Chicago Cubs lack a clear succession plan if they trade Willson Contreras

Willson Contreras blasted a mammoth game-tying home run in Saturday’s loss to the Brewers, standing and admiring the shot – which measured in just shy of 470 feet. But it wasn’t enough, with the Chicago Cubs dropping an 11th consecutive matchup with Milwaukee.

The home run was Contreras’ 20th of the year, marking the third time in six big league campaigns he’s eclipsed the mark – including 2017 and 2019. While he hasn’t been the same offensive threat he’s been in the past, the Cubs catcher has shown continued improvement behind the plate again this year, cementing his place among the top tier of catchers in the league.

The question remains, though. Will that be motivation enough for Jed Hoyer and the front office to lock Contreras up with a long-term contract extension this winter? After watching Chicago trade not one or two, but all three of Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo at the deadline, it’s hard to have a whole lot of faith in Contreras being kept in the fold past 2022.

If Hoyer and Contreras can’t align on a new deal, the Venezuelan-born backstop heads into next year in lame duck status – his final year of team control. It’s hard to imagine the front office just running out the clock and letting him play out 2022 only to walk at season’s end – but the question looms: if the Cubs trade their two-time All-Star catcher, who will get the majority of reps behind the dish next season?

Chicago Cubs: Miguel Amaya has seemingly stalled in the minors

One of the unseen consequences from last year’s pandemic was the cancellation of the entire Minor League Baseball Season. That means a lost year of development for prospects everywhere, although some were included in team’s training site workouts late in the summer.

Among those who missed out was Cubs catching prospect Miguel Amaya. He put together a monster showing in winter ball, though, slashing .261/.553/.609 in 10 games – prompting hope he could be ready to make a big jump here in 2021. Instead, he appeared in only 23 games with Double-A Tennessee before losing the rest of the year due to injury.

Amaya is still the team’s fourth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. But after the last two years, some of the luster seems to have faded. Still just 22 years of age, he’s still young – but the Cubs can’t just hand him the catching job in Chicago to open 2022. He still probably needs another year or more of development in the higher levels of the minors, which leaves that aforementioned gap in the internal line of succession.

All this to say: if the Cubs trade Contreras this winter, they might need to make sure they get a catcher in return because there are major concerns with both the internal and external options available. The safer bet is obvious, though: extend him and make this a non-issue.