Ben Zobrist has been through a lot over the last calendar year. In January, Zobrist was shipped from the organization he grew up with, the Tampa Bay Rays, and he was sent to the Oakland Athletics. Oakland was quickly factored out of any playoff race and he was then traded to the defending AL Champion Kansas City Royals.
Little did Zobrist know, the Royals would make a return trip to the World Series with him as the anchor in the infield. Zobrist and the Royals defeated the New York Mets in the World Series and then it was time for the offseason.
KC was quickly eliminated from the Zobrist sweepstakes but he was getting interest from the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Fransisco Giants were all in the mix for Zobrist but at the end of the day, a young, up and coming team swooped in and stole him away. The Chicago Cubs, with Zobrist’s old manager Joe Maddon at the helm, stole Zobrist from other potential suitors.
Following from Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
The Cubs landed Zobrist with a four-year, $56 million contract…
“We couldn’t have made this free-agent signing without this trade, and would not have made the trade without the free-agent signing,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said.
The Cubs’ pursuit of Zobrist didn’t come to light until Tuesday, but they had talked to him about a potential union early in the offseason.
“It was pretty clear that we were right at the top of the list of places where he wanted to play,” Epstein said. “We asked him to be patient and said that we couldn’t act right away but that we had a lot of interest and if the right corresponding move came our way, we could get involved quickly.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon will be reunited with one of his favorite players in Zobrist, who played for Maddon with Tampa Bay from 2006-14. Last season, with both the Royals and A’s, Zobrist batted .276 with 13 home runs, 36 doubles and three triples, playing second base, third base, left field and right field.
Zobrist is the type of contact hitter the Cubs need, and is projected to bat at the top of the order in this powerful Cubs lineup. Chicago is still in the market for a center fielder, and Jason Heyward has been discussed, but now the Chi-town does not have to find someone an outfielder who can also fill the leadoff spot vacated by Dexter Fowler’s departure. Zobrist will do just fine leading off.
Ben will receive full no-trade protection in the first three years of the deal. The contract includes a $2 million signing bonus plus $10 million salary in 2016, $16 million in both ’17 and ’18, and $12 million in 2019.
