Chicago Cubs are a clear fit for free agent utilityman Brock Holt

Chicago Cubs: After bouncing back from injury, Holt has become valuable

Holt, 31, has been in the league since back in 2012, even earning an All-Star selection in 2015, when he appeared in 129 games, hitting .280/.349/.379 as a member of the Red Sox.

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He battled through a couple injury-plagued campaigns and returned with a vengeance over the last two years, hitting .286/.366/.407 while playing all over the diamond defensively. The left-handed-swinging former ninth-rounder makes so much sense for a team like the Cubs that it’s not even funny.

Now, he’s not an everyday guy. He’s just not. Holt works as a platoon player and needs to be in the lineup against right-handers. Last year, he had an .832 OPS against righties as opposed to a .557 mark against southpaws. Understanding that, it’s not hard to see how he could team up with someone like Bote, who’s relatively split-neutral at the plate.

At the onset of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Holt would land a two-year, $8 million deal in free agency. In a normal world, that’s a drop in the bucket for a big market club like Chicago. But when the Cubs lost out on guys like Alex Claudio because they couldn’t find the money, it’s unreasonable to think they have $8 million in the couch cushions for Holt.

So, here we are, once again – talking about a guy who’s a great fit who will probably wind up with another club because of what looks like an ownership-mandated cutting of payroll. Let’s hope things change in the coming weeks, because Brock Holt could do a lot of good for the Cubs.