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  • Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

    The latest Chicago Cubs free agent and trade rumors, along with notes and tidbits about the team.
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    Brock Beauchamp
    Jon Morosi has reported the Yankees and Marcus Stroman have had "productive conversations", leading to him speculating the elder New York club is the most likely to sign the 32-year-old righty.
    Stroman opted out of his contract with the Cubs at the conclusion of the 2023 season, hoping to build upon the $21 million he was set to earn in Chicago in 2024. With the Cubs agreeing to terms with Shota Imanaga on Tuesday, their immediate need for help at the top (or mid, depending how you view Imanaga) has lessened but there are still question marks surrounding the North Siders' rotation, which would be helped enormously with the return of Stroman.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Shota Imanaga's signing deadline is a little over 48 hours away (5pm Eastern, January 11th) and teams are dropping out of the bidding, according to Jon Heyman.
    Imanaga, 30 years old, has been rumored to receive upwards of $100 million but teams have balked at that price point, possibly due to physical concerns.
    According to Heyman, the Cubs and Red Sox are still in play and possibly the leaders to sign the veteran left-hander.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Shota Imanaga remains unsigned but his posting deadline now looms. The Japanese lefty needs to sign by 5pm Eastern Time on Thursday, January 11th. The Cubs have been linked to Imanaga in several reports, along with the San Francisco Giants.
    What is causing the delay? While it's somewhat unclear, there have been rumblings that teams are wary of the 30 year old's medicals, possibly his shoulder. Once assumed to be a near-lock for a $100 million deal, with the deadline approaching and no solid rumors linking him to specific teams, how much Imanaga will sign for and where is up in the air.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Patrick Mooney of The Athletic wrote a comprehensive round-up of Cubs rumors and mentioned several note-worthy things:
    1. The Cubs are expected to be in on Japanese starting pitcher Shota Imanaga once his (higher-dollar) countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto selects a team. Imanaga, 30 years old, will come at a much lower AAV and years than Yamamoto.
    2. Christopher Morel is trade bait but the Cubs appear to be wary of trading him for a pure rental player.
    3. The Cubs realize they need a third baseman but don't appear closely linked to any specific players at this point in time.
    If you'd like to read the entire rundown and many bullet points I did not list, click the link above.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Jon Heyman of the New York post reported that Cody Bellinger and his agent, Scott Boras, are asking for a contract north of $200 million.
    Bellinger reportedly liked his time in the friendly confines and is interested in returning to the Cubs provided they meet his terms. Bellinger had an excellent bounce back season in 2023, posting a 133 OPS+ and 4.4 rWAR. The center fielder struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness following his 2019 MVP season with the Dodgers but despite how long he has been in the league and the ups and downs of his career, 2024 will be his age-28 season.
    Brock Beauchamp
    According to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in talks to acquire the Tampa Bay Rays' oft-injured star pitcher, Tyler Glasnow. The Cubs have been linked off and on to Glasnow in several reports over the past month.
    The Dodgers recently signed Shohei Ohtani to a mega-deal but he will be unavailable to pitch in 2024. With Julio Urias facing potential legal trouble, the Dodgers need starting pitching help on a level they haven't seen in years. Los Angeles also has the prospect capital to be a thorn in the Cubs' side as they pursue some of the same pitchers in both the free agent and trade markets.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com wrote that the Cubs are one of the interested parties in acquiring first baseman and outfielder Josh Naylor. Naylor, 26 years old, is arbitration-eligible and will not become a free agent until after the 2025 season.
    Naylor is a potent left-handed bat, which fits the Cubs' needs for the lineup well after the departure of free agent Cody Bellinger. Naylor posted a 133 OPS+ during the 2023 season and has a career 111 mark.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweeted today that the free-agent dual-way player, Shohei Ohtani, may decide which team is awarded his services today.
    The general sentiment around baseball is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are the front-runners for the free agent. In recent weeks, he has known to have met with the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants as well. The Angels still appear to be in play, though it's unclear what they could do to convince Ohtani to return, seeing as they had Ohtani for several years - along with Mike Trout - and failed to make the postseason even once.
    It is basically unknown where the Cubs stand in this situation. Jed Hoyer disputed earlier reports from Bob Nightengale that the northsiders were shifting focus away from Ohtani but little is known beyond that.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    It has been widely rumored the Cubs would be willing to part with the young (and largely positionless) Christopher Morel this offseason and when it comes to the Cubs' potential acquisition of oft-injured starter Tyler Glasnow, Morel's name has been mentioned.
    It is expected that Tampa Bay will move Glasnow before the season starts; with one year remaining of team control, trading a starting pitcher is a textbook Rays-ian move. Not only that but the right-hander's $25 million salary in 2024 puts a large dent in the always-frugal Rays payroll planning.
    Morel, 25 years old, has played all non-pitcher/catcher positions on the diamond for the Cubs over the past two seasons. He has a solid 110 OPS+ over 854 plate appearances but seemingly does not factor into the Cubs' long term plans at any position.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    The closely-guarded secret that is Shohei Ohtani contract negotiations are taking a turn against the Cubs, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
    Recently, we've seen a spate of teams shift focus away from Ohtani. With the Mets, Red Sox, and others moving away from Ohtani, it felt the Cubs were part of a dwindling set of serious competitors for the two-way player's services. Now it appears, for unknown reasons, the Cubs may need to do the same.
    Who does that leave in the mix? We haven't heard anything at all from the Yankees but there are rumors swirling around the Giants and Blue Jays; Ohtani has reportedly met with both over the past several days.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Jeff Passan of ESPN reported today that the Mets, Rangers, and Red Sox are shifting their focus away from free agent Shohei Ohtani. The Rangers, recent big-spenders in free agency, could be in a state of flux with reports being released they could be the next victim of the Bally Sports bankruptcy.
    This follows reports that the Mariners are also unlikely to sign the free agent two-way player.
    As the field narrows, this is good for the Cubs and Cubs fans. Given the Padres' recent financial troubles and the unfortunate death of primary stakeholder Peter Seidler, they feel like an unlikely destination for Ohtani.
    By most accounts, that whittles Ohtani's potential suitors to four teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (widely believed to be the favorites), the San Francisco Giants, the New York Yankees, and the Chicago Cubs.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Jon Morosi has reported the Cubs and Reds are interested in starting pitchers Shane Bieber and Tyler Glasnow. Both pitchers have one year remaining before free agency.
    While both starters have persistent injury concerns, Bieber dropped off in 2023 in a way that Glasgow did not. Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, has gone from striking out over 14 batters per nine that year to only 7.5 batters per nine in 2023.
    Glasnow, while more consistent in performance, has suffered endless setbacks during his career. In 2023, he made a career-best 21 starts. His previous high was just 14 starts in 2021.
    Glasnow will earn $25 million in 2024 while Bieber has yet to go through arbitration but is expected to make around $12 million.
     
    Rex Buckingham
    Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Cardinals are nearing the finalization of a deal to bring free agent starting pitcher Sonny Gray to St Louis.
    The Cardinals finished in fifth place last season in large part because their rotation (and pitching staff in general) imploded. They have pursued starters aggressively early in the offseason, picking up Kyle Gibson before Thanksgiving and now it appears they're going to add Gray to the mix.
    Gray, 34 years old, had what is probably the best season of his career in 2023, finishing second in the Cy Young Award while pitching for the Twins.
    UPDATE: Sonny Gray has agreed to a three year, $75 million deal with St Louis.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    Daniel Kramer of MLB.com is reporting that the Mariners are unlikely to pursue free agent Shohei Ohtani this winter. The Mariners were considered players for Ohtani as we approached the offseason.
    One fewer team in the mix is good news for the Cubs, who are expected to be aggressive pursuing the two-way player this offseason. Additionally, rumors are circling that Ohtani plans to make a decision early in the offseason, perhaps even before the Winter Meetings in early December.
    The major players in the race for Ohtani are the usual suspects: Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and Cubs. Given the sky-high asking price Ohtani will demand, two-thirds of baseball teams were out of the running before it began.
    Stay tuned, we'll cover any and all Ohtani news as it happens.
    Brock Beauchamp
    Now that non-tender day has come and gone, the free agent list is as robust as it will be all winter.
    The Cubs have many, long-reaching choices in front of them. With the departure of Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman in free agency, the team is considerably worse now than it was on the final day of the season.
    Unfortunately, the positional player market is the thinnest we've seen in years. But the pitching free agent class it quite deep, if not particularly great at the ace level.
    Matthew Trueblood
    Jesse Rogers dropped an article this morning loaded with a lot of juicy rumors, including a repeated, seemingly thematic return to Shohei Ohtani as the focal point of the Cubs' offseason.
    That's awfully juicy, in itself, but Rogers also mentions that the Cubs are much less likely to retain Cody Bellinger than to sign Ohtani. That sentence, with the embedded implication that they have some measurable, significant chance to sign Ohtani at all, is exciting, but it's also newsworthy for the implication that Bellinger and Scott Boras are more likely to find their payday elsewhere--an idea on which Rogers then expands quite a bit.
    Already, there's more smoke than I might have expected there to be around the Cubs and Ohtani. That doesn't mean we should sound the fire alarms yet. No one is saying they're the favorites for him. It's just becoming clear how much they will try, and that their offseason could very well turn on their pursuit of him.
    Other notes in here, by the way, address Pete Alonso's potential availability (with Christopher Morel as a centerpiece going the other way; that seems improbable to me, but it's compelling) and the notion of a Cubs-Brewers trade involving Corbin Burnes (whoa). It's a fun little digest of rumors for a Thursday morning.
    Photo credit: © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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