Nick Madrigal non-tender closes the chapter on infamous 2021 Chicago Cubs trade

The Cubs non-tendered infielder Nick Madrigal Friday, ending his tenure on the North Side.

Madrigal, 27, hit .251/.304/.312 with a .616 OPS, 73 OPS+, and two homers in 202 games with the Cubs from 2022-2024. Last season he hit just .221 with a 57 wRC+ and was a -0.7 fWAR player in 51 MLB games. After his struggles early last year, he was sent down to Iowa - he then suffered a fractured hand while down there.

With Madrigal's departure, the final piece from the infamous 2021 trade with the White Sox on either side of town is gone. Madrigal was the White Sox's fourth overall pick in 2018 out of Oregon State, who the South Siders sent to the Cubs along with reliever Codi Heuer for closer Craig Kimbrel. Heuer has not pitched in the Majors since 2021 after suffering significant arm injuries and the Sox sent Kimbrel to the Dodgers after the 2021 season.

When the Cubs got Madrigal, they hoped they got a high-average-hitting second baseman for the future. In his first 83 career MLB games (2020-2021) on the South Side, he hit .317/.358/.406 with a .764 OPS and 109 OPS+. However, like his time on the North Side, he had missed significant time with injuries. When the Cubs got him at the 2021 deadline he was already sidelined for the rest of the season with a proximal tendon injury.

So what went wrong in his time on the Cubs?

In addition to several injuries, he did not produce with the bat. While he boasted an overall contact rate of around 90% as a Cub, hitting .251 in 202 games does not go very far when slugging or drawing walks is not part of the skillset. He has to be a consistent slappy hitter to provide value, and the hits did not come often enough in a Cubs uniform.
Most contact was on the softer side and more than 50% of batted balls were on the ground. He only recorded two barrels as a Cub and was in the 18.2 percentile in hard-hit rate last year.

What made things even more complicated with Madrigal was the evolution of the roster since he joined. When the Cubs signed Dansby Swanson in 2023, Nico Hoerner moved from short to second which was the only position Madrigal knew at the time. Madrigal was then moved over to third base, where, to his credit, he played good defense (8 Defensive Runs Saved and 2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating). However, it is hard to justify a third baseman not being an offensive force. Even if he hit for a decent average, he would never provide the power or run production of an ideal everyday third baseman. The lack of hitting last year made it hard to keep him on the MLB roster as a bench bat.

Was trading for a slappy-hitting, no-power bat ever worth it in hindsight? It was easy at the time to want a hitter who could put the bat on the ball and not strike out. Not to mention Madrigal was at one point a top-50 prospect and fourth overall pick. However, the lack of on-base and power skills offensively made the investment risky along with the injuries he already suffered on the South Side. In the end, the investment didn't work, and unfortunately, the Cubs did not get a long-term return for their former closer who was having an incredible season.

Madrigal always seemed like a good guy and hard worker, hopefully he finds his way wherever he winds up.