Michael Conforto, once one of the most promising outfielders in the National League, has agreed to a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs. It is a move that carries equal parts risk and intrigue. Conforto is not the player he was during his best Mets years, but he is far from finished.
The Cubs are betting on upside, patience, and a left-handed bat that could quietly reshape their bench. For a player who earned $17 million just one season ago, signing a minor league deal is a humbling reset. But in baseball, resets can become redemption stories faster than anyone expects.
Let’s take a closer look.
The deal at a glance
Conforto signed a minor league contract that includes an invitation to big league spring training camp. The deal was officially confirmed by manager Craig Counsell on Monday, February 23, 2026. Conforto will earn $2 million if his contract is selected for the active roster.
The signing was not heavily rumored before it happened. Teams like the White Sox and Astros had both expressed interest in Conforto, but the Cubs had not been publicly connected to him before the news broke. Cubs president Jed Hoyer moved quietly and efficiently to land a veteran left-handed bat.
Who is Michael Conforto?
Born on March 1, 1993, in Seattle, Washington, Conforto was selected by the New York Mets with the tenth overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft out of Oregon State University. He made his big league debut one year later, in July 2015, signaling an unusually fast and promising rise.
Over ten major league seasons, Conforto posted a career .245 batting average with a .785 OPS across stints with the Mets, Giants, and Dodgers. That résumé tells the story of a solid, versatile outfielder who was truly at his very best during the memorable stretch running from 2017 through 2020.
Fun fact: Conforto became the 1,000th player to appear in a game for the New York Mets when he debuted on July 24, 2015, a milestone he likely had no idea he was making at the time.
His prime years with the Mets
The New York years shaped Conforto into one of the more complete and feared outfielders in all of baseball.
Conforto earned his first All-Star selection in 2017, batting .279 with 27 home runs before a dislocated left shoulder cut his season short that August. He bounced back strong in 2018, leading the Mets with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs across 153 games, establishing himself as a true star.
His run from 2017 to 2020 was genuinely outstanding by any measure. Conforto posted a 128 wRC+ and hit .259/.358/.484 over his first six seasons in the majors. He was a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat on a competitive New York Mets team that fans truly loved watching.
The shoulder surgery that changed everything
After a disappointing 2021 season where he hit just .232, Conforto entered free agency and declined a qualifying offer. However, he suffered a right shoulder injury during an offseason workout in January 2022 that wiped out his entire 2022 season. It was a brutal turn for a player who had bet on himself to find a big payday despite a down year.
He returned in 2023 with the San Francisco Giants, posting 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 125 games. It was a respectable comeback, but Conforto never fully recaptured his pre-injury power. His two seasons in San Francisco showed a player hovering near league average rather than well above it.
The rough 2025 season with the Dodgers
Conforto signed a one-year, $17 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, moving to one of the most hitter-friendly environments in baseball. On paper, the fit looked ideal. In reality, the results were deeply discouraging, as he slashed just .199 with a .637 OPS across 138 games.
His struggles got so bad that the Dodgers left him off every postseason roster as they marched to the World Series title. In 2025, his 36 RBIs were a career low for a season with substantial playing time, and 12 HR tied his lowest total in a season of 100+ games.
Fun fact: When the Dodgers opened the 2025 season in Tokyo, Conforto actually hit a double against the Chicago Cubs at Tokyo Dome. Less than a year later, he would sign a minor league deal to join that very team he had just faced.
What the numbers actually say
Despite the ugly slash line, the underlying numbers told a more encouraging story. According to current Statcast data, his expected batting average was .233 and his expected slugging percentage was .410 in 2025, with an expected wOBA of .330, all better than his actual results.
Conforto ranked in the 82nd percentile in chase rate and 84th percentile in walk rate last season. His bat speed sat in the 77th percentile, barely changed from the prior year. A gap that large between expected and actual output signals bad luck more than real decline.
What the Cubs are getting
Manager Craig Counsell was straightforward about why Conforto made sense for Chicago. He said Conforto had a down year, but had been a productive player in this league for quite a while. Counsell pointed to his left-handed bat as a quality the Cubs lacked behind their set starting outfield trio.
The starting outfield of Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Seiya Suzuki is firmly set. Conforto joins Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick as non-roster invitees competing for bench spots. His left-handed bat gives him a natural edge in a group that otherwise skews heavily to the right.
Why this could work for both sides
For the Cubs, this is a smart, calculated buy-low acquisition. Chicago gets a former All-Star on a minor league contract with zero financial risk if things do not pan out. If Conforto bounces back to his 2024 level of production, the Cubs land real value at a fraction of the cost.
For Conforto, the motivation could not be any clearer. Dropping from seventeen million dollars to a minor league deal is a steep fall for any professional athlete. A productive spring training could restore his standing and prove that 2025 was an anomaly rather than a preview of permanent decline.
TL;DR
- Michael Conforto agreed to a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs on February 23, 2026.
- Reportedly, he would earn $2 million if his contract is selected (i.e., if he makes the MLB roster), though some outlets note terms were not officially disclosed.
- Conforto hit just .199 for the Dodgers in 2025 and was left off their postseason roster entirely.
- His Statcast expected stats were significantly better than his actual numbers last season.
- He was a 2017 All-Star with the Mets and posted a 128 wRC+ over his first six MLB seasons.
This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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