Brewers: This New Rumor About The Chicago Cubs Should Terrify Brewers Fans

The Winter Meetings are a time for rumors to fly and moves to be made. While the Brewers have been their usual quiet selves, their neighbors to the south have not been and this latest rumor is terrifying news.

For the past few years, the Brewers have clearly been the better team than the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs have embarked on a rebuild while the Brewers went on to make four consecutive postseason appearances. But the Brewers took a step back in 2022 and heading into 2023, the Cubs are looking to take a step forward.

The Cubs are in a big market and have a lot of money they can spend, so they can go through shorter down periods by signing big free agents that the Brewers simply cannot afford.

Throughout the offseason, the Cubs have been rumored to be targeting an elite shortstop in free agency. That doesn't come as any particular surprise given their need at the position and the shortstops on the market. But this latest report takes it a step further.

The latest rumors out of the Winter Meetings have the Cubs looking to sign two elite shortstops this offseason, a plan that should terrify the Brewers.

According to MLB's Mark Feinsand, the Cubs want to sign not one, but two of the three remaining elite shortstops on the free agent market.

The Cubs are already frustrating to face for the Brewers. It's been a nice reprieve in recent years with the Cubs being down and their fanbase being a little down as well, not taking over American Family Field as bad as they used to. But signing both Dansby Swanson and Xander Bogaerts would change that.

Cubs fans would be re-energized to take over American Family Field, but more importantly the Cubs will be a more difficult team to beat on the field. They'd make a legitimate run at the Brewers in the division standings and could possibly overtake them. Sure they might lose Willson Contreras, but if they replace him with both Bogaerts and Swanson, they'll have made a massive improvement to their club.

Meanwhile, what are the Brewers doing to improve their roster and ensure the Cubs don't catch them in the standings? So far they've traded away their two best hitters from last season and acquired a bounce-back DH candidate, a backup infielder, and three pitching depth options.

Granted, it's still early in the offseason and there are plenty more moves to be made, so we can't judge the Brewers offseason yet, but they need to make some additions before we get to spring training. Also, it's important to note that the Cubs haven't actually made these signings just yet. It's a scenario that Feinsand reports could happen and they could look to do, but it depends on if Bogaerts is willing to move off shortstop. The Cubs could sign both, they could only sign one, or best case scenario, they don't sign any of the elite shortstops.

Still, the thought of the Cubs signing two of the three remaining elite shortstops on the market is a terrifying thought for Brewers fans. If the Cubs do pull it off, the Brewers are going to have to respond and make a move that will significantly improve their roster.