The Cubs Have A Bo Bichette-Nico Hoerner Dilemma

Of the players on the Chicago Cubs who helped the squad come to within a game of the National League Championship Series in 2025, few were more instrumental than second baseman Nico Hoerner. And yet, as the city's North Side baseball team wades through an underwhelming and perplexing offseason, the Northern California native's name has become the focal point of swirling trade talks.

It's clear why another club would want to trade for Hoerner: At just 28 years old, Hoerner has two Gold Gloves to his name and just produced a season worth 14 outs above average (OAA). Not only did he get on base frequently in 2025 with a .345 OBP, but he also made things happen once he got on, stealing 29 bases. More than this, the star infielder was one of the only players in Craig Counsell's lineup to consistently hit for contact, tallying 40 extra-base hits among his total of 178. Is that kind of production easily replaceable? No. Why, then, do the Cubs have designs on bringing Bo Bichette to Wrigleyville?

Now, it's worth mentioning that since Bichette's ball club made it to Game 7 of the World Series, he has more numerous and more recent failures at the plate than his counterpart in Chicago. But Bichette still finished the 2025 season with a .311 batting average. Over the course of the regular season in 2025, Bichette had fewer hits (in fewer at-bats) than Hoerner. Defensively, Bichette is inferior to Hoerner, with a Baseball Savant page featuring more blue than a postcard from the Caribbean. What Toronto's star infielder does have, however, is hype. Since entering the league with his equally-famous teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bichette was announced as being one of the game's new young superstars, carrying the weight of the league's rising popularity on his shoulders. Despite falling short of his lofty expectations thus far, Bichette remains one of the more prominent and recognizable players in professional baseball. 

When examining this specific aspect, Bichette's profile, the Cubs' pursuit of him makes sense. This is an organization that likes to maintain a certain level of name-brand players — guys that fill seats at Wrigley. Think Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker, and Yu Darvish. Given that fact, it's likely that Tom Ricketts, Jed Hoyer, and the rest of the brass wouldn't mind welcoming Bichette to Chicago, with designs on hiding his defensive shortcomings next to the exemplary Dansby Swanson. Playing at second should mask a great many of his range concerns, and it wouldn't be hard for Bichette to improve at least a little on that side of the ball.

Still, he'd be a far cry from what Hoerner offers at the keystone, and signing Bichette to a long-term deal almost certainly comes with the caveat that the incumbent second baseman will be dealt away. If and when a package is assembled to make this theoretical trade a reality, Chicago would still earn an incomplete grade for this offseason as we sit just one calendar month away from the start of spring training and the 2026 season. The North Siders still need an ace to lead their pitching rotation, and not only have they not acquired one, but also seem content in allowing other challengers to exhaust all the best available options on the market. 

So, the question remains: What is the Cubs' play here? For this club to expand upon its triumphs from last season, it needs consistency. That's something that Nico Hoerner has a proven track record of providing. Can Bichette, in a new city, with a new ballpark, pick up where Hoerner left off? As the great Ellie Goulding once said: Anything could happen.