Winter Doldrums Thread

[Outshined_One]

Yay, it's the fun part of the offseason where we all go crazy waiting for the Cubs to make a move.

[Rcal10]

So with Keller and Weaver gone is Fairbanks all that is left? I just don’t think the Cubs will sign him. He has hand issues in cold weather. That isn’t good for a pitcher in Chicago. I think if they sign anyone else it will be in that I  year $4M to $7M range. Maybe Stanek or Kopech. But if I had to guess I would say they won’t sign anyone else for the pen except for guys on minor league deals.

Edited December 17, 2025 by Rcal10

[Tryptamine]

Why is Pivetta someone we've never discussed? He's supposedly available and while I don't think he's a TOR starter I think he's compares well with Steele/Boyd/Horton.

[Tryptamine]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

So with Keller and Weaver gone is Fairbanks all that is left? I just don’t think the Cubs will sign him. He has hand issues in cold weather. That isn’t good for a pitcher in Chicago. I think if they sign anyone else it will be in that I  year $4M to $7M range. Maybe Stanek or Kopech. 

I kind of want to roll the dice on Harvey. The stuff is filthy and while he'd definitely be a guy you couldn't go on back to back to backs due to repeated issues of his arm falling off, I think he's a legit lock down guy who you use sparingly.

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Tryptamine said:

Why is Pivetta someone we've never discussed? He's supposedly available and while I don't think he's a TOR starter I think he's compares well with Steele/Boyd/Horton.

Because his contract is complicated. Good chance he only has 1 year in it unless he sucks. They he can stay another year. I do like him, just not his contract. 

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I kind of want to roll the dice on Harvey. The stuff is filthy and while he'd definitely be a guy you couldn't go on back to back to backs due to repeated issues of his arm falling off, I think he's a legit lock down guy who you use sparingly.

I guess there is still Seranthony Dominguez

[Tryptamine]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I guess there is still Seranthony Dominguez

Filthy stuff, but that control is bad....I feel like there's a good chance we could end up really hating him. If you believe the pitch lab could help with that, he's not a bad option.

[Rcal10]

Just now, Tryptamine said:

Filthy stuff, but that control is bad....I feel like there's a good chance we could end up really hating him. If you believe the pitch lab could help with that, he's not a bad option.

I know. But that isn’t what we are down to. Personally, I think if they get Imai or King they may be done with the pen. A bat might be what they look for next. I think they will give Brown a long runway to becoming that 6th or 7th inning guy.

[Tryptamine]

4 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I know. But that isn’t what we are down to. Personally, I think if they get Imai or King they may be done with the pen. A bat might be what they look for next. I think they will give Brown a long runway to becoming that 6th or 7th inning guy.

I think there's enough to get Imai and one non Fairbanks reliever along with a Refsnyder type bad. 

[ILMindState]

Any failed starters we can move to the pen like what they did to Keller?

[thawv]

11 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I guess there is still Seranthony Dominguez

I'm going to go on record and say that there's zero chance of signing him.  I'd say that he's in the same price range as Keller and Weaver.  

[thawv]

7 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I know. But that isn’t what we are down to. Personally, I think if they get Imai or King they may be done with the pen. A bat might be what they look for next. I think they will give Brown a long runway to becoming that 6th or 7th inning guy.

If we're being honest here, the 6th inning guy should always be the starter.  

[imb]

the tradition of nsbb mods locking threads seemingly randomly and then starting their own duplicate threads out of boredom persisting over more than 2 decades is something i think we can all get behind

[thawv]

Anybody have an interest in Sean Armstrong as the last pen signing?  Maybe 1/5 or 1/6?

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, thawv said:

I'm going to go on record and say that there's zero chance of signing him.  I'd say that he's in the same price range as Keller and Weaver.  

He will be less. Maybe he will be what you thought Keller would be. 2/$12M.

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, thawv said:

Anybody have an interest in Sean Armstrong as the last pen signing?  Maybe 1/5 or 1/6?

Armstrong would be good, but he's going to likely come in around $8m+ I would think. Could be closer to $9m or $10m. He had a very good year. He's a little older, so it's probably 1 year as opposed to the two that Keller or Weaver got, but he's not much lower on the money-per-year totem either.

[thawv]

16 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

He will be less. Maybe he will be what you thought Keller would be. 2/$12M.

This leads me to believe that he will be more than Keller. 

[thawv]

19 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Armstrong would be good, but he's going to likely come in around $8m+ I would think. Could be closer to $9m or $10m. He had a very good year. He's a little older, so it's probably 1 year as opposed to the two that Keller or Weaver got, but he's not much lower on the money-per-year totem either.

What about Evan Phillips?  He could be ready in July.  Maybe a 2/7 deal to monitor his recovery and see what he can do the back half of the season.  Then they'll have him completely healthy for 2027

Edited December 17, 2025 by thawv

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, thawv said:

What about Evan Phillips?  He could be ready in July.  Maybe a 2/7 deal to monitor his recovery and see what he can do the back half of the season.  They they'll have him completely healthy for 2027

Why not Kopech?

[Bertz]

I would gladly take Noel and try to sneak him through waivers to Iowa.  Flex that 40 man muscle

 

[Jason Ross]

13 minutes ago, thawv said:

What about Evan Phillips?  He could be ready in July.  Maybe a 2/7 deal to monitor his recovery and see what he can do the back half of the season.  Then they'll have him completely healthy for 2027

Reports on Phillips is he only wants a one-year deal to re-hit the market and he'd be willing to wait maybe until the spring to sign. I'd be totally cool with him! But probably looking at like a David Robertson situation from last year where you're waiting into the season to sign him (he wants to be at a point where he can throw some to showcase per the reports). So I'd consider him like a bonus signing. Here for it, though. 

[thawv]

17 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Why not Kopech?

He'd work for sure. 

 

[Post Count Padder]

I do think we need one more late-inning guy for the pen and we're set. All offseason and dating back to the deadline we've heard about Fairbanks. 

[Rcal10]

16 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

I do think we need one more late-inning guy for the pen and we're set. All offseason and dating back to the deadline we've heard about Fairbanks. 

But then they talk money and we stop hearing about him. 

[KCCub]

Nm

Edited December 17, 2025 by KCCub