Cubs' offensive black hole officially lands in AL West after post-DFA trade

In a follow-up move to designating him for assignment last week, the Chicago Cubs have traded utility infielder Miles Mastrobuoni to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash consideration, ending his two-year stint on the North Side as a defensive fill-in and pinch runner.

He ran well and handled multiple positions decently, but Mastrobuoni was a complete liability at the plate. The Cubs optioned him to Iowa late last season after he put up a horrendous .194/.245/.224 slash line in 106 plate appearances - good for a 35 OPS+.

It's not like 2024 was an outlier for Mastrobuoni, either. Even in his best offensive season (2023), he was still 30 percent below league average in terms of OPS+ and he carries a career mark of just 54. It's not like you can overlook his struggles with the bat for the sake of defense, either. While he's capable of playing all over the diamond, he's more or less average with the glove - a far cry from being a light-hitting defensive wizard.

All five players from last year's Cubs team who provided negative WAR are now gone: Mastrobuoni (traded), Gomes (released in-season), Nick Madrigal (designated for assignment), Patrick Wisdom (designated for assignment) and Christopher Morel (in-season trade with Tampa Bay). Now, Jed Hoyer and the front office need to make some legitimate additions to shore up the bench to avoid trotting out another underwhelming bunch in 2025.

Right now? This group fails to impress. Hoyer has, more or less, swapped Mastrobuoni for a shinier version of the same player in former top prospect Vidal Brujan, has taken a flyer on Rule 5 pick Gage Workman as a serviceable corner infield back-up and could give Alexander Canario a decent leash as a fourth or fifth outfielder. Carson Kelly is an upgrade to the catching situation, but none of these guys are who I want to turn to for a pinch-hit at-bat with a game on the line.

There are guys out there who would dramatically raise the floor of the roster. Going out and adding Justin Turner, Jorge Polanco, Nicky Lopez and/or Randal Grichuk would add badly-needed veteran experience and more pop at the plate. Without more pickups, whenever a starter is hurt or needs a day off, Craig Counsell will immediately be forced to turn to a below-average replacement while attempting to lead this team to a division title.

That's an untenable position - and the front office needs to make sure it doesn't place the game's highest manager in that scenario. It's as simple as that.