The Chicago Cubs have already gotten Spring Training underway, but on Monday morning, they made an addition.
Michael Conforto is the newest member of the Cubs.
MLB insider Jon Heyman reported the deal very early Monday morning. He didn’t specify the terms of the deal, but at this stage of the spring, it would usually be a minor league deal with a spot in big league camp.
Conforto was once one of the most promising young players in baseball with the New York Mets.
He was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft out of Oregon State.
He was in the majors by 2015, and in 2017, he was an All Star.
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From 2017 through 2019, he hit 88 home runs and had a combined OPS of .855.
He then batted .322 with a .927 OPS in the shortened COVID season of 2020.
Conforto’s fall-off began in 2021, with just a .232 average.
He missed the entire 2022 season with injury, then joined the San Francisco Giants for 2023 and 2024. Even there, he had a .740 OPS — not up to his Mets standard, but not bad.
Conforto’s 2025 season with the Dodgers was one to forget, a .199 average and .637 OPS with just 12 home runs and 36 RBI and 138 games.
He’ll turn 33 years old on March 1, and the Cubs are getting him at a miniscule cost.
Conforto still has much of the smooth left-handed swing that made him a rising star a decade ago. It just hasn’t made the same impact in recent years.
There’s no reason not to do a move like this for the Cubs. If it works, they have an additional power bat. If not, it didn’t cost them much of anything.