Cubs 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[Rcal10]

55 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

I get the sense we'll see Caissie/Alcantara traded in the offseason.  PCA and Happ are locks for next season and I think the Cubs will want to keep Seiya around, so my guess is the Cubs will sniff around for a corner OF after Tucker makes it clear he's going elsewhere.

Maybe Taylor Ward or Jo Adell?  They could also go dumpster diving for someone like Refsnyder if they want to take that approach.

Maybe Laureano? 

[Dfan25]

38 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Maybe Laureano? 

Laureano isn’t an option . Padres already picked the option up

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Laureano isn’t an option . Padres already picked the option up

My bad. Missed that. Thank you. 

[Backtobanks]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

My read is that the shopping list is:

- One big time SP.  Someone who would be our ace the day they're acquired.  Dylan Cease, Joe Ryan, Mackenzie Gore, etc.

- One lesser SP that the team thinks Tommy Hottovy can work his magic on.  Maybe that's Shota, maybe it's Michael King, maybe it's one of the less expensive asian imports

- Two or possibly even three low end closers.  Similar to how at the end of last year Craig could feel comfortable going to any of Palencia, Kittredge, or Keller on any given day, I suspect the plan is a closer committee to enter next season

- One right handed bat.  I personally really want this guy to play 1B/3B, but from the vibes I suspect the focus is on the bat itself, and where he can play is a secondary consideration

- A backup infielder.  If the RHH bat isn't a 3B, the team needs a backup infielder.  I'd set your sites pretty low, you can't expect someone good to volunteer to come in and sit behind our current infielders.  We're talking the same Jon Berti/Vidal Brujan types as last winter

- A small army of depth relievers.  Especially if they can get guys with options and stash them at Iowa

 

Cabrera, King, and Andujar would be pretty cheap financially.  Luis Urias could be our new Brujan/Berti.

Edited November 14, 2025 by Backtobanks

[Rcal10]

54 minutes ago, Backtobanks said:

Cabrera, King, and Andujar would be pretty cheap financially.  Luis Urias could be our new Brujan/Berti.

And, IMO, a sneaky solid off season, assuming we also add a few pen arms. Let’s say Fairbanks plus a solid lefty pen arm and since we are getting Cabrera let’s make a bigger deal and get one of their pen arms too. Cassie, Brown, Long and maybe another piece, depending on the pen arm we get back. 

[Geographyhater8888]

17 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

I get the sense we'll see Caissie/Alcantara traded in the offseason.  PCA and Happ are locks for next season and I think the Cubs will want to keep Seiya around, so my guess is the Cubs will sniff around for a corner OF after Tucker makes it clear he's going elsewhere.

 

Maybe Taylor Ward or Jo Adell?  They could also go dumpster diving for someone like Refsnyder if they want to take that approach.

Traded for a cost controlled starter? If they’re outbid for any of the top starting pitchers on the market, perhaps. One that’ll likely be a rental a 1-2 rental, unfortunately. I’m not thrilled with Adell who’d be more of a buffer for Cassie to avoid the third base disaster of the 25 first half than an actual replacement for Happ or whatever they project Cassie as and haven’t shown the ambition to invest what they didn’t spend on a free agent pitcher in a DH option like Alonso or Schwarber. Ward would be fine I suppose, and the front office is more than content with fine, 

Edited November 15, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[BKHoo]

We need a new top of the rotation starter and if we are serious about winning a WS. 
 

Period. 

Edited November 15, 2025 by BKHoo

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, BKHoo said:

We need a new top of the rotation starter and if we are serious about winning a WS. 
 

Period. 

I don’t think anyone here would argue that. And if Shota declines the QO, they need two starters. One TOR and another MOR. Need to come out of the off season with one of the top FA pitchers or a trade for someone like Ryan, Gore, Cabrera. And if Shota declines, maybe one via trade and one as a FA. Get two high end starters. 

[Bull]

20 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think anyone here would argue that. And if Shota declines the QO, they need two starters. One TOR and another MOR. Need to come out of the off season with one of the top FA pitchers or a trade for someone like Ryan, Gore, Cabrera. And if Shota declines, maybe one via trade and one as a FA. Get two high end starters. 

Would you be satisfied with 

Alcantara/Rasmussen (or another Florida pitcher via trade)

Horton

Woodruff

Boyd

Taillon (with Steele back in May)

going into next year?

What would it take to get Rasmussen?

That's a lot of injury risk in one rotation, but its a 6 legit guys with a ton of upside.

 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Bull said:

Would you be satisfied with 

Alcantara/Rasmussen (or another Florida pitcher via trade)

Horton

Woodruff

Boyd

Taillon (with Steele back in May)

going into next year?

What would it take to get Rasmussen?

That's a lot of injury risk in one rotation, but its a 6 legit guys with a ton of upside.

 

Sure. A lot of potential. I would rather it be Cabrera, over Alcantara. But those guys work fine. As you said, some injury concerns, but definitely left up side guys. 

[Geographyhater8888]

12 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think anyone here would argue that. And if Shota declines the QO, they need two starters. One TOR and another MOR. Need to come out of the off season with one of the top FA pitchers or a trade for someone like Ryan, Gore, Cabrera. And if Shota declines, maybe one via trade and one as a FA. Get two high end starters. 

I don’t mind it but where is the money leftover that would’ve been paid to Dylan Cease being invested? Will they sign Ryan/Gore/Cabrera to an extension? 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

I don’t mind it but where is the money leftover that would’ve been paid to Dylan Cease being invested? Will they sign Ryan/Gore/Cabrera to an extension? 

I think that depending on who they get via a trade for a pitcher, the extra money goes towards the pen. For the sake of this conversation let’s say they get Woodruff and trade for Cabrera. Then they sign Andujar as a bench bat. They should still have a good chunk of money left. Maybe they extend PCA. Still there will be money. So the pen can be more than dumpster dive pitchers. Maybe Fairbanks and Keller. Plus get a lefty or two. And/or, as you mentioned, maybe they trade for one of those pitchers and extend them too. I just hope they do spend more than last off season. I am not sure they will, but I certainly hope they do. And if they do, there are several paths to being a very good team next season. 

[Geographyhater8888]

32 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I think that depending on who they get via a trade for a pitcher, the extra money goes towards the pen. For the sake of this conversation let’s say they get Woodruff and trade for Cabrera. Then they sign Andujar as a bench bat. They should still have a good chunk of money left. Maybe they extend PCA. Still there will be money. So the pen can be more than dumpster dive pitchers. Maybe Fairbanks and Keller. Plus get a lefty or two. And/or, as you mentioned, maybe they trade for one of those pitchers and extend them too. I just hope they do spend more than last off season. I am not sure they will, but I certainly hope they do. And if they do, there are several paths to being a very good team next season. 

They’ll have a potential need in the outfield/DH if Cassie is part of any trade package. It’d be odd carrying Horton Boyd Cabrera Taillon Woodruff and Steele+Rae and Assad. I’d propose Alonso as a DH and RH platoon option for Busch but we know how averse Jed and co are to handing out contracts over $100 million. Adell doesn’t blow me away either having a lineup with 2 sub 300 OBP guys.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

They’ll have a potential need in the outfield/DH if Cassie is part of any trade package. It’d be odd carrying Horton Boyd Cabrera Taillon Woodruff and Steele+Rae and Assad. I’d propose Alonso as a DH and RH platoon option for Busch but we know how averse Jed and co are to handing out contracts over $100 million. Adell doesn’t blow me away either having a lineup with 2 sub 300 OBP guys.

With the way pitchers get hurt or miss starts, I don’t think 6 starters is that odd. Plus, who knows what Steele gives them. Rea would be a multi inning swing starter. Assad might be used in a trade. If Cassie was in a trade they could go Ballesteros as the DH and Alcantara as the 4th outfielder. That would leave them needing a right handed bat who can play corner infield (Andujar or Bohm are examples) and a back up middle infielder. Maybe a left handed or switch hitting bat. I think we all know they aren’t going big on a bat. I don’t disagree with you on Alonso, but they won’t do that. 

[Bertz]

Last year Colin Rea was our either 6th or 7th starter entering spring training (Assad got hurt early so a bit hard to say if Rea was ahead or behind him on paper) and made 27 starts.

The Cubs need to have probably 7 or 8 guys you'd feel comfortable starting a game on April 1st, and then Steele and Wiggins as later season depth on top of that.

[Geographyhater8888]

27 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

With the way pitchers get hurt or miss starts, I don’t think 6 starters is that odd. Plus, who knows what Steele gives them. Rea would be a multi inning swing starter. Assad might be used in a trade. If Cassie was in a trade they could go Ballesteros as the DH and Alcantara as the 4th outfielder. That would leave them needing a right handed bat who can play corner infield (Andujar or Bohm are examples) and a back up middle infielder. Maybe a left handed or switch hitting bat. I think we all know they aren’t going big on a bat. I don’t disagree with you on Alonso, but they won’t do that. 

If they flip Cassie I’ll trust that they made the right call. Talent evaluation isn’t the issue with the front office. Reason having Woodruff would be odd is more so selling him the idea of joining a rotation where he’ll be fighting for rotation spots with 5 viable starters when Steele returns and he’ll command high AAV. He’ll likely win a spot if healthy though. For Cub standards I won’t complain.

Edited November 16, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

33 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

If they flip Cassie I’ll trust that they made the right call. Talent evaluation isn’t the issue with the front office. Reason having Woodruff would be odd is more so selling him the idea of joining a rotation where he’ll be fighting for rotation spots with 5 viable starters when Steele returns and he’ll command high AAV. He’ll likely win a spot if healthy though. For Cub standards I won’t complain.

Well if Woodruff would have issues joining the team because they might have 6 pitchers, wouldn’t that go for the others too? If they trade for a pitcher and you count Steele that gives them 5. So if Woodruff wouldn’t sign here for that reason, who would? I, personally, do not think it is a problem. Even absolute best case scenerio(which we know will not happen) with 6 starters you can always skip a start by someone each time through. Maybe Horton or Boyd go to the pen one time through the rotation. Maybe Woodruff gets skipped for load management. Maybe Steele gets skipped for the same reason. Maybe Taillon is traded at the deadline. So many ways to have it work, and that is assuming all are healthy. As Bertz pointed out, you need 7 or 8 who you are comfortable starting. Injuries happen. And, with Woodruff, in particular, he might like the idea of a team being able to give him time off. Might keep him healthy all year. 

[Rcal10]

47 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Last year Colin Rea was our either 6th or 7th starter entering spring training (Assad got hurt early so a bit hard to say if Rea was ahead or behind him on paper) and made 27 starts.

The Cubs need to have probably 7 or 8 guys you'd feel comfortable starting a game on April 1st, and then Steele and Wiggins as later season depth on top of that.

So if Shota declines the option and the Cubs trade for a pitcher and sign one that gives them 5. Rea would be 6. Then between Wicks, Assad and Brown, assuming one is traded as a piece to get a solid TOR starter, that gives you 2 more. This is pretty much what I believe the rotation should look like. 5 clear starters on April 1st and Steele coming sometime in May. Maybe Wiggins after the ASB. There will be injuries. 

[Geographyhater8888]

7 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Well if Woodruff would have issues joining the team because they might have 6 pitchers, wouldn’t that go for the others too? If they trade for a pitcher and you count Steele that gives them 5. So if Woodruff wouldn’t sign here for that reason, who would? I, personally, do not think it is a problem. Even absolute best case scenerio(which we know will not happen) with 6 starters you can always skip a start by someone each time through. Maybe Horton or Boyd go to the pen one time through the rotation. Maybe Woodruff gets skipped for load management. Maybe Steele gets skipped for the same reason. Maybe Taillon is traded at the deadline. So many ways to have it work, and that is assuming all are healthy. As Bertz pointed out, you need 7 or 8 who you are comfortable starting. Injuries happen. And, with Woodruff, in particular, he might like the idea of a team being able to give him time off. Might keep him healthy all year. 

There’s many teams that aren’t clogged with number 3-4 starters and he’d have zero competition with his pedigree. His options aren’t constrained like a Collin Rae. I guess it all depends on the market for him. I’m not averse to the idea but I’d be extremely surprised if it happens.

[Rcal10]

19 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

There’s many teams that aren’t clogged with number 3-4 starters and he’d have zero competition with his pedigree. His options aren’t constrained like a Collin Rae. I guess it all depends on the market for him. I’m not averse to the idea but I’d be extremely surprised if it happens.

Timing also plays a part in this. If they sign a FA first he is 1 of 4 to start the season. So he would assume to be a sure rotation piece. TBH, I don’t think the FA starter they do sign will worry about completion. IMO that person will have a spot regardless if they then trade for one and Steele comes back. Even Woodruff. If he is healthy he is pitching in the rotation. Period. 

[Bertz]

 

 

[Bertz]

Doesn't really affect the Cubs. but always good to get the market moving.  5 years for a tubby first baseman is also a positive signal that this isn't going to be bad players' market.

 

[Geographyhater8888]

19 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

There’s many teams that aren’t clogged with number 3-4 starters and he’d have zero competition with his pedigree. His options aren’t constrained like a Collin Rae. I guess it all depends on the market for him. I’m not averse to the idea but I’d be extremely surprised if it happens.

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I’m wondering what his market will be. It’ll be more than the $20 million player option he turned down.

[Rcal10]

20 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

There’s many teams that aren’t clogged with number 3-4 starters and he’d have zero competition with his pedigree. His options aren’t constrained like a Collin Rae. I guess it all depends on the market for him. I’m not averse to the idea but I’d be extremely surprised if it happens.

 

35 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I’m wondering what his market will be. It’ll be more than the $20 million player option he turned down.

😄 my guess is you meant to respond to a different post. Either that or you liked your fist comment so much you decided to double down and agree with yourself. 

[Geographyhater8888]

32 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

 

😄 my guess is you meant to respond to a different post. Either that or you liked your fist comment so much you decided to double down and agree with yourself. 

My name definitely checks out with my bad navigational skills there. That was meant for you, yes.

Edited November 17, 2025 by Geographyhater8888