The Cubs reached settlement with outfielder Michael Conforto, as first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Submit. It’s a minor league cope with an invitation to massive league camp, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Conforto, who’s represented by the Boras Company, will make $2MM if his contract is chosen, per Fabian Ardaya and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. There are additionally unspecified efficiency bonuses within the deal.
Conforto, 33 subsequent month, is a veteran of ten MLB seasons at this level. A former prime ten choose within the draft and prime 100 prospect, Conforto was an All-Star in 2017 and hit .259/.358/.484 (128 wRC+) by way of his first six seasons within the majors. Issues took a flip for the veteran from there, nevertheless. His 2021 season was solely pedestrian (104 wRC+), and his 2022 marketing campaign was misplaced to shoulder surgical procedure. Since returning, he’s stayed at that roughly league common stage general. He’s hit .225/.316/.390 with a 98 wRC+ throughout three seasons with the Giants and Dodgers, however final yr in L.A. was the worst season of his profession so far.
In 138 video games for the Dodgers, Conforto hit simply .199/.3o5/.333 with a wRC+ of 83. He was effectively beneath substitute stage in keeping with each Fangraphs and Baseball Reference when it comes to WAR, he posted the weakest energy manufacturing (.138 ISO) of his profession, and his strikeout fee jumped to 24.9% for the primary time since 2018. It was a brutal season general, and issues received dangerous sufficient that Conforto wound up being left off L.A.’s playoff rosters completely throughout the World Collection run. After returning to free company this offseason, Conforto discovered minimal curiosity throughout the league till the calendar had already flipped to 2026. As Spring Coaching drew close to, groups just like the White Sox and Astros expressed curiosity in Conforto’s companies, however the Cubs had not been linked to him earlier than at present’s information.
On the Cubs, Conforto appears kind of blocked with out an damage. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are certain to be tapped to deal with the outfield corners, and even when Conforto continues to be able to dealing with heart discipline (a place he hasn’t performed since 2019) celebrity Pete Crow-Armstrong is certain to get common reps on the place. Conforto’s greatest hope of creating the roster can be because the staff’s main DH who might rotate by way of the outfield corners to get Happ and Suzuki off their ft. He’ll face stiff competitors from prime prospect Moises Ballesteros for that prime DH job, nevertheless. Ballesteros hit a superb .298/.394/.474 in his first style of massive league motion final yr, and whereas that got here in simply 57 journeys to the plate it was nonetheless a robust sufficient displaying to warrant a bigger look this yr.
It’s actually not inconceivable that Conforto might rediscover the mix of energy and self-discipline that made him an efficient massive league hitter, and if he does so he might problem Ballesteros for the DH job. That could possibly be notably interesting for the Cubs in the event that they need to proceed growing Ballesteros as a catcher, provided that the staff’s beginning tandem of Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya leaves little room for Ballesteros to get a glance behind the plate within the majors at this level. Failing that, he’ll compete this spring for a bench job in opposition to the likes of Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick. Conforto has essentially the most success on the massive league stage of that trio, but in addition would doubtless be essentially the most stretched defensively as a middle fielder.
