Jonathan Villar Joins the Cubs as Their Newest Jack of All Trades

Seiya Suzuki is rightfully the headline grabber, but the Cubs stayed in the news on Thursday by agreeing to terms with infielder Jonathan Villar on a one-year deal worth $6 million. Villar spent the 2021 season with the Mets, hitting .249/.322/.416 in 142 games for 2.1 WAR and playing second base, third base, and shortstop for the injury-riddled franchise. That 2021 season represented a colossal comeback from his poor showing in 2020, when his power disappeared and he finished with a lackluster .232/.301/.292 line.

Versatility is one of those things that’s hard to put a precise figure on, but having a player such as Villar on your roster is basically like giving yourself a 27- or 28-man roster. He won’t remind anyone of Ozzie Smith at short, but that’s hardly the point with a player with his skillset. Whatever infielder you lose to a pulled hammy or a sprained elbow, Villar represents a 20/20-capable player who can man the position. He’s played much less often in the outfield, but there’s no particular reason to think he’d be a problem out there; he’s certainly fast enough to play even center field, and he stole 40 bases as recently as 2019. Being versatile isn’t one of the parameters that ZiPS looks for when making comps, but it still warms my heart to see Tony Phillips, the Platonic ideal of a super-sub, showing up high in Villar’s comp list at 15th. If he is 80% of Phillips, the retooling Cubs ought to be overjoyed with how their $6 million was spent.

With that versatility in mind, I’m doing something a little different with Villar: I’m going to project him everywhere he could see playing time. I’m even instructing ZiPS to consider him as a first baseman even though he’s only played a single professional game there; he’s considerably taller than the scrappy David Eckstein archetype.

Except at first base, where his bat would really suffer against the competition, $6 million could probably justify Villar at the six other positions listed here, even if each position was the only one that he played.

The Cubs could especially use such a flexible player, given some of their roster questions. Nick Madrigal, acquired for Craig Kimbrel and expected to be the starting second baseman, is coming off missing more than half a season with a torn hamstring and will likely be eased back in with some time at DH. Nico Hoerner, the team’s potential shortstop of the future, has played a lot more at second the last couple of years, and his performance has been all over the place. Andrelton Simmons, brought in to be the veteran bridge to the team’s next shortstop, has seen his offense collapse from its 2017–18 peak. Patrick Wisdom at third came out of nowhere last season and is already on the wrong side of 30. What you get out of Jason Heyward or Ian Happ is almost a guess at this point. Villar represents a viable Plan B or Plan C at all these positions, in a way that David Bote can’t quite manage.

That combination of flexibility and ability is less common among infielders than you’d think. Only 71 men in baseball history played at least 10% of their games at each of second base, shortstop, and third base and accumulated 3,000 plate appearances in the majors. Villar is in the top 20 in both home runs and OPS (and ZiPS projects another 66 homers for him over the rest of his career, which would put him in the top 10).

José Ramírez and Javier Báez are examples of two guys you don’t think of as traditional utility players, but I’m fine seeing them here; that ability still exists even when playing a single position exclusively and gives their teams some long-term flexibility when constructing their rosters.

With each one of their moves, the Cubs sneak just that much closer to contention. Last week, ZiPS had Chicago with an 11.1% chance to make the playoffs. Since then, the team has added Villar, Suzuki, Simmons, and David Robertson. At the same time, the Reds have cleaned house to the extent that their roster resembles a serving plate of Buffalo wings at 11:45 PM on Super Bowl Sunday. This has crept the Cubs to a fraction of a win below 80 in ZiPS, with a 27.0% chance of making the playoffs.

Villar doesn’t make the Cubs playoff favorites, but he makes the team better and more playoff relevant. After Chicago’s 2020 season, I think most fans would take that.