3 arbitration-eligible Cubs who will definitely be back with the team in 2025

Expect Isaac Paredes to be back at the hot corner for the Cubs in 2025

It took him a while to get his feet under him after coming to the Cubs in the Christopher Morel trade, but Isaac Paredes seemed to settle in down the stretch, batting .288 in September. The bigger concern if you're Hoyer, though, is that the power stroke he tapped into in Tampa never followed him to Wrigley, evidenced by three home runs in 219 trips to the plate post-trade.

That pales in comparison to the 16 doubles and 19 homers he had with the Rays - and falls well short of his career-best 31 homers from 2023. We all know the Wrigley Field effect this year, and it seems Paredes was one of its chief victims as he made the adjustment coming over from Tropicana Field.

Paredes projects to be the Cubs' most expensive arbitration case this winter, coming in at $6.9 million - a nice bump from his $3.4 million salary this year. There's a chance Hoyer brings him back and then shops him on the trade market, but the likelier outcome is he's back at third base next year.