Ben Zobrist agrees to four-year, $56M deal with Cubs

Ben Zobrist has made up his mind. He's reunited with his old manager Joe Maddon and signing with the Chicago Cubs.

The deal, first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and later confirmed by the club, pays $56 million over four years and gives the Cubs a versatile veteran to add to their youthful lineup.

The decision ends a competition for Zobrist that had been one of the Winter Meetings' top stories so far, as reports of three-year offers turned into four and contract values rose until he agreed to this deal with an annual average value of $14 million. The New York Mets were reportedly the other finalist for Zobrist.

While they were working on signing Zobrist, the Cubs also swung a deal to trade Starlin Castro to New York Yankees. Team president Theo Epstein said earlier in the day the Cubs were trying to "sync up" a trade and free-agent signing. Joel Sherman of the New York Post was first to confirm the Castro trade was done, thus opening up second base to be Zobrist's primary position in Chicago. In return, the Cubs got pitcher Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan.

The MLB Hot Stove season has mostly been about pitching thus far, with Zobrist the first big position player off the board. He ranked No. 9 on our own Jeff Passan’s Ultimate Free-Agent Tracker. The belief in the industry is that Zobrist’s decision was holding up others in the outfield market. Insiders believe we could see more movement now on the other top outfielders in free agency, including Jason Hayward, Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes and Alex Gordon.

Zobrist has been one of the more curious cases of the winter thus far. He’s coming off a World Series win with the Kansas City Royals and has a reputation as one of the most versatile players in the game, able to play almost any infield or outfielder position. Teams looking for second basemen were interested, as were teams looking for outfielders. But Zobrist is also 34 and he was looking for a four-year contract, so there was reason for some teams to be hesitant.

What ensued was something of a bidding war that involved division rivals New York Mets and Washington Nationals, as well as the Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets were believed to the favorite most of the day Tuesday, until the Cubs jumped back into the conversation. Meanwhile, anonymous reports coming out of the Winter Meetings made it sound like Zobrist wanted to wrap up his deal before everyone in baseball scattered back home.

	Jeff Passan @JeffPassan
Ben Zobrist is exactly what Cubs need: on-base skills, low Ks, versatility. Four years is hefty for a 34-year-old, but $14M/year palatable. 4:45 PM - 8 Dec 2015

Zobrist figures to give Cubs a big boost, because frankly, he’d give anyone a big boost. The offensive numbers aren’t stunning — .265 batting average, 17 homers and 77 RBIs are his career averages per 162 games — but his versatility is his No. 1 trait. He lessens the impact of position-player injuries and gives managers flexibility. He’s also a dependable bat and regarded as a good clubhouse guy.

Fitting Zobrist within the Cubs' lineup won't be too hard. Maddon is a creative manager with a history of moving Zobrist around from their days together in Tampa Bay. In 2009, Zobrist's first of two All-Star appearances, Maddon had him play every position except pitcher and catcher. So while Zobrist can play second with Castro now on the movie, Zobrist can also jump into the outfield if the Cubs need that. Given that they still have Javier Baez as a possible second baseman, that's a feasible scenario too.