The Cubs made a ma sive splash on the trade market yesterday when they landed star outfielder is a with the Astros. The club surrendered a hefty Kyrie Irving Jersey package of All-Star third baseman , 2024 first-rounder , and right-handed youngster in order to make the deal, however, and the lo s of Paredes in particular may have changed some of the clubs offseason plans. Second baseman has in trade talks this winter, with the Mariners in particular being said to have interest in the infielder. According to , however, its po sible that the clubs thinking involving Hoerner has changed in the aftermath of yesterdays deal with the Astros. Rosenthal notes that the Cubs were motivated to trade from their infield mix in order to open up playing time for top prospect , who hit a sensational .298/.395/.534 in a late-season cup of coffee at the Triple-A level and appears ready to make the jump to the major leagues. Shaw was drafted as a shortstop, but is a bat-first prospect who has spent time at both second and third base in the minors since being selected with the 13th-overall pick in the 2023 draft. While Shaw has typically been considered a more natural fit at second than third due to questions about his arm strength, the youngster logged 580 1/3 innings at the hot corner in the minors this past year and seems to be a natural choice to replace Paredes in Chicagos infield mix next year. That, according to Rosenthal, leaves the Cubs likely to keep Hoerner in the fold headed into next season. Its at least po sible another addition changes those plans, as reported earlier today that the club is in the market for third base help following yesterdays deal. Its unclear if such an addition would be a part-time player who could offer insurance in case Shaw proves to not be quite ready for the majors or if the Cubs are pursuing more of a regular option at the hot corner, but it would seem likely at this point that the Cubs may only seriously entertain a Hoerner trade going forward if theyre able to land a regular third baseman, thereby allowing them to replace Hoerner with Shaw at the keystone. While Hoerner may be staying put in Chicago, the same cannot be said for . The 2019 NL MVP has been known to be on the trade block all winter due to the outfield logjam the Cubs experienced late in the 2024 season, when Bellinger was vying with , , , and top prospect for regular playing time. That logjam already led the Cubs to non-tender Tauchman, and the introduction of Tucker as the surefire everyday starter in right field only further emphasized that Bellinger figures to play in another uniform next year. The Yankees appear to be perhaps for Bellinger this winter, though reports have previously indicated that the sides remain apart on how much of Bellingers contract the Cubs should retain. provided additional details about the situation yesterday, reporting that the sides are more than $10MM apart in their negotiations. Thats a hefty gap the sides will need to bridge in order to come together on a deal, as it represents more than a third of Bellingers $27.5MM salary for the 2025 season. Freeing up money in order to improve other areas of the roster seems to be one of the primary motivators for the Cubs in trading Bellinger. , the clubs luxury tax payroll sits at just under $215MM after the Tucker deal, and clearing as much of Bellingers $26.67MM average annual value off the books as po sible would greatly increase Chicagos financial flexibility as they look into improving their rotation by dealing for a starter like or . Speaking of the rotation, recently took a look at the po sibility of an extension between the Cubs and left-hander . The pair report that Steele and the Cubs have not engaged in extension talks to this point, though they note that the Cubs frequently use the start of Spring Training as an opportunity to explore extensions with players as theyve done with Hoerner and Happ in the past before ultimately getting deals done closer to Opening Day. The 29-year-old lefty is certainly an intriguing extension candidate. Steele is under team control for three more seasons and doesnt sport high-end velocity or ma sive strikeout rates. With that said, his results have been undeniably excellent in three seasons since he joined the rotation on a full-time basis. In 427 innings of work acro s 78 starts over the past three years, Steele has posted a 3.10 ERA (134 ERA+) with a nearly matching 3.14 FIP. He generates grounders at a strong 48.5% clip and has limited walks to just a 5.7% rate over the past two seasons after struggling somewhat with his control in 2022. Among starters with at least 300 innings over the past two years, only has allowed a lower ERA than Steeles 3.07, while his 3.11 FIP ranks third behind and . DeAndre Jordan Jersey