Ok i had some food which gave me a bit more time to digest the news and I had a couple more thoughts. There was a decent amount of chatter about cubs going after Josh Naylor for 1B. Me personally, I like Busch better than Naylor and he has a lot more control but they seem like similar ideas to get a cost controlled 1B.
Second thought, I could be wrong here but I believe Busch is eligible for the MLB's Prospect Promotion Incentive. You have to be top 100 player on 2 lists and have less than 60 days of service time(believe he has 45). Seattle got the #29 overall pick in the 2023 draft for Julio Rodríguez winning ROTY. There's apparently other ways you can earn picks as well but i'm not an expert on them. Regardless, given his polish and given he's almost certainly going to break camp with the cubs, there's a realistic shot he could win ROTY.
Third thought, I'm wondering if the cubs were down on Ferris because of his command. Cubs seem to very much value command pitchers(see wicks and shota as recent examples). They seem to prefer guys with solid command but less explosive stuff as opposed to guys with killer stuff who hope to learn control. And with Ferris and Herz before him being traded just makes me think they were bearish on his ability to improve otherwise I can't imagine including him. Hope I really like because of his tools but cubs have so many OF prospects and he's pretty far away so that doesn't bother me quite as much.
Overall though, I really hope people keep an open mind on Busch. Like I get it if you see him as a 26 year old who hasn't played much MLB ball and just assume 4A. However, think you need to consider is he was draft in 2019 and barely played like most draftees. He lost 2020 to covid season. He spent all of 2021 in AA and hit well(134 wRC+). He opened 2022 in AA and dominated(176 wRC+ over 137 PAs) and was promoted to AAA. He finished 2022 in AAA kinda average with a 102 wRC+. And then last year he raked in AAA for a 150 wRC+. So yes he's older but part of that is Covid and part of it is the fact LA had no spot for him. I realistically think he could be a 3 WAR player next year the bat is that good. It's at 1B most likely so it's not crazy as a prospect but to me he's more interesting than Hoskins/Naylor to fill a hole the cubs have.
I’ll keep an open mind, but he’s got to prove it.
The cubs have their eyes set on winning the division, and right now I see a shit ton of question marks in this lineup
For me, that’s why Naylor made more sense. He’s proven it at the MLB level consistently in his young career. Sure, he has less control, but he’s much more a sure thing. And the cubs as much as they act like the damn rays, can afford to re sign a guy like Naylor when he does hit FA if they want to
Cubs really better be planning on finding a legit proven bat this offseason or they are in trouble
Right now they have unproven bats at first base and third base, which are two typical run producing hitters. They also have an unproven bat in center, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal but considering the status at 1st and 3rd it is more so of an issue
