Two days after Michael Busch learned he’d been traded from the Dodgers to the Cubs, he took the stage in an expansive Sheraton Grand Chicago hotel ballroom in front of hundreds of fans, to show off his dance moves and watch his new teammate Patrick Wisdom lose a pushup contest to a young fan during the Kids Only Press Conference.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Busch said in a back hallway after the kids handed the questions back over to the adults Saturday afternoon. “I’ve just been able to soak it all in. The players, the people, from the moment that I got to Chicago have been nothing short of awesome.”
Busch, 26, is in line to make the opening day roster after being traded to the Cubs with reliever Yency Almonte, for prospects Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope. He adds a much-needed left-handed power bat. And while Busch can also play third base, second, or even in the outfield, Cubs’ greatest positional need is first base.
“First base would probably be the place that we’re primarily looking at him at,” manager Craig Counsell said. “But that’s before anything else has happened, right? When things start to happen, then we have the ability to consider other things.”
The Cubs have made it clear that their offseason is still in its early stages.
“We still want to add to the bullpen this offseason,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “Still want to add depth to the roster. And I do think offensively one of the big focuses has been the ability to hit right-handed pitching.”
Busch’s acquisition began to address that focus, and hitting coach Dustin Kelly knows Busch’s swing well from their time together in the Dodgers organization. But the Cubs will continue to look for ways to strengthen that aspect of their lineup.
The Cubs had been keeping tabs on Busch. And Mookie Betts moving to second base helped create an opening. Busch was clearly blocked with the Dodgers, whereas the Cubs needed him on their major-league roster.
“It’s not a eureka moment, where it’s like, ‘Oh, now we can go get him,’” general manager Carter Hawkins said. “But it’s definitely just, ‘Hey, let’s just continue to be active in asking about that player to make sure we don’t miss out on an opportunity.’ Sometimes trades happen really fast, and you want to be that team if it’s the player that you really like. And so we were lucky to stay on the radar with him.”
Busch was on his way to North Carolina when he found out he was being traded. The next day, he was in Chicago for Cubs Convention. After an evening full of introductions to his new teammates, he said he walked in Saturday already feeling like part of the team.