By Dan Hock
July 28, 2024
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes from the Tampa Bay Rays for third baseman Christopher Morel, right-handed pitcher Hunter Bigge and right-handed pitcher Ty Johnson.
“As we have stated, our goal is to add players that will help us not just this season, but into the future,” said Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Jed Hoyer. “In the last two days, we feel we have worked toward that by trading for those types of controllable players. Acquiring Paredes adds a proven bat to our lineup immediately and for years to come.”
Paredes, 25, is in his fifth major league season and is hitting .247 (89-for-363) with 19 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 55 RBI and a .793 OPS for Tampa, making 78 starts at third base and 13 starts at first base. The right-handed hitting infielder made his first career All-Star team this season. He ranks in the 91st percentile in the major leagues in walk percentage (12.0%), 89th percentile in whiff percentage (16.9%) and 82nd percentile in strikeout percentage (16.0%).
In 2023, Paredes recorded career-highs every offensive category including: hits (123), doubles (24), home runs (31), RBI (98), OBP (.357), SLG (.435) and OPS (.792) while playing in 143 games. His 31 home runs were the third-most among major league infielders, trailing Rafael Devers and Corey Seager (33). He joined Evan Longoria (4x) as the lone third basemen in Tampa Bay Rays history to have a 30-homer season and became the second Rays player and first since Longoria in 2009 to have a 30-homer, 90-RBI season at age 24 or younger.
All told, across parts of five major league seasons with Detroit (2020-21) and Tampa Bay (2022-24), Paredes has batted .234 (317-for-1,356) with 66 doubles, two triples, 69 home runs, 209 RBI and a .772 OPS in 411 major league games.
The five-foot 11-inch Paredes was originally signed by the Cubs on July 31, 2015 as an international free agent. He spent two years in the Cubs system before being traded to Detroit on July 31, 2017 in a four-player deal involving catcher Alex Avila and left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson. He made his major league debut in Chicago against the White Sox on August 17, 2020, before he was traded to Tampa Bay on April 4, 2022 for outfielder Austin Meadows.
A native of Hermosillo, Mexico, Paredes played for the Mexican national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, batting .375 (9-for-24) with one home run and six RBI in six games.
Morel, 25, is hitting .199 (72-for-362) with 18 home runs and 51 RBI in 103 games this season.
Bigge, 26, made his major league debut with the Cubs this season and went 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA (1 ER/3.1 IP) in four appearances. He is currently with Triple-A Iowa where he is 1-0 with a 0.68 ERA (1 ER/13.1 IP) in 12 games.
Johnson, 22, is currently with High-A South Bend where he has posted a 3.62 ERA (11 ER/27.1 IP) and 33 strikeouts in eight games (six starts).
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