Winter Meetings Thread

[Bertz]

FWIW Mark Feinsand does not have us out on King.  This is from this AM

Quote

Michael King appears to be the most likely to sign next, with suitors including the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Cubs and Mets. The belief is that King will sign a deal for four years, while the other top starters – namely Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai and Ranger Suárez – are looking for at least five years.

 

[chibears55]

36 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

We aren't talking about this year, champ.

Same point Champ....lol

[Cuzi]

1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

Same point Champ....lol

If your point is that in the 2024-25 offseason he just signed a 5 year extension and in fact wasn't in the last year of his contract, then your point is a figment of your imagination.

[chibears55]

7 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

If your point is that in the 2024-25 offseason he just signed a 5 year extension and in fact wasn't in the last year of his contract, then your point is a figment of your imagination.

Your response was to Bertz about Bregman this offseason, and saying he's trying to save his job.   My response to you was just that he doesn't need to try and save his job because he just signed an extension and is safe 

[Cuzi]

37 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Your response was to Bertz about Bregman this offseason, and saying he's trying to save his job.

I've already explained you are wrong about this. You assumed I was talking about this season when clearly I was not.

Alex Bregman was also a FA last year.

No one in their right mind should be thinking I was talking about Hoyer making a move this offseason to save his job for 2027, because that was obviously last year when he blinked at giving Bregman an opt out after year 1 and he ended up signing with the Red Sox who deferred half of his salary to 2035.

Edited December 16, 2025 by Cuzi

[mul21]

This feels like a situation where it's an if not A then B and after that decision is made, we get to C1 and C2 dependent on which of those moves happen.  A is signing Imai and if that doesn't happen, they pivot to B, signing Bregman.  Depending on which of those happens, they either trade for a bat, stand pat there and sign a higher end reliever (both of these if they sign Imai), or trade for a front of the rotation type (if they get Bregman).

[Cuzi]

Just now, mul21 said:

This feels like a situation where it's an if not A then B and after that decision is made, we get to C1 and C2 dependent on which of those moves happen.  A is signing Imai and if that doesn't happen, they pivot to B, signing Bregman.  Depending on which of those happens, they either trade for a bat, stand pat there and sign a higher end reliever (both of these if they sign Imai), or trade for a front of the rotation type (if they get Bregman).

To me, signing or trading for a bat is last resort if all of their pitching options dry up and there's literally nothing left to do.

It's all been about pitching, pitching, and more pitching out of these guys mouths.

[Rcal10]

56 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

To me, signing or trading for a bat is last resort if all of their pitching options dry up and there's literally nothing left to do.

It's all been about pitching, pitching, and more pitching out of these guys mouths.

I agree. I really don’t think it matters if they get a pitcher via trade or FA. They have to get a pitcher. The bat is an afterthought. And it isn’t going to be in the Bregman/Bichette range. Hell, if it is they might as well go all in and get Tucker. And we know that isn’t happening. 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, chibears55 said:

Your response was to Bertz about Bregman this offseason, and saying he's trying to save his job.   My response to you was just that he doesn't need to try and save his job because he just signed an extension and is safe 

No it wasn’t. Cuzi said “if Jed didn’t go far enough to get Bregman LAST YEAR, when his contract was up and he was trying to keep his job, why would we think he would do it now, while he is safe. So your response does not make sense. LAST YEAR he wasn’t safe when it came time to sign Bregman. 

[Neuby]

Houser gets  two years and $22M from the Giants.............seems pretty high.

[Bertz]

4 minutes ago, Neuby said:

Houser gets  two years and $22M from the Giants.............seems pretty high.

Yeah I'd rather have Houser than Rea, but not by that much.

[Dfan25]

If the Cubs aren’t going to sign King, then my preference is that he signs with the Yankees . That’s the team that’s been connected to Imai the most lately . King takes them out of that I would think .

 

Don’t see the Red Sox pivoting to Imai . If the Yankees sign King , that would leave the Orioles and Phillies as the main competition most likely . 
 

I am saying this , because it does look like there is smoke about King signing relatively soon .

[Bertz]

If the Cubs want to add a RHH bat on a shoestring this would be among the more desirable options I could think of.  Steamer projects him to basically split the difference between his '24 and '25.

 

 

[Cuzi]

Just now, Bertz said:

If the Cubs want to add a RHH bat on a shoestring this would be among the more desirable options I could think of.  Steamer projects him to basically split the difference between his '24 and '25.

I recently thought about that idea, but quickly pivoted to that if they just want a righty bat that mashes lefties and can be plugged in at 3B then just sign Miguel Andujar.

[CubUgly]

26 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

No it wasn’t. Cuzi said “if Jed didn’t go far enough to get Bregman LAST YEAR, when his contract was up and he was trying to keep his job, why would we think he would do it now, while he is safe. So your response does not make sense. LAST YEAR he wasn’t safe when it came time to sign Bregman. 

Exactly - what makes anyone think Jed/Tom are going to outbid anyone for anyone of significance?  I mean if they ever do I'll be the first to pass out. 

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

I recently thought about that idea, but quickly pivoted to that if they just want a righty bat that mashes lefties and can be plugged in at 3B then just sign Miguel Andujar.

Yeah that's probably ends up making more sense.  Adolis Garcia getting $10M does gave me some pause about what RHH bats are going to make, but that's probably just a one-off bad contract as opposed to some paradigm shift.

[Rcal10]

41 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

I recently thought about that idea, but quickly pivoted to that if they just want a righty bat that mashes lefties and can be plugged in at 3B then just sign Miguel Andujar.

Andujar is a guy I have mentioned in the past. I wouldn’t mind him if they spend money on Imai and maybe Keller so they had to short the FA bat. 

[chibears55]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

No it wasn’t. Cuzi said “if Jed didn’t go far enough to get Bregman LAST YEAR, when his contract was up and he was trying to keep his job, why would we think he would do it now, while he is safe. So your response does not make sense. LAST YEAR he wasn’t safe when it came time to sign Bregman. 

It no big deal now, but this is what I saw Cuzi responding to and why I thought he was talking about now...

No where does it say anything about getting Bregman LAST YEAR...

But he said he was referring to last year then ok, we move on 

[Cuzi]

It should be pretty heavily implied in that post that I was not talking about this year. With that said, I should have erased all doubt when I replied to you and said, "Not talking about this year."

[Bertz]

Given the timing seems pretty likely the Cubs were talking to both guys about coming back

[Post Count Padder]

Yeah feels like that was the case.

Angels also added Jordan Romano, who was a disaster last year but feels like a perfect one year gamble for someone like the Angels.

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Cuzi said:

It should be pretty heavily implied in that post that I was not talking about this year. With that said, I should have erased all doubt when I replied to you and said, "Not talking about this year."

I would of accepted that but when you called me champ(I took it as funny), I had to reply back with champ too...lol

[Tryptamine]

Man I don't even need Bregman, go out grab Fairbanks, Trade for Edward Cabrera, Pick up Okamoto and if there's enough cash pick up Refsnyder as your lefty masher. The pen is filthy, the offense is incredibly deep and you have a guy with the potential to fill in the top few spots of the rotation.

[Rcal10]

26 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Man I don't even need Bregman, go out grab Fairbanks, Trade for Edward Cabrera, Pick up Okamoto and if there's enough cash pick up Refsnyder as your lefty masher. The pen is filthy, the offense is incredibly deep and you have a guy with the potential to fill in the top few spots of the rotation.

This would work for me. 

[muntjack]

It's always been about Cabrera for me.  I'd be happy with Gore, Ryan or Lopez but I think Cabrera is on the verge of a big leap and I'd love for the Cubs to get those prime years.