Winter Doldrums Thread

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, Rob said:

Yeah, as someone a little low on Imai and high on Gallen (at least compared to the rest of the board), I don't think I see the difference between them as being worth an extra $100M over an additional 4 years.

To the budget-conscious Cubs, I can definitely understand the Gallen flirtation. I'm still short of endorsing it, though. [That would depend on specific contract terms]

Here is where I am on this. If Imai ends up getting 7/$175, and then the Cubs sign Gallen for something like 4/$88, I can’t help but think they did so because Gallen was cheaper. And that bugs me. As a major market team the Cubs should get who they want every once in a while, even if it take them out of their comfort zone.

However, if Imai signs a 5 year contract, with an AAV of $22M and the Cubs, instead sign Gallen for 4/$88M I would think they must really like Gallen better, and trust the FO. 

Personally, based on comments from Jason and a few others, I would rather have  Imai. But we really have no idea exactly how the Cubs view the remaining FA pitchers. 

[mk49]

I don't know, but I think Imai and Gallen will get similar AAV.  Maybe, Imai will get a 4~6yr deal, and Gallen will get 3~4yr.  I wouldn't be super surprised, if Gallen comes back big next year, but I doubt it.  More than likely, he won't be anywhere close to who he was a few years ago.

Edited December 31, 2025 by mk49

[Bertz]

38 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Bingo. His fastball shape has taken some gut punches recently. Arizona isn't known as a great organization when it comes to pitching, so I wouldn't be shocked to see him regain most of what he was with an organization who is much better in that aspect. 

He's not on the top of my list at all, but I also can see the arguments for why the Cubs would like him.

I think if you promised me there'd still be something of substance done on the position player side I'd be fine with Gallen.  He's the boring option but I'm not sure e.g. Gallen + Okamoto is worse or has any less upside than Cabrera + Bregman. 

But based on our assumptions about payroll and the trade market I expect Gallen would come paired with something uninspiring.  But he doesn't *have* to and so I'll try not to jump off the ledge if hes the choice.

[ILMindState]

9 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Here is where I am on this. If Imai ends up getting 7/$175, and then the Cubs sign Gallen for something like 4/$88, I can’t help but think they did so because Gallen was cheaper. And that bugs me. As a major market team the Cubs should get who they want every once in a while, even if it take them out of their comfort zone.

However, if Imai signs a 5 year contract, with an AAV of $22M and the Cubs, instead sign Gallen for 4/$88M I would think they must really like Gallen better, and trust the FO. 

Personally, based on comments from Jason and a few others, I would rather have  Imai. But we really have no idea exactly how the Cubs view the remaining FA pitchers. 

I think who signs him makes a difference too. Like if a contending team ends up signing him I'll  be upset we didn't offer more. But if it's a bottom feeder team that signs him I'll assume the Cubs and other contenders just weren't interested. A team like the White Sox can afford to take a risk if he sucks.

[ILMindState]

Speak of the devil. The White Sox are just taking shots at high risk high reward players and hoping someone sticks, as they should be.

[Rcal10]

25 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I think if you promised me there'd still be something of substance done on the position player side I'd be fine with Gallen.  He's the boring option but I'm not sure e.g. Gallen + Okamoto is worse or has any less upside than Cabrera + Bregman. 

But based on our assumptions about payroll and the trade market I expect Gallen would come paired with something uninspiring.  But he doesn't *have* to and so I'll try not to jump off the ledge if hes the choice.

The thing with me is more about why they took Gallen over Imai, if that happens. If both sign a similar AAV deal, maybe Imai for 5 years an Gallen for 3 or 4, I wouldn’t be on the ledge. To me that says the Cubs think they can work with whatever issues Gallen had and actually like him more than Imai. However, if Imai does get a 7/$170 and then the Cubs sign Gallen I would be a little concerned that the Cubs got out of Imai strictly due to his contract demands and settled in Gallen. That is not something they should have to do, ALL THE TIME. 

[Tryptamine]

I said this in another thread, but I'm still baffled at the mass appeal of Brendan Donovan, yeah he's a solid 3 fWAR player which is a good player too have, but he's catching some hype like there's an all out bidding war going on for him. He's under control for 2 more years, is a career 119 wRC+ bat and while he can play multiple positions, he doesn't play them particularly well. There's value in that no questions asked, but I'm seeing rumored packages of like one of Lazaro Montes or Ryan Sloan and then Jurrangelo Cijntje on top of that. That's a top 30 prospect with top of the scale power, a top 50 prospect pitcher and another top 100 pitcher with significant ceiling, but also significant risk, on top of that. That's the kind of package teams should be giving up for like Joe Ryan, not Brendan Donovan. 

[Geographyhater8888]

If the cubs don’t add a right handed 1st baseman/versatile infielder I take it that means Busch will get more at bats vs left handed pitching? 

Edited January 1 by Geographyhater8888

[thawv]

3 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

If the cubs don’t add a right handed 1st baseman/versatile infielder I take it that means Busch will get more at bats vs left handed pitching? 

They already did add a RH bat that can play 1B in Austin Tyler.  And Craig has already announced that Busch will no longer be a platoon player. 

Edited January 1 by thawv

[Geographyhater8888]

11 minutes ago, thawv said:

They already did add a RH bat that can play 1B in Austin Tyler.  And Craig has already announced that Busch will no longer be a platoon player. 

Interesting. I should’ve added productive bat. Tyler Austin’s hasn’t taken an MLB at bat since 2019. 

[thawv]

2 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Interesting. I should’ve added productive bat. Tyler Austin’s hasn’t taken an MLB at bat since 2019. 

Hahahaha......I get that.  However, he should see very little action anyway.  But just from what I've heard, he's been very good against LHP in Japan.  

[Bull]

On 12/30/2025 at 11:48 AM, chibears55 said:

I still expect to see this lineup on OD...

Kelly/Amaya 

Busch

Hoerner 

Swanson 

Shaw

Happ

PCA

Caissie 

Suzuki/Ballesteros 

That lineup is vulnerable to LHP. The more I look at this, the more I see the need for another RH bat. I would really like Goldschmidt at DH, Alcantara in CF, Suzuki in RF and our boy Tyler Austin at 1B against tough lefties. 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Bull said:

That lineup is vulnerable to LHP. The more I look at this, the more I see the need for another RH bat. I would really like Goldschmidt at DH, Alcantara in CF, Suzuki in RF and our boy Tyler Austin at 1B against tough lefties. 

Why stop at Goldy? Why not Bregman? Might be why we hear a little about Bregman and nothing on Tucker. Cubs might prefer a right handed bat over Tucker. 

[Bull]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Why stop at Goldy? Why not Bregman? Might be why we hear a little about Bregman and nothing on Tucker. Cubs might prefer a right handed bat over Tucker. 

Length of deal. Belief in Shaw. 

[Rcal10]

8 minutes ago, Bull said:

Length of deal. Belief in Shaw. 

They can keep Shaw and still sign Bregman. Shaw is utility for a year and then goes to second base. I am pretty sure this isn’t going to happen. But if it did it wouldn’t mean they don’t believe in Shaw. 

[Derwood]

Toronto has become the Dodgers of the AL, so I'm just assuming everyone else is going there. Bellinger, Tucker, Bregman....all of them. Why not?

[Rcal10]

25 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Toronto has become the Dodgers of the AL, so I'm just assuming everyone else is going there. Bellinger, Tucker, Bregman....all of them. Why not?

If the Cubs don’t spend on a pitcher they better get one of the top 4 hitters available. 

[Stratos]

Maybe this is where I tap out on the offseason until ST and only check the transactions once every few days. 

[ToolDRT]

10 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If the Cubs don’t spend on a pitcher they better get one of the top 4 hitters available. 

I might be completely wrong here, but there were rumblings last year of Ricketts not wanting payroll too high with the work stoppage looming. My guess is they want to wait on any deals of substance until we see what the new cba looks like. I think we grab a pitcher in a trade and call it a day. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, ToolDRT said:

I might be completely wrong here, but there were rumblings last year of Ricketts not wanting payroll too high with the work stoppage looming. My guess is they want to wait on any deals of substance until we see what the new cba looks like. I think we grab a pitcher in a trade and call it a day. 

This is very possible. I think it is a BS excuse by ownership to not spend money. But it might be what they do. 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, ToolDRT said:

I might be completely wrong here, but there were rumblings last year of Ricketts not wanting payroll too high with the work stoppage looming. My guess is they want to wait on any deals of substance until we see what the new cba looks like. I think we grab a pitcher in a trade and call it a day. 

I don't think that passes the smell check. Sharma and Mooney suggested the Cubs moved on from King once he was looking at a opt-out heavy deal and the Cubs didn't seem to go for the Imai opt-out-deal. 

I'm not sure they will sign a 10+ year contract or maybe even a 6 year contract but I don't think they're as worried about 2027 money as fans think they are. I think they'd have signed King or Imai on opt-out heavy deals if they were.

More so, I think were just seeing another Jed Hoyer "in the periphery, wait the market out" type of an offseason for better or worse.

[ToolDRT]

5 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

This is very possible. I think it is a BS excuse by ownership to not spend money. But it might be what they do. 

Oh, I agree completely. The cubs as an organization already have a different meaning to long term compared to other teams. So not only would they be benching themselves compared to those organizations, but also compared to their own previous standards. However, this is just my theory. 

Edited January 1 by ToolDRT

[ToolDRT]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

I don't think that passes the smell check. Sharma and Mooney suggested the Cubs moved on from King once he was looking at a opt-out heavy deal and the Cubs didn't seem to go for the Imai opt-out-deal. 

I'm not sure they will sign a 10+ year contract or maybe even a 6 year contract but I don't think they're as worried about 2027 money as fans think they are. I think they'd have signed King or Imai on opt-out heavy deals if they were.

More so, I think were just seeing another Jed Hoyer "in the periphery, wait the market out" type of an offseason for better or worse.

I hope this is more accurate. To me, I’m not really sure what the plan is though. The rumor was they won’t offer years to Bregman either. So the opt out deals weren’t to their liking, and long term doesn’t seem to be…As you mentioned, with what we have coming off the books next year, this seemed like a good time to go over the first threshold and at least have some pieces locked down next year. 
 

I guess we can still get there with Gallen and a trade. But I’ll be honest, my aim was higher than Gallen when the offseason started. 

 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, ToolDRT said:

I hope this is more accurate. To me, I’m not really sure what the plan is though. The rumor was they won’t offer years to Bregman either. So the opt out deals weren’t to their liking, and long term doesn’t seem to be…As you mentioned, with what we have coming off the books next year, this seemed like a good time to go over the first threshold and at least have some pieces locked down next year. 
 

I guess we can still get there with Gallen and a trade. But I’ll be honest, my aim was higher than Gallen when the offseason started. 

 

Yeah, I won't say that I know what the plan is, either. I think they're better set up to trade for a SP than they are someone on offense, so Bregman + a Cabrera trade feels like something they could do versus, say, sign Imai and trade for a hitter, if they're trying to get both one hitter and an impact SP. 

Or maybe they really are cheaping out. They boxed themselves in last offseason, so let's hope they learned something.

[Tryptamine]

9 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If the Cubs don’t spend on a pitcher they better get one of the top 4 hitters available. 

Far too optimistic