Winter Meetings Thread

[Transmogrified Tiger]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6870545/2025/12/07/cubs-winter-meetings-tatsuya-imai-michael-king/

 

Quote

While the Cubs have not yet put the full-court press on Michael King, their interest is real. As teams such as the Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox fill out their rotations, the Cubs could be playing it coy, hoping they have fewer suitors to bid against.

Quote

At the same time, the Cubs are also expected to be involved in the process as Tatsuya Imai evaluates his options and maps out the next stage of his life. He’s not necessarily determined to relocate to the West Coast, nor is he averse to playing in New York or Philadelphia. At the age of 27, he’s open-minded and ready to make the leap.

 

[ToolDRT]

Hoping for Imani, bracing for Gallen. 

[Rcal10]

So far we have heard the Cubs are interested in E. Suarez, Gallen, Bregman, King, Imai, R Suarez, Fairbanks and of course Cease. I would bet we will hear Bichette soon. What we won’t hear is Tucker. Probably not Schwarber, Alonso or Bellinger, either. However, I would be surprised if they came away with any of these guys. In some cases I expect we will find out they never even offered them a contract. They will probably end up with something like Goldy, Refsynder, Giolito and maybe Weaver. 

Edited December 7, 2025 by Rcal10

[Bertz]

Gun to my head the team ends up with King.  I feel like that's had the most smoke from the most corners this winter.

What I'm most curious about is what type of bat we're looking at if the team signs one of these FAs in the $20-25M range.

- Is the idea that, even if we don't view them that way, someone like King or Gallen is "splashy" enough that they feel comfortable just doing a Rob Refsnyder type?

- Is there a little more payroll available than we've been conditioned to think, and they can do a mid tier bat even on top of a $20M+ SP and the relief support they need?

- Is there a low salary trade target they're eying?

- Is there a plan to move some salary out?  E.g. Taillon out, Gallen + Gore + Okamoto in

[Rcal10]

22 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Gun to my head the team ends up with King.  I feel like that's had the most smoke from the most corners this winter.

What I'm most curious about is what type of bat we're looking at if the team signs one of these FAs in the $20-25M range.

- Is the idea that, even if we don't view them that way, someone like King or Gallen is "splashy" enough that they feel comfortable just doing a Rob Refsnyder type?

- Is there a little more payroll available than we've been conditioned to think, and they can do a mid tier bat even on top of a $20M+ SP and the relief support they need?

- Is there a low salary trade target they're eying?

- Is there a plan to move some salary out?  E.g. Taillon out, Gallen + Gore + Okamoto in

Love reading your takes. Always positive. Always also realistic. Problem is seldom does the FO think like you. They absolutely should spend more money and even go over the dust LT line. They can easily reset next year. Problem is they won’t. 
To your point regarding them possibly eyeing a low salary trade target. I would much rather it be Cabrera or someone else with 3 years or more of control left, instead of Ryan or Gore. With a pending lockout in 27, I would rather be sure they have a guy for 28 too. 

[KCCub]

Do we expect King’s market to move before Imai signs? If so and you’re the Cubs, do you risk waiting and missing on King if Imai’s group indicates the Cubs have a shot?

[Jason Ross]

10 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Love reading your takes. Always positive. Always also realistic. Problem is seldom does the FO think like you. They absolutely should spend more money and even go over the dust LT line. They can easily reset next year. Problem is they won’t. 
To your point regarding them possibly eyeing a low salary trade target. I would much rather it be Cabrera or someone else with 3 years or more of control left, instead of Ryan or Gore. With a pending lockout in 27, I would rather be sure they have a guy for 28 too. 

Michael King, though, is the Cubs' type. He's a SP with upside (I.E, see 2023-2024) who has all of their pitch indicators they like, who won't require a 6+ year deal. They signed Jameson Taillon four years and $68m in 2022. If we use an inflation calculator, that's $75m in today's money. King isn't looking at much more. 

I don't think you have to be overly optimistic to think that Michael King is very doable. That's the Cubs' M.O.

[Rcal10]

32 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Michael King, though, is the Cubs' type. He's a SP with upside (I.E, see 2023-2024) who has all of their pitch indicators they like, who won't require a 6+ year deal. They signed Jameson Taillon four years and $68m in 2022. If we use an inflation calculator, that's $75m in today's money. King isn't looking at much more. 

I don't think you have to be overly optimistic to think that Michael King is very doable. That's the Cubs' M.O.

Calling Bertz positive was not an insult. I would much rather read positive takes. Especially ones that are realistic. I never suggested he was unreasonably over optimistic. Yes, King makes a lot of sense. And he fits nicely. Now, Cubs need to make it happen. 

[CubinNY]

I would like it very much if they signed King and traded for Alcantara. I know Miami is under pressure to field a team and spend, so that’s probably a long shot. 
 

I also want them to get some more slugging. I do not want Suarez and I think the Cubs are not likely to do that. 

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, KCCub said:

Do we expect King’s market to move before Imai signs? If so and you’re the Cubs, do you risk waiting and missing on King if Imai’s group indicates the Cubs have a shot?

I was reading Bob Nightengale's (I know I know!) winter meetings preview and he quoted a GM who said he expects it to be a pretty slow meetings.  He said he expected a ton of rumors and smoke but most of the actual moves to come in the two weeks after.

I wonder if Imai is a bottleneck on the pitching. half of things for exactly the reason you mention.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I would be pretty surprised if a bunch of guys held out til January just because of Imai, this isn't a Sasaki or a Yamamoto situation.

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I would be pretty surprised if a bunch of guys held out til January just because of Imai, this isn't a Sasaki or a Yamamoto situation.

The agent still thought a bunch would happen before Christmas, here's the quote

Quote

So, be prepared for plenty of talk, a lot of rumors, and an abundance of speculation, but the flurry of deals and signings are expected to happen in the following two weeks before the Christmas holidays.

Although for this to work, and Imai to be the why, he has to sign pretty much as soon as he finishes his team visits.

[chibears55]

Winter Meetings...

4 days of GMs and Agents getting drunk at the bar, and baseball writers trying to scoop up rumors to write about.

😅😅😅

 

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I wish they had interest in bringing Schwarber back.

[mk49]

1 hour ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I wish they had interest in bringing Schwarber back.

I agree.  Getting Schwarber makes more sense than Bregman and Suarez.  We can keep Shaw at the 3B and Seiya at the RF.  Only thing is Mo and Owen won't play much.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

14 minutes ago, mk49 said:

I agree.  Getting Schwarber makes more sense than Bregman and Suarez.  We can keep Shaw at the 3B and Seiya at the RF.  Only thing is Mo and Owen won't play much.

Mo can still get seasoning at C in AAA. Caissie probably needs to be traded in this scenario, he can't spend another season in Iowa.

[Stratos]

Cubs are going to target positions they're interested in improving, like SP, relief, and 3B, and Jed will almost certainly kick the tires on all the quality FA at those positions.  The Cubs could be "reported" to have "interest" in all of them because they are.  Otherwise Jed isn't doing his job.

We know from previous seasons that Jed will likely settle on the player whose contract seems the best value over the length of the deal, and therefore improves the team the most over that time.

[Stratos]

8 hours ago, Bertz said:

Gun to my head the team ends up with King.  I feel like that's had the most smoke from the most corners this winter.

What I'm most curious about is what type of bat we're looking at if the team signs one of these FAs in the $20-25M range.

- Is the idea that, even if we don't view them that way, someone like King or Gallen is "splashy" enough that they feel comfortable just doing a Rob Refsnyder type?

- Is there a little more payroll available than we've been conditioned to think, and they can do a mid tier bat even on top of a $20M+ SP and the relief support they need?

- Is there a low salary trade target they're eying?

- Is there a plan to move some salary out?  E.g. Taillon out, Gallen + Gore + Okamoto in

I think the whole offseason and budget is a puzzle for the FO.  How do they add the maximum amount of WAR per the budget they're given?  For a few years now their tactic has been to sign the contracts that appear to have the best bang for the buck and I think that will continue.  Swanson, Suzuki, Imanaga, Boyd were good value compared to other FA's and let them put the money saved towards other players (sometimes that extra money saved was spent poorly).

I'm not sure whether they're looking at signing both a quality SP and quality bat, or just one.  I assume they're checking in on the price for everyone and will choose the players they think will add the most projected WAR to the team for the price over the length of the deal.  I doubt the budget is over the LT (or if it is, isn't by much)

Unfortunately it's impossible for us fans to predict what any given player is going to end up with in FA this offseason or how the Cubs value them so we have no idea who the Cubs will land.  The best value contract typically isn't the best player available, which is why many fans are usually disappointed.  But nobody can complain about what we've gotten out of Swanson, Seiya, Imanaga, Boyd.

 

 

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, mk49 said:

I agree.  Getting Schwarber makes more sense than Bregman and Suarez.  We can keep Shaw at the 3B and Seiya at the RF.  Only thing is Mo and Owen won't play much.

FG has projections of 108 wRC+ for Mo next year, 103 for Caissie, 130 for Schwarber.  Let's say with our in-house options we get about 108 wRC+ from DH next year, which is about average for the DH position.  That equals about 1.0 WAR (which would be a bit better than what we got out of DH in 2025 due to slumping Suzuki and injured Tucker).  Mo's offensive value goes down a bit due to his subpar baserunning too.  Schwarber would (projected) add about 1.5 to 2 WAR.

Meanwhile, Shaw is projected for 2.9 WAR, Bregman 4.0 WAR, and Suarez 2.6.  Bregman is only projected 1.1 WAR better than Shaw.  However, Bregman is an above-average fielder while Schwarber is terrible, and in theory Bregman or Shaw could also DH (especially against LHP) and Bregman is projected to hit better (120 wRC+) than Mo/Cassie, while Shaw (107 wRC+ plus good speed) is projected to hit about the same as Mo.

Then we also have to factor the dollar cost of each option.  A significant upgrade at SP probably nabs us an extra 2.0 WAR, maybe a bit more.

In conclusion, it's a complex so who the heck knows haha.

[CubinNY]

11 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Winter Meetings...

4 days of GMs and Agents getting drunk at the bar, and baseball writers trying to scoop up rumors to write about.

😅😅😅

 

 

Baseball writers are also getting drunk at the bar. 

[Jason Ross]

Former Cub, Michael Soroka signs with Arizona on 1-year,. 

[Bull]

10 hours ago, mk49 said:

I agree.  Getting Schwarber makes more sense than Bregman and Suarez.  We can keep Shaw at the 3B and Seiya at the RF.  Only thing is Mo and Owen won't play much.

Disagree. DH is probably the worst place to add value to this team.

Assuming we can only have one, my priority is 

1. TOR starting pitcher

2. Middle of the order 3B

3. Middle of the order OF

4. Elite closer PLUS lefty mashing 1B platoon

5. MOR starting pitcher PLUS left mashing 1B platoon PLUS elite setup guy or solid closer.

6. middle of the order DH. 

and I love Kyle Schwarber, he's just not a fit for this team. 

Edited December 8, 2025 by Bull

[Derwood]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

Baseball writers are also getting drunk at the bar. 

And drunk-tweeting

[KCCub]

 

 

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, KCCub said:

 

 

I thought Levine's article felt more speculative and not like he was reporting something substantial, so my takeaway here is much more focused on the Cerami/Okamoto bit.