New York Yankees Have "Legitimate Interest" in Nico Hoerner

[Matthew Lenz]

After landing superstar, third baseman, Alex Bregman, the Chicago Cubs have options on how to handle some of their young, controllable infielders. In particular, Matt Shaw and Nico Horner could each be super utility and elite depth options for the club or they could be trade candidates to improve other areas of their roster.

Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated is reporting that the New York Yankees have "legitimate interest" in Hoerner. The Bronx Bombers may be particularly motivated and aggressive in their pursuit of Hoerner, considering the impasse they are currently at with free agent Cody Bellinger.

In parts of seven seasons with the Cubs, Hoerner has been a slightly above average hitter with a .742 OPS and a 103 wRC+. His power potential is limited that would play up in Yankee Stadium and he's provided four consecutive seasons of 20 or more stolen bases. In the field, the super utility has played every position except for catcher, first base, and right field, however, he spent a significant portion of 2025 at shortstop for the Cubs and hasn't played in the grass in four seasons.

Do you think the Cubs should look to deal one of Hoerner or Shaw? Or keep them as super utility options who can still regularly be in the lineup giving other players reprieve? Let us know what you're thinking in the comments!

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[mk49]

I would say "give me Judge, and you can take Nico and Assad" 😁

Seriously, the Cubs should keep both Nico and Matt.  If Padres trade Mason Miller for Shaw + one of Assad/Brown/Wicks/Rea + a non top prospect, I wouldn't mind. 

 

[Tryptamine]

They don't have anything, they're going to give up, that the Cubs should have any interest in.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I'm only trading Nico if a team wants to overpay.

[Rcal10]

30 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I'm only trading Nico if a team wants to overpay.

Exactly. Yankees could want him but that doesn’t mean the Cubs want to trade him.

[Jason Ross]

This reads more like the Yankees drumming up backups to Bellinger for leverage in that negotiation than anything like the Cubs having any interest in a trade. 

[Cuzi]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

This reads more like the Yankees drumming up backups to Bellinger for leverage in that negotiation than anything like the Cubs having any interest in a trade. 

There were reports maybe a week ago suggesting the Yankees have given their final and best offer to Bellinger and they believe he will sign with another team. Not sure they care about him any more.

[KCCub]

31 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

There were reports maybe a week ago suggesting the Yankees have given their final and best offer to Bellinger and they believe he will sign with another team. Not sure they care about him any more.

Bellinger is absolutely still their top target.
 

Agree with 1908 here. The report in the OP is a couple days old now and has basically been shot down from both sides as not happening as the Cubs aren’t looking to move Nico unless they are completely blown away by an offer.

[Rcal10]

6 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Bellinger is absolutely still their top target.
 

Agree with 1908 here. The report in the OP is a couple days old now and has basically been shot down from both sides as not happening as the Cubs aren’t looking to move Nico unless they are completely blown away by an offer.

I think Bellinger gets a deal worked out with the Yankees. Even if the reports are accurate that they reached their limit with 6 years and $31M a year, I don’t see Bellinger getting more than that elsewhere. Which means he will be back to the Yankees. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

Nothing would kill all the momentum of the Cabrera and Bregman moves like trading Nico.  Outside of the Cubs wanting to use that money to put toward a corner OF like Tucker or Bellinger (they won't), there is simply no reason to trade Nico unless a team makes an offer they absolutely can't refuse.  I do think the Bregman signing probably reduces the chances of a Nico extension to near-zero though.

[Bertz]

Ughhhhh I don't like this, this is the type of language, particularly from a guy like Passan, is what you see when something is getting pretty close

 

[KCCub]

2 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Ughhhhh I don't like this, this is the type of language, particularly from a guy like Passan, is what you see when something is getting pretty close

 

I posted this in the other thread but best case scenario is the Giants showing the Cardinals they have other options and trying to drive the Donovan price down some. But knowing Passan, this likely means talks on Nico have been deeper than just kicking the tires unfortunately. 

[Dfan25]

Passan never post rumors like that . He just drops the bomb when things are done  . That’s weird . 
 

 

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, KCCub said:

I posted this in the other thread but best case scenario is the Giants showing the Cardinals they have other options and trying to drive the Donovan price down some. But knowing Passan, this likely means talks on Nico have been deeper than just kicking the tires unfortunately. 

And that would make a lot of sense.  Boston getting Bichette and SF getting Donovan seems like the logical way for this game of musical chairs to end.

And like even if we are dealing Hoerner, I kind of hate the Giants as a trade partner.  Bryce Eldridge is awesome and probably right from a value standpoint, but adding him a week after moving Caissie would be silly.  They have a lot of quality young pitching, but it's all guys in the Jordan Wicks/Ben Brown zone types as opposed to having one monster we could latch onto.  Nate Furman is a fun spreadsheet darling?  Ryan Walker would be a nice cost controlled setup man?

Like if we were rebuilding they could easily do a nice 4 for 1 deal.  But the model for moving Hoerner should be the Tucker trade, something where the other team overpays AND they do so with stuff that neatly fits into your roster straight away.  I don't see that coming from the Giants.

[mul21]

11 minutes ago, Bertz said:

And that would make a lot of sense.  Boston getting Bichette and SF getting Donovan seems like the logical way for this game of musical chairs to end.

And like even if we are dealing Hoerner, I kind of hate the Giants as a trade partner.  Bryce Eldridge is awesome and probably right from a value standpoint, but adding him a week after moving Caissie would be silly.  They have a lot of quality young pitching, but it's all guys in the Jordan Wicks/Ben Brown zone types as opposed to having one monster we could latch onto.  Nate Furman is a fun spreadsheet darling?  Ryan Walker would be a nice cost controlled setup man?

Like if we were rebuilding they could easily do a nice 4 for 1 deal.  But the model for moving Hoerner should be the Tucker trade, something where the other team overpays AND they do so with stuff that neatly fits into your roster straight away.  I don't see that coming from the Giants.

I hate the whole idea unless it's directly tied to bringing back Tucker.  That's really the only scenario that makes the team better now and in the near future and trading Nico to create payroll room to do it is something I could forgive them for.

[KCCub]

 

[Cuzi]

3 minutes ago, KCCub said:

 

If you are overwhelmed you do it, you dont consider.

[Rob]

2 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

If you are overwhelmed you do it, you dont consider.

That's dumb.

If you're overwhelmed, you first consider if you're missing something. Is there something wrong with the players being offered? Is Nico more valuable than we thought? If he's more valuable than we thought, should we see if there are other teams who value him this highly, and if they might offer a package we like better?

I know we live in a society where everybody's attention spans have been broken and we all want instant gratification. But this is supposed to be a professionally-run team. So let's not criticize them for thinking before acting.

[Cuzi]

2 minutes ago, Rob said:

That's dumb.

If you're overwhelmed, you first consider if you're missing something. Is there something wrong with the players being offered? Is Nico more valuable than we thought? If he's more valuable than we thought, should we see if there are other teams who value him this highly, and if they might offer a package we like better?

I know we live in a society where everybody's attention spans have been broken and we all want instant gratification. But this is supposed to be a professionally-run team. So let's not criticize them for thinking before acting.

Someone really needs 3 quarters because the vending machine isn't taking bills and they offer you a dollar for your 3 quarters. Are you going to sit there and contemplate the value of 75 cents for 1 dollar?

[Neuby]

Passan really doesn't post like that. This sucks. Watch out for the Red Sox and Nico Hoerner.

[KCCub]

Just now, Neuby said:

Passan really doesn't post like that. This sucks. Watch out for the Red Sox and Nico Hoerner.

The Red Sox have the pieces to make a Hoerner trade worth it. They would be my preferred trade partner if we are moving him 

[ILMindState]

Trading Nico to get under the LT takes away all the goodwill from the Bregman signing. Oh look we're finally acting like a big market team to horsefeathers Tom Ricketts in less than a week. There better be a big follow up move if this happens. Like signing Tucker or using the pieces you get back from Nico to get Mason Miller or something.

Edited January 13 by ILMindState

[Jason Ross]

Just now, ILMindState said:

Trading Nico to get under the LT takes away all the goodwill from the Bregman signing. Oh look we're finally acting like a big market team to horsefeathers Tom Ricketts in less than a week.

Rogers has already said that the Cubs would go over the LT for Hoerner. And Levine says they'd need to be overwhelmed. 

I am struggling to see what the trade could be that would be overwhelming, but I'd assume the Cubs aren't doing this just for money savings if they do.

[Rob]

1 minute ago, Cuzi said:

Someone really needs 3 quarters because the vending machine isn't taking bills and they offer you a dollar for your 3 quarters. Are you going to sit there and contemplate the value of 75 cents for 1 dollar?

Where am I? Do I know the person? Are they trustworthy?

If it was a friendly coworker at my office, that's one thing.

If I'm alone in a subway station after 2 a.m. and the person offering me the dollar bill looks like a meth addict, I'm going to exercise some caution. There's a decent chance the bill is a fake or covered in something gross.

 

Also - I'm not sure an analogy about a very low-risk situation (worst case is probably lose an amount of money nobody cares about) versus a deal involving tens of millions of dollars worth of production is a fair analogy.

[Jason Ross]

Not related to the Cubs directly, but worth it to:
1. Watch the other teams scramble if this happens
2. What the return is