Cubs need to check in on Taylor Walls if they deal with Tampa

Coming into 2022, the Chicago Cubs are a prime destination for any sort of change-of-scenery candidates due to their financial flexibility and wide-open roster. They’ve already picked up a few such guys in Clint Frazier and Harold Ramirez worth an extended look , but there’s room to add more intriguing candidates.

CBS Sports compiled a list of the exact type of players the Cubs should be looking at and while we’ve already discussed how Victor Robles and Ha-Seong Kim fill specific holes on the roster, the other name Mike Axisa links as a good fit in Chicago is Taylor Walls. Compared to Kim and Robles, Walls is very early on in his major league career, but he showed a lot of promise despite offensive struggles in the majors that make him worth considering.

Before coming up in 2021, Walls was the highest-ranked shortstop in the stacked Rays system not named Wander Franco. Unlike Franco though, his bat didn’t take off immediately upon getting the call, posting a paltry 77 OPS+ in 176 plate appearances with an extreme lack of power, to boot.

Where Walls really turned heads was on defense. In his short major league stint, he proved himself as a premier defender, posting 10 DRS and a 4.1 UZR/150 which put him in elite company. Defensively, it makes him a strong contender if the Cubs miss on Carlos Correa, but even some of the peripherals around his bat give reason to hope there too.

Another look at Walls’ FanGraphs page shows he’s a very disciplined hitter. He walked 13.1% percent of the time, a sight better than the league average of 8.4 percent. Walls is actually pretty good at making contact too, posting a solid swinging strike percentage at 9.1 percent despite a rather high strikeout percentage.

There’s reason to hope the power will come for Walls eventually, as well. As he rose through the minors, his slugging and extra-base numbers continued to climb until his isolated power nearly doubled from his first full year as a professional. His .197 ISO in Triple-A shows he isn’t devoid of power. If he develops more in the majors, his swing will play to that power too as his average launch angle is 12.2 and sweet spot percentage is 38.5.

Taylor Walls would be a boon for the Chicago Cubs but may be unrealistic

There is a bit of a kicker with Walls though. He’s locked up for longer than both Robles and Kim and isn’t far removed from being a top 10 prospect in the Rays system. Moreover, his excellent defense makes him a prime candidate to replace Joey Wendle as the defense-savvy utility guy in Tampa. It’s just a bit hard to see the money-conscious Rays give up a cheap, prime defender in a trade, even if the Cubs want to take on Kevin Kiermaier’s contract as previously considered.

If the Cubs could convince Tampa to part with Walls, he’d be an intriguing project going forward. If the power comes along with that swing, he has the potential to be a very solid hitter to go along with his stellar defense at a premium position. He might be too much for the Rays to give up, but what’s the harm in asking?