Commentary: Cubs are a better team with Isaac Paredes |
At the simplest, the Cubs are a better baseball team today. The Cubs shocked the baseball world by trading 3B/OF Christopher Morel, reliever Hunter Bigge and minor league pitcher Ty Johnson for All-Star 3B Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays.
It makes plenty of sense why the Tampa Bay Rays were interested in acquiring Christopher Morel. At 25 years old, Morel is still extremely young and under control through the 2028 season. He has some extreme power, and Tampa Bay is known for getting the most out of its players. In fact, Morel’s name was circled in rumors this offseason that the Cubs tried to make trades. Tyler Glasnow, a former Ray, was a name the Cubs were interested in—and the Rays wanted Morel in return. Hindsight, of course, is 20-20, but I’m sure the Cubs took that trade over the Winter. Tampa Bay’s front office has been extremely successful in trades in the past, so it would not be surprising for the Rays to get a lot out of Christopher Morel. As an organization that is extremely forward-thinking and analytical, Morel is an attractive trade piece. According to Baseball Savant, Christopher Morel ranks in the 97th percentile in bat speed, 80th percentile in barrel rate, and 82nd percentile in walk rate. This means he swings hard at the right pitches most of the time, and the Rays likely believe they can harness that into a productive power hitter. However, anybody could see that Morel has not lived up to his potential. Sure, advanced metrics matter, but if the production on the field is not coming, something has to change—so the Cubs made the move. And Isaac Paredes is everything we got mad at Morel for not being. Paredes is not a free-swinger and has great numbers with runners in scoring position. He doesn’t swing out of his shoes, which allows him to avoid striking out. He also has a good command of the strike zone and will take his walks. Plus, he is a sound defender at third base — so the Cubs finally have an answer there. In fact, this season, Paredes has a better batting average, a higher on-base percentage, and a better slugging percentage, which all mean a better OPS than Morel. Plus, Paredes is a better defender. In that regard, acquiring Paredes feels like a slam-dunk upgrade for the Cubs. However, Morel isn’t the only player going to Tampa Bay. Hunter Bigge is a player the Cubs may miss as well. As a hard-throwing reliever who has risen through the Cubs system, the Cubs parted with one of their best bullpen prospects. Bigge can touch 100 MPH on the radar gun and projects to be a back-end piece—with a 1.14 ERA in the minors this season and a 2.70 ERA with the Cubs. As for Ty Johnson, he’s a tall, hard-throwing righty who is 1-4 this year with a 3.54 ERA in 61 innings for Myrtle Beach and South Bend. The Cubs paid a solid price to acquire Paredes — but they’re a better team now than they were earlier this week (plus, they have control over Paredes through 2027) and will be in the future. Isaac Paredes arrives in Cincinnati! pic.twitter.com/Up8VcRL3da
