The offseason for Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw may have started out like “a fairytale,” but as the 2026 season approaches, it could end up turning into a nightmare.
On Nov. 9, three days after turning 24, Shaw and his wife Danielle held a lavish wedding ceremony to celebrate their union with family and friends. Although the couple had been officially married in a courthouse proceeding in February, shortly before Shaw made his Major League debut in Tokyo with the Cubs, they held a big event with all of the trimmings last weekend at the V. Sattui Winery in an St. Helena, California, giving Danielle her dream-come-true setting.
Following a rookie season of memorable ups but plentiful downs, Shaw must have been grateful to simply have the opportunity to unwind and focus on his things away from the field. Because over the previous seven-to-eight months, Shaw’s on-field life was a stomach-churning roller coaster ride.
Rough Rookie Season for Matt Shaw Could Have Cubs Exploring Other Options
Shaw entered 2025 as the Cub’ No. 1 prospect, ranked among the top 20 prospects in all of MLB, and after the December 2024 trade that sent third baseman Isaac Paredes and others to Houston for Kyle Tucker, there was an obvious spot waiting for him on the big league roster. And Shaw was in the lineup March 18 and 19 when Chicago opened the season with a pair of games against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome.
Shawn went 1-for-9 with four strikeouts in those games. It would be an unfortunate sign of struggles to come for Shaw, who was demoted to Triple-A Iowa in mid-April with a .172 average and 18 strikeouts in 58 at-bats.
Shaw was brought back up to Chicago just over a month later, and he remained with the Cubs for the rest of the season, but it was a continuous struggle. His batting average reached a season-high .259 on June 6, but it was downhill from there, and Shaw finished the season with a slash line of .226/.295/.394. The postseason was even worse, as Shaw had just two hits, both singles, in 17 at-bats, with seven strikeouts.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” Shaw stated following the Cubs’ loss to Milwaukee in Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
And there’s no telling where it goes from here, although rumors indicate that for Shaw, it could wind up in a bad place.
Insiders Suggest Chicago’s ‘Active Offseason’ May Include Replacing Matt Shaw
As the free agency period in MLB starts to slowly take shape, industry insiders list the Cubs among the teams to watch. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Jed Hoyer, Chicago’s president of baseball operations, has stated that his team plans to have “an active offseason.”
The Cubs are not expected to resign free agent left fielder Kyle Tucker, which will free up money to put towards other needs. Early indications point at Chicago inserting top prospect Owen Caissie into the outfield mix along with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki, rather than going after a big money guy for that spot.
Speculation is high that the team will target a few high-end starting pitchers, but there also rumblings about the Cubs potentially taking aim at several intriguing third base options, including Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman. But whether those rumblings turn into reality is the part that should concern Shaw most. Chicago’s interest in outside help at third base isn’t just offseason chatter – it’s a growing acknowledgment that the position remains unsettled, and that patience with Shaw’s development may be wearing thinner than the club wants to admit publicly.
Hoyer and his staff won’t close the door on a young, controllable player with pedigree, and Shaw will undoubtedly enter spring training with every chance to reclaim the momentum he lost. Yet the tone around the organization has shifted. What once felt like a long-term commitment now sounds more like a contingency plan.
And as more names surface and more scenarios get whispered, one truth is beginning to loom over the Cubs’ winter plans: it is starting to look more and more likely that Matt Shaw will not be the starting third baseman when the 2026 season begins.
