Baffling Jed Hoyer decision could get in the way of Cubs' ideal Opening Day roster

In late December, Chicago Cubs’ president Jed Hoyer made a rather shocking move: sending Matt Mervis and cash to the Marlins in exchange for Vidal Brujan, who was expected to serve as the team’s ideal infield depth. Mervis has shown some stellar potential in the minor leagues, but after one bad performance last season, the Cubs seemingly gave up on him.

Despite not producing as well as Mervis in the advanced stages of the minors, the Cubs apparently saw Brujan as a more meaningful prize. Brujan showed exceptional talent during his early development reaching the rank of MLB’s number 50 prospect in 2021. But since hitting .292 during a Triple-A stint in 2022, it has all been downhill.

In 497 major-league at-bats, Brujan has underwhelmed hitting .189 with five home runs. His last MLB stint in 2024 went considerably better, but his performance was still well below average. But the overarching risk here isn’t that the Cubs believe in Brujan and decided to let go of Mervis for him; rather it is the fact that Brujan is out of minor-league options. If Brujan does not make the roster, he will be DFA’d and teams will have a shot at snagging him.

Luckily, Brujan is vindicating management’s confidence in him with a great performance thus far in spring training. Brujan is currently 7-21 with a home run. However, he is locked in a tight competition; one that might be pushing him out the door.

Gage Workman might be pushing Vidal Brujan off the team, but will Jed Hoyer let that happen?  

This spring, Cubs’ number 29 prospect Gage Workman (3B/SS) is on fire, going 9-25 with two home runs. Brujan, who has played all over the diamond in his short MLB career, offers the Cubs flexibility, but with most of the key roster spots presumably filled, there can only be room for one. As of now, it seems Workman has the upper-hand, at least performance-wise.

Any decision will need to be made in the coming weeks as Cubs’ Opening Day comes earlier than most, occurring on March 18 in Tokyo, Japan. But with the injured Nico Hoerner set to miss the series against the Dodgers, this provides the Cubs with a little extra time to come to a decision on Brujan.

Brujan will almost certainly be on the roster for the Cubs’ first series, but with Hoerner due back for Opening Day in the states, the question remains if Brujan will be able to keep his roster spot. If Brujan winds up on another team come April, the Mervis deal is going to look very bad for Hoyer and company. In the end, the thought of losing their new acquisition might be enough for management to snub Workman and award the roster spot to Brujan.