Isaac Paredes Eventually a Trade Candidate?

Most of the offseason trade rumor talk surrounding the Chicago Cubs has focused on Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger. The Hoerner situation is tricky because he had forearm surgery, has been a 4 WAR player the past few years, but because of that maybe the Cubs can get an upgrade in their starting rotation. As for Bellinger, the Cubs seem desperate to shed money off their payroll. But is there a chance that third baseman Isaac Paredes is eventually on the trade block?

Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw caught his manager's attention for Team USA at this year's Premier12 Tournament and Mike Scioscia even mentioned how he thought the Cubs would be playing Shaw at third once he was ready for the majors. No idea if Scioscia has any inside info on that, but it seemed odd considering Paredes has three more years left of team control and the Cubs just traded for him four months ago.

While it might premature to think that Paredes will be a trade candidate this offseason it is interesting to hear Cubs insider Sahadev Sharma discuss the third baseman's role on the team. Alongside Patrick Mooney, Sharma talked about Paredes in this week's North Side Territory podcast and how he believes Paredes could be moved as soon as 2026.

Sharma said the following.

"I also think Paredes is a placeholder in the sense that he's potentially an impactful placeholder, but I don't think he's going to be with the Cubs for the next six years. They're not looking to extend him. I wouldn't be shocked if Cam Smith has like this awesome season, if the Cubs are looking to trade Paredes in a year and a half or something like that."

That's the other takeaway I took from this podcast episode. While Shaw was praised for his improvement defensively at third base during the Premier12 Tournament, Sharma and Mooney still haven't heard overly positive things about Shaw's defense at the hot corner. So, when they seemed to agree that Paredes is only seen as a placeholder at third, the prospect that was brought up who could eventually take over is Cam Smith, the team's 2024 first round pick out of Florida State.

Still, I wonder how different trade talks would have proceeded this offseason if Paredes didn't limp to the finish line after the Cubs acquired him at the trade deadline from the Tampa Bay Rays. Because of his sluggish end, I don't think there's any point in selling low on Paredes this winter, but it doesn't seem like there's a guaranteed that he'll finish the next three seasons with the Cubs.

That may sound bad, but if that means there's one or a couple prospects earning playing time in the majors, then you just have to hope that Paredes gets it together until those guys are ready.

Isaac Paredes and His Shoulder

So, yeah Isaac Paredes went from really bad during his first few weeks with the Cubs to slightly above average to end the regular season but I'm still a little worried about his shoulder. At the same time, maybe we can point to an injury as the main reason for the slugging third baseman to only hit three home runs in 52 games since he was traded to the Cubs at the end of July.

Back on Aug. 18, Paredes was scratched from the starting lineup with what was described as right shoulder discomfort. The right-handed hitter didn't miss much time and actually pinch-hit in that game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cubs inserted Paredes back into the lineup following an off day and was getting regular playing time in the final six weeks of the regular season.

In his first 72 plate appearances with the Cubs Paredes was truly awful at the plate. He slashed .143/.236/.286, a 51 wRC+ with his .522 OPS. Definitely not what the Cubs were hoping for when they traded for the All-Star third baseman. The good news is that Paredes did rebound and from Aug. 21 through the end of the season as he posted a 105 wRC+, slashing 267/.371/.319, in 140 plate appearances.

The walk rate went back up and Paredes started to make more contact again in the final six weeks. A good sign. Maybe he was just pressing after the trade, trying too hard to have a positive effect with his new team. However, despite the better numbers Paredes only hit one home run during his good stretch with the Cubs and went homer-less during the entire month of September. He only hit two doubles in 96 September plate appearances.

So, maybe that shoulder still wasn't feeling fine and honestly the Cubs are probably begging that that's the culprit in Paredes losing his power in the second half. We've seen in it in the past with Kris Bryant, who was still able to play through a shoulder injury in 2018, but was obviously zapped of his power that year.

Although, Bryant had a left shoulder issue and Paredes had discomfort in his right. Hmmm.

Hopefully a full offseason of rest will do the trick for Paredes. Fingers crossed that we don't get an update during the winter that he needs surgery. Don't need that at all. But I have to believe that his shoulder simply was not close to 100% because Paredes went from being a trusted slugger with the Rays to a singles hitter with the Cubs and that's not all on hitting at Wrigley Field vs. hitting at Tropicana Field.

Again, I hope that's the case because otherwise...yikes.

(Previous Update)

The Cubs traded for All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes at the end of July, hoping that the right-handed hitter would give the lineup a boost and while the team has been playing better Paredes has struggled in his return to the organization. Now, the 25-year-old is dealing with a shoulder issue that forced the Cubs to scratch him from the starting lineup in Sunday's series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Patrick Wisdom will replace Paredes at third base and will slot into the eighth spot in the batting order.

Isaac Paredes has been scratched from today's lineup with right shoulder discomfort.

Patrick Wisdom is now playing third base and hitting 8th for the Cubs.

— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) August 18, 2024

Since joining the Cubs on July 30, Paredes has only put up a 61 wRC+, slashing .155/.254/.310, a .564 OPS in 67 plate appearances. The third baseman has homered a pair of times, while adding three doubles. Meanwhile, the defense at the hot corner has looked smoother, however Paredes has already been charged with four errors in 16 games with the Cubs.

It could be quite possible that Paredes has been playing through a shoulder injury for a while because if you take a closer look at his numbers, then you'll discover that he's been struggling at the plate since he was still with the Tampa Bay Rays. Prior to the trade, Paredes was barely hovering at league average production in the month of July, with an abysmal .123 batting average in 97 plate appearances. During that stretch Paredes' slash line was helped out by a .340 OBP thanks to a 20.6 BB%, but things were already looking bad then.

You certainly hope that this isn't a longterm shoulder injury for Paredes because there's no good backup plan on the major league roster if he has to miss more time at third base. Could this possibly open the door for Matt Shaw?

Paredes wil have another day of rest tomorrow as the Cubs begin their next series until Tuesday at home against the Detroit Tigers.