What do the Cubs do with Zobrist Next Year?

[Garapp]

I know Zobrist is signed thru 2019, but unless Ben discovers the fountain of youth, I can't see him being with the Cubs past the All-Star break of next year.

 

He is often painful to watch.

[UMFan83]

He has a .273/.355/.491/.846 line over his last 18 games so hopefully he's turning it around.

[weis21]

yeah i mean everyone expected him to decline a bit as the years go by. he's been battling a wrist injury among other things. nothing is unexpected. if addison is healthy then he would get more rest and i expect him to get more next year and hopefully he's less hurt, too. he's as advertised.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think they have him play, more than most, less than some.

[weis21]

I think they have him play, more than most, less than some.

I was looking for a succinct way to say what I was trying to say. This is it.

[champaignchris]

I believe he has a NTC through 2018. No NTC for the final year of his contract in 2019.

 

I assume at some point they are going to pay someone to take him off their hands. I also assume that will be after the 2018 season.

[Regular Show]

I believe he has a NTC through 2018. No NTC for the final year of his contract in 2019.

 

I assume at some point they are going to pay someone to take him off their hands. I also assume that will be after the 2018 season.

 

I don't think Zobrist or his contract is a problem. He's not having a great year, but I think he'll bounce back next year. I think his wrist/other injuries have really affected him this year. Maybe he shouldn't be a starter full-time, but he's an excellent player to have on your bench and only has 2 years left on his contract.

 

I don't think they are even considering trying to move him.

[Cubswin11]

Yeah it would be dumb to move him, hopefully we have better injury/performance luck next year and he doesn't need to play everyday (and also through an injury) and he can come in closer to 120-130 games played healthy than 140 games. He's a really great bench/"super sub" guy to have.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Hopefully they don't tinker with him and let him just go out and play.

[treebird]

Hopefully they don't tinker with him and let him just go out and play.

 

disagree, hope they tinker like crazy and fix him like heyward and castro

[Bryants Disco Ball]

His big money is this season and next (16.5 per) and his final year goes down to 12.5. Let the World Series MVP ride it out with us.

[imb]

Yeah more than likely the wrist is healed next year and he comes back and hits (he'll probably hit until he's 40) and we'll just have to find a way to continue to hide him on defense.

 

If he doesn't hit, he continues to share space w/Russell and Baez. I'm more concerned about what to do with Russell if he fails to progress next year than I am with Zobrist.

[davell]

Yeah more than likely the wrist is healed next year and he comes back and hits (he'll probably hit until he's 40) and we'll just have to find a way to continue to hide him on defense.

 

If he doesn't hit, he continues to share space w/Russell and Baez. I'm more concerned about what to do with Russell if he fails to progress next year than I am with Zobrist.

 

From the words of Zobrist himself......SHOOT YEAH.

[Gilby]

I'll see your concerns about Zobrist and Russell and raise you a Jason Heyward.

 

I actually feel good about both Zobrist and Russell as players going into next season. Though I also think Russell's shoulder pain the past two seasons is something to keep an eye on. I get that when Addison and Javy are both on their game, Addy is the better defender. But given the strides Javy has made and to possibly better preserve Addison and get more out of his bat, I no longer think it's crazy to consider flipping their positions when they're on the field at the same time.