Much of the news cycle following the Alex Bregman signing has been dominated by trade speculation between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw have been subject to trade rumors for a while and those debates haven’t died down a bit since the Cubs went above and beyond to secure Bregman. However, thanks to a division rival those Cubs rumors are now pretty much dead.
The Red Sox have been attempting to add an infielder since the beginning of the offseason and once top free agents like Bregman and Bo Bichette signed elsewhere, pressure intensified inside Boston’s front office. Including the Cubs, the Red Sox were reportedly having trade talks with upwards of five teams, but ultimately they struck a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The trade went down on Monday, when the Brewers sent over 2025 NL Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin along with infielder Andruw Monasterio, utility man Anthony Seigler and the 67th pick in the 2026 MLB Draft in exchange for left-handed pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, and infielder David Hamilton.
No matter what conclusion you may end up on the return for the Brewers at this point they’ve earned the reputation that almost any deal they make will work out in their favor. But this isn’t about the Brewers.
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The Red Sox were supposedly expressing a lot of interest in either Hoerner or Shaw, but were obviously not willing to give up a high asking price. The Cubs were always going to come in any trade discussions with all the leverage because they really didn’t have much need to make a deal. A trade was only going to happen for either player if another team blew them away, which basically meant a huge overpay. The Red Sox didn’t have to give any of their top young pitchers in their trade with the Brewers, which tells you that they probably weren’t anywhere close to a deal with the Cubs.
It never really made too much sense for the Cubs to trade away Hoerner or Shaw. Although he’s a free agent following this season a lot of the Cubs’ success is dependent on their defense and Hoerner has proven to be the gold standard at his position. Plus, Hoerner has been incredibly consistent on the field, providing 4+ fWAR on average since 2022.
As for Shaw, sure he could have netted a big return for the Cubs, but his absence would have left the Cubs with a giant question mark in the infield after this season. We’ll know how he develops as a hitter in 2026, but at the very least Shaw represents a solid replacement at second base if Hoerner does not return to the Cubs in 2027.
So, as spring training kicks off the trade whispers should be disappearing and the Cubs can lock in heading into the regular season. Hoerner will enter his fourth year as the team’s starting second baseman, while Shaw will continue to learn and adjust to being a utility man. Some fans have been worried about Shaw’s playing time being limited after the Bregman signing, but the Cubs have shown how they can incorporate a young player in the lineup despite a veteran joining the roster.
Entering the 2016 season, Ben Zobrist was added to the Cubs and while he became an ever-day player, Javier Baez was still able to appear in 142 games and received 450 plate appearances as a bench player.
A decade later, Shaw will be given the opportunity to not only fill in on infield duty, but the right-handed hitter will also get a look in the outfield, which could open up even more playing time for the second-year player.
The Cubs have solid depth right now and while the thought of a trade may have been alluring, there’s no question that the best Cubs team in 2026 includes Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw, and that’s what we’ll get.
