TRADE: Cubs Acquire Utility Man Vidal Brujan from Marlins for Matt Mervis

[Matthew Trueblood]

It seemed inevitable that the briefly intriguing first base prospect would depart the organization this winter. Now, he's netted them a player who seems like a good fit for their thin bench.

Image courtesy of © Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

After non-tendering Mike Tauchman, Patrick Wisdom, and Nick Madrigal and trading Cody Bellinger and Isaac Paredes, the Cubs were left with a highly fluid bench—which is a nice way of saying that it was a bit of a mess. In one fell swoop Sunday, the team jettisoned a player who was overdue for an exit from their 40-man roster and acquired one who gives them a bit more positional clarity.

By no means is Vidal Bruján a panacea for the Cubs bench. He's an out-of-options spare part who posted a .622 OPS in 2024 and doesn't hit the ball especially hard or run especially well. However, he brings a modicum of plate discipline and a wealth of positional versatility. He can play either middle infield position, third base, or anywhere in the outfield, which gives the team security they were missing in the event of injuries to Dansby Swanson or Pete Crow-Armstrong and a switch-hitting complement to Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw.

It's unlikely that both Bruján and Rule 5 draftee Gage Workman will make the roster. It's not even clear how Bruján and Miles Mastrobuoni would fit without being redundant. This is a small-scale move, then, and might come to virtually nothing at all. Since Matt Mervis was already an unneeded piece, though, the move incrementally improves the team's menu of options as they look toward spring training. Bruján's upside is still somewhat better than those of Mastrobuoni or Luis Vázquez, and he's much more likely to pan out as a usable backup infielder than are Vázquez or Workman. His experience in the outfield is especially important.

As currently constructed, the Cubs would need to turn to Kevin Alcántara in the even of any meaningful injury to Crow-Armstrong. That overlooks Alexander Canario, but while the righty slugger does have plenty of experience in center field, he's not going to work there as more than an emergency stopgap in the big leagues. Bruján would give the team a better short-term option if Crow-Armstrong were to get banged up and need a few days off, though they'd still call up Alcántara if he ever needed a few weeks instead.

Bruján swings a lot, but he makes pretty good swing decisions—that is, he swings a ton within the zone, but doesn't chase all that much. That suggests that he has offensive upside into which the Marlins were unable to help him tap, which is no surprise: that team might be the worst in baseball at developing hitters. He's not likely to blossom into a regular, but he does have the potential to get on base at a better clip than Mastrobuoni or Vázquez, because he makes contact more often. 

The Cubs must aim higher than this for any but the last position-player spot on their roster, but Mervis had no role to play at all in their future, so this is just a better way to spend a 40-man roster spot and a roll of the dice on a multi-talented player who might have suffered from the Marlins' woeful player development over the last two years. If the team does end up carrying both Bruján and either Mastrobuoni or Workman, it will mark a failure of creativity and resource allocation over the balance of this offseason, but it doesn't seem likely to come to that.

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[Statyllus]

Vidal, Miles, Luis, Gage…players destined to be known by only their first names? When a major market team struggles to not only cover every position (see 3B) but also has one of most gag-worthy benches in all of MLB there is something awfully wrong. 

[Ely Sussman]

Marlins fans are rejoicing about this one. Surprised to see any sort of player return for Bruján, much less somebody who could be an immediate MLB contributor.

Matthew could be absolutely right about unrealized Bruján upside, but from watching him regularly last season, I was underwhelmed by everything he did outside of swing decisions. Doesn't really have the awareness/feel for the game that you want at premium defensive positions.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, Ely Sussman said:

Marlins fans are rejoicing about this one. Surprised to see any sort of player return for Bruján, much less somebody who could be an immediate MLB contributor.

Matthew could be absolutely right about unrealized Bruján upside, but from watching him regularly last season, I was underwhelmed by everything he did outside of swing decisions. Doesn't really have the awareness/feel for the game that you want at premium defensive positions.

Welcome to Ely! He runs Fish On First, a Marlins analysis/news site.

[Matthew Trueblood]

1 hour ago, Ely Sussman said:

Marlins fans are rejoicing about this one. Surprised to see any sort of player return for Bruján, much less somebody who could be an immediate MLB contributor.

Matthew could be absolutely right about unrealized Bruján upside, but from watching him regularly last season, I was underwhelmed by everything he did outside of swing decisions. Doesn't really have the awareness/feel for the game that you want at premium defensive positions.

Heh. Yeah, good deal both ways! But I have TERRIBLE news for Marlins fans who are dreaming of another Justin Bour situation here. I doubt there are even 500 plate appearances left in Mervis's MLB career. A little surprised he's not already en route to Korea or Japan.

[Billy62]

Matt, not really surprised that the Cubs cut ties with Matt Mervis this winter. Actually I pretty much expected it. However, other than just removing him from the roster with a DFA or just letting him languish in Iowa, they got a little value in return. This spring Brujan should get a look, and maybe find a spot for himself on the roster, and then maybe not. Mervis had his shot and with a decent sample size showed that he was not able to consistently hit major league pitching, with a fair amount of swing and miss. It takes some of the 1B depth away from the Cubs, and pretty much cements Michael Busch's presence there. Which of course I am ok with. Not an earth shattering deal by any means for the ball club but does show at least an effort to move some pieces on the board. Really curious as how the Suzuki situation is going to play out. Suzuki for an established closer? or does he bite the bullet and accept the DH assignment? I'd love to keep him as a DH, but realize if that lowers his morale, what would that mean to his effectiveness? Regardless, if the Cubs deal him, they should get some value in return. Still pumping cubbie blue here and am hoping for an improved ball club. 🙂

[Billy62]

20 hours ago, Statyllus said:

Vidal, Miles, Luis, Gage…players destined to be known by only their first names? When a major market team struggles to not only cover every position (see 3B) but also has one of most gag-worthy benches in all of MLB there is something awfully wrong. 

Can't really say that I agree here Statyllus. I mean this is just a bench move. I don't think you would want to expend millions of dollars to improve your bench. The big money goes to your starters and maybe specialty pitchers. Of course if an established player who is short on time comes popping up on your doorstep that might be an exception. I think they might be looking Shaw's way for 3B, or maybe there is somebody else in their sights. This is what the off-season is all about.