3 players the Chicago Cubs need to get rid of before the All-Star Break
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The Major League Baseball All-Star game is on July 11 and by that time, there should be a clear direction that the Chicago Cubs will be headed in for the remainder of the 2023 regular season.
Entering play on Friday, the Cubs have a record of 24-31 but remain only 4.5 games out of first place in the National League Central division. Given the weak division that the Cubs are in, chances are the team will never truly be out of contention.
Though, that won't change the fact that the Cubs' roster will undergo changes over the course of the next two months.
3 players the Chicago Cubs need to get rid of before the All-Star Break - Tucker Barnhart
The case of Tucker Barnhart remains a curious one for the Cubs. Barnhart's offensive profile showed regression last season with the Detroit Tigers and his defensive metrics would suggest that he is not the Gold Glove catcher that he once was with the Cincinnati Reds. Still, the Cubs identified Barnhart as the perfect compliment to veteran catcher Yan Gomes in assisting his work with the pitching staff.
Defensively, Barnhart has reverted back to his Gold Glove as his defensive fWAR on the season is 3.7. The issue is that Barnhart's offense has been littered with non-competitive at-bats. Through 71 plate appearances this season, Barnhart is slashing .164/.268/.180 with a 33 wRC+.
For the Cubs, there would be value in having catching prospect Miguel Amaya with the Major League team for the duration of the second half. Amaya is expected to be the team's starting catcher in 2024 and could benefit from having an extended stint in the Majors prior to then.
3 players the Chicago Cubs need to get rid of before the All-Star Break - Michael Fulmer
The Michael Fulmer experiment has been a disaster for the Cubs. Fulmer entered the season as the Cubs' de facto closer but has since been relegated to non-high-leverage situations. In 25 appearances with the Cubs this season, Fulmer has posted a 7.36 ERA. Fulmer did not show any improvement during the month of May as he finished with an ERA of 8.38 during the month.
As crazy as it may be to suggest, there should be confidence in the Cubs' ability to correct their bullpen woes. The team has multiple power-arms at Triple-A Iowa that figure to be in play for the second half of the season and Codi Heuer is expected back soon. It would seem that Fulmer may be the first option to go in order to make room in the bullpen.
3 players the Chicago Cubs need to get rid of before the All-Star Break - Miles Mastrobuoni
Chicago Cubs manager David Ross has developed a trend where he falls in love with players that offer little value to the team on the field. That seems to be the case this season for Miles Mastrobuoni. Mastrobuoni does not do anything particularly well but is a left-handed bat that has the ability to play multiple positions. So, for Ross, Mastrobuoni's value is that he can spell a player at different positions.
Though, that value should not come at the expense of an automatic out offensively and that is essentially what Mastrobuoni has been this season. Through 51 plate appearances this season, Mastrobuoni is slashing .149/.273/.191 with a 38 wRC+. That type of production is unacceptable and there is no reason Mastrobuoni should be on the Cubs' roster past the All-Star break.
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