Cubs Week In Review: Kyle Tucker Debacle, a Pair of New Veteran Arms, And More Punctuate Chaotic Week

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When it comes to spending money, the Ricketts family is infamous for, you know, not. Weeks like this don't make it any easier to cope with the implications of that, even if they also didn't get any further from a championship.

Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-Imagn Images

By bringing in the hard-hitting Kyle Tucker and buttressing the support beams of their roster, the Cubs have become the favorite to win the National League Central division in 2025. With the Cubs and Tucker failing to reach a salary agreement for 2025, the impetus is on the North Siders to make their one year with this superstar worthwhile. I'm someone who tries to concede that folks in higher positions of power than me know what they're doing, but much like Wallace Shawn in "The Princess Bride", I am not a great fool, and I know that this arbitration process the Cubs are now entangled in is not a good look for the organization.

Meanwhile, the team made a few more concrete roster moves this week. Two right-handed pitchers joined the organization, in Texas Rangers reliever Matt Festa and former Brewer (and former Cub, for that matter) Colin Rea. Watching Rea pitch at American Family Field was my third-favorite thing to do there, behind indulging in their magnificent food options and seeing Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins shred on the song "Disarm." Both moves materially but incrementally improved Chicago's pitching depth; neither is the transformative finishing piece of a championship-caliber pitching staff for which fans have been waiting.

Whatever term of endearment you had for Miles Mastrobuoni, you may want to use it now in memoriam, as the Cubs designated the infielder for assignment. Playing behind both Christopher Morel and (subsequently) Isaac Paredes at third base and finding sporadic chances around the diamond, Mastrobuoni was not known for much else but his electric smile while a member of the Cubbies, though he did answer the call defensively at the hot corner when called upon. 

In so many different ways, from frugal decision-making to flat-out disappointment, this was a pretty standard week from the perspective of the Cubs' faithful. While the results are expected, it doesn't mean the organization and all those involved shouldn't demand more of itself. They still have plenty of paths to finishing the winter with a bang, but they have to get the next couple of weeks right.

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