Chicago Cubs: What does Daniel Murphy acquisition mean for roster?

The Chicago Cubs’ acquisition of Daniel Murphy from the Washington Nationals should spark the team’s offense. How will the move affect the Cubs’ lineup?

Well, this is going to be quite interesting.

It is no secret the Chicago Cubs have one of the deepest position player groups in all of baseball. Manager Joe Maddon can roll out a lineup featuring six former position player All-Stars when the the group is healthy. Now, that number could be seven.

Tuesday, the Cubs acquired second baseman Daniel Murphy from the Washington Nationals for a low-level prospect. Murphy, 33, is a three-time All Star (2014, 2016, 2017) that finished second in MVP voting in 2016 behind Kris Bryant.

Murphy is hitting .300 this season, albeit in just 56 games (190 at-bats). He did not make his 2018 season debut until June 12 following offseason knee surgery. He is also hitting .340 in 28 games (103 at-bats) post-All-Star Break.

Maddon has thrived in rotating his position players in-and-out of the lineup since arriving in Chicago in 2015. Acquiring Murphy will make that slightly tougher on him, though in a good way.

Chicago Cubs: Murphy’s impact on current roster

Murphy has experience playing all over the field in his MLB career, including second base, first base, third base and left field. He has only played second and first base in 2018; he has not played third base since 2016 and left field since 2011.

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Essentially, the Cubs’ position player group added another versatile player as well as an elite bat in Murphy. One has to wonder how he will affect that group down the stretch and potentially in October, however.

In the short term, the Cubs must make a move to clear room for Murphy on the 25-man roster. As tough as it may be to do, the simplest option would be to send David Bote to Triple-A Iowa.

Bote has performed admirably for the Cubs in 2018. His walk-off grand slam against the Nationals on Aug. 12 is arguably the best highlight of the Cubs’ season to date.

Chicago Cubs: Time to get Russell closer to 100 percent

Russell has been battling a knuckle injury on his left middle finger. He was slated to start at shortstop Tuesday before getting scratched due to right shoulder inflammation.

Between Russell’s injuries and Murphy’s emergence since the break, it might be best to put Russell on the shelf for a few weeks until he is closer to 100 percent. This makes more sense when comparing the two’s numbers.

If the Cubs make the postseason, the presence of Murphy will make forming a roster even more difficult than it already would have been. Assuming Bryant and Russell are healthy, the team will have six starting spots for 10 players. 

The Cubs are unlikely to carry more than five starting pitchers, especially if one is put on the roster strictly as a reliever. This could open up space to carry all of the aforementioned players, but Maddon still must form a starting lineup.

Ultimately, the Cubs already had an embarrassment of riches on its roster, and Murphy heightens that fact. While Maddon will have some tough decisions to make down the stretch, this can only be a good thing when considering how tremendous of an addition Murphy is.