be great fits. Brujan should be DFA’d.
This is a legit topic to cover. As the article clearly identifies, the Cubs don’t have a tried and true option at 1b and none of our utility players have a lot of experience there. It’s a hole in the roster that needed to be addressed.
Rizzzzzooooooo!!
Cubs have room under the first threshold, no point in waiting until the trade deadline.
Interesting that some say Moises Ballesteros is too small to play First Base in the Big Leagues but Big Jon Bertie has no problem doing it. Plus wasn’t Bertie one of the Yankees first base guys that hit no HRs in the last half of season while playing 1B Curious to see how it plays out in future
To take it a step further Just the bad moves Hoyer made this off season.
1. Right off the bat he signs Matt Boyd and gives him a 2 year 30 million dollar deal. How is he any better than Jordan Wicks? And if you say Wicks was hurt you obviously know nothing about Boyd’s history.
2. Trade for Kyle Tucker Gives up not only their current 3B but the future 3B for a 1 year rental who happens to be an older version of the Cubs #2 prospect who now has to sit in AAA for another year.
3. Once again doesn’t go after the best closer but worms around and signs a guy who didn’t want to be here and might be past his sell date because he’s cheap.
4. Signs Collin Rea for 5 million bucks. Do I really have to explain that one?
5. Finally gets rid of the Wisdom, Madrigal, Mastro trifecta. then brings in 4 guys who might be worse. Again- well played.
6. Think of what might have been in 2026. IF – Smith,Swanson, Shaw, Busch and Long at 1B. Shaw has more power than Nico, Nico has way more range and is a better defender otherwise they’re exactly the same guy. Now you’ve Shaw out of position basically and Triantos maybe playing second. Wicks blocked still, No Closer again unless Hodge runs with the job and hopefully a Cubs new POBO-GM. That’s not even counting the guys he let go for nothing like Arias and Vasquez. We now have 15 SS’s in the top 30 prospects, No 3B AGAIN that’s close and when the new prospects lists come out they can probably add the new 3 SS’s ole Jed signed in International FA.. And this is a guy who is looking to the future? I’m sure I’ve missed something but I think I got the highlights. Jed Hoyer- Executive of the Year. If you’re another team in the NL Central anyway. Oh and maybe best of all, Alex Bregman on another bloated Bellinger deal. Stay tuned.
Check out that Return button. Paragraphs are a thing!
Agree with everything. You can also add previous blunders still having a ripple effect like the no trade clauses to two guys who should be the most expendable & get decent trade value from but instead one is still blocking outfield prospects & the other now in the DH spot. NTCs should not be given out so easily.
The closer we get to ST, the less I like acquiring Tucker. I really don’t understand what Jed was trying to do. Are the Cubs really better off w Tucker than they would’ve been with Paredes and Bellinger? Both of whom can also play 1B. Both will likely have good seasons in ‘25 due to their new home parks. If Tucker struggles at all or gets hurt, these moves will look bad. It puts a lot of pressure on one player.
Acquiring Tucker was supposed to be a sign to go all-in. Get a closer and a top setup man. A front of the rotation RH starter. A good catcher. Then some quality bench players who would to come to the Cubs to win. I wonder if the Dodgers’ offseason sucked the wind out or Ricketts/Jed’s sails?
If the Cubs do nothing exciting in ‘25 and Tucker walks for a massive FA contract, wow Cubs will be in a tough spot. Yes, they have Caissie and Alcantara looking for opportunities but they will probably be looking at a rebuild. Try to get something for Happ and Suzuki, maybe Hoerner. See if they can move Swanson’s contract. Then see if a new core of PCA, Shaw, Horton, Brown, Alcantara and Caissie, etc. can build the next winner on the North Side.
We only have Counsell for 5 years. We’re about to waste the 2nd one already by giving him a questionable pen and a worse bench. What we have is a good manager and a lame FO.
Yep Uncle, two straight years Jed kicks off the offseason by making a move that screams all-in, then basically nothing else.
Wasting Counsell w mediocre teams and no bullpen, and wasting our one year of Tucker. They’re not a bad team, they just have no shot at competing w the good teams.
Ha, Uncle, Ha!
Your exact words when the Cubs signed Boyd. “Good job,Jed. Keep up the good work.” That’s the beauty of the internet—it’s permanent.
And also to your point of he didn’t go after the best closer—he did go after the best closer at $66 million and that guy chose the Dodgers. (and in your glowing assessment of Boyd at the signing, you called him a “facsimile” of Scott. Search Matthew Body and all your comments are there).
I ALMOST couldn’t disagree with you more on this offseason.
To me, (as of Feb 9), this has been a solid, solid, solid B+++ offseason.
1. Got the impact bat that they sorely, and have sorely needed for the past three seasons. Tucker is a top fifteen, if not ten or five player in baseball. At this point, I care about Cam Smith the same way I cared about guys like Hee-Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, Eloy Jimenez, and Gleyber Torres. When the next Lou Brock actually happens, I will shake my head.
2. Collin Rea at $5M–I’m kind of with you on that–but he absolutely improved, lengthened, depended the pen—front, middle, and back ends. So much so that they will have the ability (and need) to cut guys like Thompson and Merryweather who are out of options.
3. Please quit your complaining on the bench—those are the 22nd and 23rd guys on the roster. Wisdom and Madrigal were no different than guys like Vargas and Sogard and LaStella. And guess what, Berti, Brujan and Workman or Long are going to be no different. And Long—is going to camp with a chance to make the team. If he beat out Workman, Workman will be gone and back to Detroit. (and remember—they have a lot more info on Nico’s health path than we do—maybe there is a different reason for stockpiling). Guys like Arraez, Cronenworth, Gimenez aren’t available for anybody’s benches…..and ALL teams have interchangeable guys at the very bottom of the roster.
And here’s where, to me, we are only at a B++++ right now. Jed still hasn’t made a move to make Taillon the #4 starter. It’s still Steele, Shota, Taillon then the collection of Boyd, Assad, Wicks, Brown, etc.
But, at least for the next six hours–it’s football season.
Focus is a little tighter about 9:30 tonight.
I thought he signed Boyd to be a Closer. Not a starter. Hah, Reading is a skill. Tucker was a stupid trade no matter how much you wanna pat Ole Jed on the back. It was a classic overpay for 1 year. Smith was the future, Wesneski was as good as Rea and cheaper So it’s Dumb 5-Jed 0.
Wesneski had the 29th highest WAR number of anyone that pitched for the Cubs. Rea won’t be any worse.
The fact that you admit that Boyd was signed to be a closer is enough evidence to discredit any of your points against Jed.
Listen, I am not a huge Jed fan–however, I will at the very least acknowledge that he has a lot more info about any player that I do, knows more about the Cubs budget, any player’s health status….personal status—chemistry fits, etc.
Battle of the Mikes!
I didn’t know they were stupid enough to promise Boyd he’d be a starter when they already had 3 LH ones. I thought Boyd would have been a decent replacement if they couldn’t sign Scott. Which I knew Dollar Store Jed would never do , No matter how much he twaddled on about how he wanted to do it. He would have gotten the squirts for weeks.
There’s your statement and usual post in your first three words: “I didn’t know.”
Wicks was bad last year. He needs to be in the Iowa rotation and force the issue of promotion from there.
Both Caissie and Alcantara need to improve on what they did last year to be considered for promotion, too. Less strikeouts from them would help their cause immediately.
If there’s an injury, fine. That’s when they will be promoted, even if they don’t deserve it.
So that means give up on him and get rid of him because he’ll be bad forever right? Go to the Jed Hoyer school of prospect evaluation did we? Well he’s lost 20 lbs, been working out on strengthening his core, heck he even lost the glasses at the convention. So I’m willing to bet that he would be better than Boyd or Rea and wayyyyy cheaper. Caissie and Alcantara deserved a shot especially since even if Hoyer hits on some of this nonsense they’re not beating the Phillies, D Backs, Dodgers, And I doubt they can beat the Mets or the Padres for that matter. So enjoy your year of Tucker. I know the Astros will be happy with what they got. LMAO
Optioning Wicks to Iowa is not giving up on him.
Optioning a ML quality P to AAA is doing just that.
Giving up six runs per nine innings in MLB and Iowa is not ML quality.
He’ll get his shot in spring training to make his case or at least be considered to be first man up.
Cubs looking for power after the 2024 team lacked power.. let’s platoon Jon Berti!
There’s numerous options on the FA market that would be better options.
Is Berti Italian? Because it looks like he is trying to hit a meatball with a piece of wet spaghetti. Going in late in a game at 1b – bene, starting at 1b – non va been.
Hey, lay off Jed and his roster construction because with the exception of adding Tucker, he’s has done virtually nothing meaningful addressing the position players only that of the pitching staff. As with many other clubs other than the dodgers the cubs 2025 will be determined by injuries to position players. If berti plays more than handful of games at 1st watch out below!
Maybe they could work with Suzuki and Alcantara at first base this spring as a possible backup.
I could also see a guy like Triantos and/or Ballesteros getting an opportunity there as an emergency option.
The Yankees never gave Berti a chance. He is better than Oswaldo Cabrera
You probably get banned bc you’re trolling 24/7
As you are with this post….troll
Berti will start at 1B once a month, and maybe get a few innings in blowouts. They will some somebody with more 1B experience like Gavin Sheets to a minor league deal and park that person at Iowa in case there is an injury to Busch or Berti.
The 2026 bench is probably Long, Cowles, a backup catcher and Alcantara. The 2027 bench doesn’t matter because the season will be cancelled while Ricketts and Reinsdorf hold back their votes until everyone allows the White Sox to be sold to the Nashville investors group.
As a Yankee fan I wish him well The way he called out the Dodgers recently certainly earned my respect. Turns out he was more of a Yankee then Soto ever was.