The Chicago Cubs signed free agent Alex Bregman to the third-largest contract in franchise history, a five-year, $175 million contract, dispelling the long-held notion that the Cubs were not the sort of club that would win a bidding war for a top free agent.

Despite an impressive season by rookie Matt Shaw, who was a Gold Glove finalist, Bregman is the veteran upgrade that the team will count on to take them to the next level. Bregman is the total package, a defensive leader and a hitter who delivers with consistency and effectiveness. 

2025 was a bounce-back year with the Boston Red Sox for Bregman after a down year in 2024, his last with the Houston Astros.  He benefitted from a change of scene and was hitting .299/.385/.553 in 226 plate appearances before being sidelined by a quad injury on May 24th. Once he returned to the lineup in July, he hit .250/.338/.386 in 269 plate appearances.

The Cubs are relying on a healthy Bregman to combine talents defensively with Danby Swanson at shortstop, Nico Hoerner at second base, and Michael Busch at first to be the best all-around infield defense in the league.

In 2025, the Cubs were the inaugural winners of the Fielding Bible Defensive Team of the Year award, given by Sports Info Solutions. The Cubs had a .989 fielding percentage and were second in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) with 84. They sported a Major League high three Gold-Glove winners:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong notched a .995 fielding percentage, along with 21 Outs Against Average (OAA), 427 put outs (which was second to Julio Rodriguez’s 430), and 15 DRS.
• Ian Happ is the gold standard for left fielders, winning his fourth consecutive Gold Glove, leading National League left fielders in DRS (9), and boasting a .997 fielding percentage.
• Nico Hoerner is a unicorn on the infield, that rare player whose versatility is equally impressive at multiple positions. He won his second Gold Glove for his work at second base, following a year in which he won his first as a shortstop. His glove work is elite and consistent throughout the infield, translating to leadership in the clubhouse. In tandem with Swanson, Hoerner was instrumental in turning the Cubs into the top defensive middle-infield duo in the league.

Bregman’s defense was Gold Glove caliber as recently as 2024, his first time winning the award.  He led all American League third basemen in fielding percentage, assists, total chances, and putouts, and ranked highly in Outs Above Average. 

In Boston in 2025, he missed time from late May until early July, playing in only 113 games at third base. He had a .969 fielding percentage, 1 DRS, 3 OAA with 9 errors. His bWAR dropped from 4.1 in 2024 to 3.5 in 2025.  While Bregman is now years away from the 8.9 bWAR he once achieved, a healthy year should see his defensive metrics return to the level they have been at since 2017:

• OAA  +26
• DRS +21
• .968 fielding percentage

Bregman has received awards and accolades spanning nearly a 10-year career in the big leagues. Matt Shaw was a rookie in 2025 who flashed a hot glove at third base and was a Gold Glove finalist at the position. Shaw struggled at the plate in the early part of the season, but found his swing late in the season and had a hit in all three wins during the postseason. He finished the season with a .227/.295/.394 slash line with a .690 OPS.  Bregman is an upgrade in the short-term for a playoff-bound team. 

Currently, Shaw would profile excellently as a super-utility player coming off the bench, joining recently acquired right-hander Tyler Austin. There is also the possibility that rumors of a Nico Hoerner trade will take formal shape, and Shaw could man second base for the season. With Bregman and Swanson, along with Hoerner and Busch coming off career years, the Cubs may well boast the best all-around infield on both sides of the ball in Major League Baseball