With Cubs in Need of a Backup FIrst Baseman, Here Are Two Free Agents to Watch

Michael Busch played 152 games in 2024, starting 135 of them. Quickly, the rookie proved he didn't need to be platooned at first base, and his impressive progress with the glove eventually led the team to eschew using Cody Bellinger there for any meaningful time. The Cubs are so confident about his future as both a hitter and a fielder that they felt no compunction about trading Bellinger earlier this month. Now that they've done so, though, they have to bring in a credible backup for Busch—ideally, a right-handed batter who can provide some matchup balance in addition to rest and injury replacement. There are a handful of viable players who fit that mold on the market right now, but two of them stand out.

Connor Joe
The ex-Pirates batsman played some first base, some DH, and some right field in 2024, which is a pretty fair reflection of how he's generally divided his time during a career spanning parts of six seasons. It was a mild surprise when the Pirates non-tendered him in November, because he was only projected to make around $3.2 million via arbitration, and he still had three years of team control remaining.

Joe, 32, can hit, especially against left-handed pitchers. He boasts a career .254/.350/.415 line against them, with 70 walks, 10 times hit by pitches, 120 strikeouts and 14 home runs in 605 plate appearances. He doesn't hit the ball hard with especially high frequency, but he does lift it consistently, and the raw power is there: Joe swings a quick bat.

Joe also makes contact at a below-average but tenable rate, and he takes a good, patient approach. Best of all, he's a plus defender at first, a bit like Busch in that he's not as big as the prototype at the spot but moves better than many of his more hulking counterparts. He's not capable of the same power displays as Patrick Wisdom, but he offers a steadier glove and a much more balanced set of offensive skills than Wisdom did. He's stretched in the kind of role he filled for the Pirates and Rockies over the last three years, as he's averaged 452 plate appearances per year. But if the Cubs could get him on a low-cost two-year deal and pencil him in for more like 250 well-chosen trips to the plate (mostly against lefties), Joe could be a superb addition.

Mark Canha
Set to turn 36 early in spring training, Canha is a major age risk. He's playable at first base, but not good there. He doesn't have the ability to generate meaningful power, because he neither gets the ball in the air with any regularity nor has a fast enough bat to do so.

What Canha does offer, though, is more of that classic line-drive, medium-hard contact profile. He takes walks and is a good situational hitter. He has a long, successful track record in the majors. He would have been a better target for the team years ago, when he hit free agency and signed a lucrative deal with the Mets. He would be a better target if he were a bit more fluid around the bag on defense. Still, Canha is an enticing option. He'll get on base, whenever called upon, and he's one of the game's best off-field personalities: easy to talk to, outgoing without being overbearing, and curious without being distracted from his duty.

The Cubs' bench has already seen a bit of an overhaul, but they might turn over one or two of their places on that bench yet again before Opening Day. To fill all their positional needs, they have to be willing to spend some money and shove aside a couple of contingency plans they had created. If they do so, though, they'll be rewarded with a position-player roster capable of really winning something—as long as they also further reinforce their pitching staff along the way.