The Chicago Cubs added depth to their roster, acquiring former top-50 prospect Vidal Bruján in a trade with the Miami Marlins on Sunday. Left-handed hitting first baseman Matt Mervis was sent over to the Marlins.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the trade and the Cubs made it official later in the day.
The Cubs today acquired IF Vidal Bruján from the Miami Marlins in exchange for IF Matt Mervis and cash considerations. The 40-man roster stands at 39 players.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) December 29, 2024
Welcome to Chicago, Vidal! pic.twitter.com/wSCSvdSoZ7
Bruján, 26, reached top-50 prospect status back in 2020, when he was still in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system. The switch-hitter was ranked as high as No. 45, according to MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects list heading into 2020, but the shine quickly wore off of Bruján once he reached the big leagues.
He can play all over the infield and fill in at all three outfield positions, but unfortunately there’s a reason Bruján was traded for another underwhelming fringe MLB player in Mervis. Bruján has been a well below-average hitter in the majors, slashing .189/.261/.270, in 550 plate appearances. He did improve during the 2024 season with the Marlins, but he’s still got a long ways to go to even become an average major leaguer.
Bruján posted a 73 wRC+ in a career high 278 plate appearances with a slash line of .222/.303/.319, this past season. He’s pretty much Nick Madrigal, but can play shortstop and in the outfield.
One key note that should be pointed out is that Bruján is out of minor league options. So, there’s probably a time during the offseason when the Cubs attempt to pass him through waivers in order to get him off the 40-man roster. That’s important because the team could then begin the 2025 season with Bruján at Triple-A, still in the organization as a depth option, but aren’t forced to start the year with him on the active roster.
This move is pretty much spring training competition for Miles Mastrobuoni and Gage Workman, who the Cubs picked up in the Rule 5 Draft back in November. Bruján could have a leg up in a camp battle for a bench spot because of his ability to play the outfield. As things currently stand the Cubs do not have a backup outfielder on the 40-man roster other than Alexander Canario. Prospects Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara are on the 40-man roster, but you wouldn’t expect either to be on the active roster to fill a spot on the bench when they could continue to get every-day at-bats in Triple-A.
Meanwhile, the Cubs do not any depth at first base. Following the trade of Cody Bellinger, Michael Busch is the lone player who has meaningful experience playing first base.
Ever since the Cubs decided to sign veterans Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer to handle first base heading into the 2023 season you could pretty much tell how the organization felt about Mervis. And well, in a way I guess they were right all along. Maybe you could argue that he was never given enough of an opportunity, which is fair, I wanted to see more of Mervis in 2023, but when he did get a chance Mervis looked overmatched against MLB pitching.
Following a great 2022 season in the minors, Mervis was ranked No. 88, in Baseball Prospectus top prospects list.
Mervis only got 127 plate appearances at the big-league level with the Cubs, 99 of them coming in his one-month tryout during the 2023 season. The first baseman slashed .155/.222/.259, with 3 home runs and 40 strikeouts with the Cubs. Once the team traded for Busch, there was almost no path for Mervis to once again get a shot with the Cubs and now he’ll be in Miami, where he will be given an opportunity to play in the majors.
