Cubs Offseason Position Review: Shortstop

A look back at how each position performed in 2025, and a look ahead to 2026. These posts will compare the MLB rankings from 2024 with those produced in 2025, as well as individual statistics for all players who played the position in 2025.

Here are the other entries:
Catcher
First Base
Second Base

Positional Rankings: 2025 vs 2024

Stat	2024	2025	Change
WAR	4.0 (10th)	3.6 (15th)	-0.4 (-5)
HR	17 (t17th)	25 (t5th)	+8 (+12)
RBI	69 (t16th)	81 (t9th)	+12(+7)
OPS	.680 (20th)	.720 (17th)	+.040 (+3)
wRC+	92 (t20th)	100 (t16th)	+8 (+4)
DRS	4 (t11th)	7 (6th)	+3 (+5)
OAA	15 (t3rd)	3 (t12)	-12 (-9)

Values are total and then MLB rank in parentheses
wRC+ = Weighted Runs Created Plus
DRS = Defensive Runs Saved
OAA = Outs Above Average

As we know, these numbers are due, almost exclusively, to one player: Dansby Swanson. As Cubs fans complain about the lack of acquisition of big name free agents – rightly so in my option – Swanson is one of the exceptions. In the year when several big name shortstops were available: specifically Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts, the Cubs went with Swanson on a 7-year, $177M dollar deal. So far, so good as here is the comparison of those players since 2023

#	Name	Team	G	WAR	HR	RBI	OPS	wRC+	DRS	AAV
1	Trea Turner	PHI	417	14.7	62	207	.798	118	-22	$27.3M
2	Dansby Swanson	CHC	455	12.4	62	223	.721	101	31	$25.3M
3	Xander Bogaerts	SDP	402	9.8	41	155	.738	107	-8	$25.5M
4	Carlos Correa	2 Tms	365	8.5	45	171	.766	113	-16	$31.2M

Turner has a higher WAR, due to his better offensive numbers, but Swanson is the best defensive player by far, and has a shorter contract (7 years versus 11 years) than Turner or Bogaerts. Correa has a 6-year deal, but a higher AAV, and has been much less valuable offensively and defensively. And Swanson has been more on the field more than the other three.

Going back to the MLB positional rankings, there are a couple of things that I’d like to focus on. First off, how is it possible that the Cubs saw the shortstop position drop in WAR in 2025 versus 2024, when all of the underlying numbers look better?

The key is looking at defensive WAR in addition to defensive runs saved. While the runs saved when up by three, the defensive WAR dropped by a significant amount (from 17.5 to 8.2). This may be driven by the Outs Above Average stat, which went from 15 to 3 (and 1 of those belong to Nico Hoerner). This is going to cause me to add that stat to these positional rankings.

The other interesting thing is that shortstops in MLB generally have much better numbers than players at second base. Here is the averages for some of the stats for shortstops versus second basemen per team:

Position	PA	HR	RBI	OPS	wRC+
2B	661	14.8	64.1	,682	92.9
SS	668	19.0	71.3	.723	103.0

So, while the numbers for Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner, in terms of OPS and wRC+ are similar, Hoerner looks better when compared to the rest of the league.

Individual Stats as a shortstop

Name	G	WAR	HR	RBI	OPS	wRC+	DRS	OAA
Dansby Swanson	159	3.3	24	77	.717	99	7	2
Nico Hoerner	6	0.2	0	2	.733	106	0	1
Gage Workman	2	0.1	0	2	1.500	316	0	0
Vidal Bruján	2	0.0	0	0	.000	-100	0	0
Nicky Lopez	2	0.0	0	0	.000	-100	0	0

These numbers are almost identical to the number above, as Swanson played almost every game. Shockingly, Gage Workman had 2 RBIs as a shortstop and a 1.500 OPS. HIs numbers at third, as we will go over in a separate post, were not as good.

For Swanson, one of the key criticisms was his inability to hit with runners on or runners in scoring position. Here is the same chart I used to show how great Nico Hoerner was last season with runners in scoring position. Swanson falls to the bottom of the list, with a .204 batting average and .634 OPS.

Name	PA	AVG	RBI	K%	OPS
Nico Hoerner	172	.371	51	10.5%	.881
Seiya Suzuki	180	.311	76	20.6%	.997
Michael Busch	141	.292	56	20.6%	.891
Ian Happ	170	.271	58	20.6%	.804
Kyle Tucker	137	.267	50	12.4%	.865
Pete Crow-Armstrong	176	.248	69	25.6%	.792
Carson Kelly	134	.246	38	18.7%	.749
Dansby Swanson	174	.204	51	28.7%	.634

Here is a comparison of Swansons numbers in the different situation:

Situation	PA	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OPS	wRC+
Bases Empty	374	93	17	17	.266	.764	113
Men on Base	271	51	7	60	.213	.648	80
Men In Scoring	174	31	4	51	.204	.634	74

I wanted to go back a few years to see if this as always been an issue for Swanson

Season	Tm	AVG Bases Empty	OPS Bases Empty	AVG Runners On	OPS Runners On
2016	ATL	.338	.903	.259	.683
2017	ATL	.226	.602	.238	.676
2018	ATL	.207	.584	.285	.863
2019	ATL	.282	.779	.209	.707
2020	ATL	.267	.776	.284	.852
2021	ATL	.245	.735	.253	.794
2022	ATL	.256	.716	.307	.865
2023	CHC	.244	.719	.245	.774
2024	CHC	.228	.654	.260	.768
2025	CHC	.266	.764	.213	.648
Career	2 teams	.248	.707	.254	.765

So, for his career, Swanson is actually better with runners on base than he is with the bases empty. 2025 appears to have been an outlier, similar to 2016 where he was much better with the bases empty or 2022 and 2024 where he was much better with runners on.

The other concern is how his defense will be affected by his age. The drop in Outs Above Average, which attempts to measure range, is troubling.

Season	Team	DRS	OAA
2016	ATL	3	1
2017	ATL	-4	-5
2018	ATL	10	7
2019	ATL	-2	1
2020	ATL	9	6
2021	ATL	-5	3
2022	ATL	9	20
2023	CHC	17	20
2024	CHC	7	17
2025	CHC	7	2
Career Avg	2 teams	5.1	7.2

His number is Atlanta prior to 2022 were not great, but then he had an amazing 3-year run. HIs defensive runs saved was the same in 2025 as they were in 2024, so hopefully, his positioning and arm will allow him to make up for a decrease in his range over the next few seasons.

2026 Outlook

Player	2026 Contract
Dansby Swanson	$28M in 2026

Basically the Cubs are set at shortstop for the next 4 seasons, with a player who is above average from both a defensive and power perspective. He will be 32 years old when the next season starts, so I suppose the biggest concern is how much regression will we see from Swanson over that 4 year span.

Nico Hoerner should be the primary backup in 2026, but it would be good for the Cubs to acquire a utility player who can play at shortstop.

There are no players in the upper minor leagues who would be though of as an heir apparent, with Cristian Hernandez as a potential long-term option in the long term.

One big questions for Swanson in 2026 i where he should hit in the batting order. He settled into the 8 spot (or 7th if McGuire was playing), which seems about right. He’s not a great on-base guy, and he strikes out a fair amount. If the Cubs decide to go with a younger player in the RF/DH spot, and keep Shaw at 3rd, there’s a chance he would sit at 7 on most days.

While Swanson is not the best shortstop in the league, he is providing the Cubs with good value for the long-term deal he signed in 2023.