Winter Doldrums Thread

[Bertz]

Quote

 

Speaking of the Rays, right-handed reliever Pete Fairbanks’ lingering presence on the free-agent market perhaps helps explain why the team was unable to trade him before declining his $11 million club option and paying him a $1 million buyout instead.

Fairbanks, who turned 32 on Tuesday, is a top reliever when healthy. But his 60 1/3 innings last season were a career-high by a good margin. Prior to that, he had never exceeded 45 1/3.

Two righty relievers agreed Wednesday to two-year, $22 million contracts, Brad Keller with the Philadelphia Phillies, Luke Weaver with the New York Mets. The Miami Marlins are among the teams still interested in Fairbanks, but it appears unlikely he will command the $11 million salary the Rays declined to pay him on a one-year deal.

 

Fairbanks getting less than Weaver would be surprising, but apparently there are some medical reservations

[Bertz]

It feels like there's just total gridlock right now and 2-3 guys need to move before it clears up and things really start moving.  Thank god the Japanese guys have strict deadlines, rhat should help.

[Neuby]

Shawn Armstrong to the Indians 5.5M. I forgot Armstrong was on the Cubs. 

[Post Count Padder]

Now they gotta get Imai

 

[Bertz]

WTF I thought the Padres were broke?

This might be problematic because it pulls an arm off the market without removing a (known) team.

 

[squally1313]

I mean…this could be a horsefeathers disaster. 

[chibears55]

16 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

Now they gotta get Imai

 

Getting closer to Zac Gallen 🙄🙄

Probably get him for 4/80

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I mean…this could be a horsefeathers disaster. 

I think we're a good ways away from *that*

[KCCub]

This has been the worry all along waiting for Imai. Jed can save the offseason by landing him, but it will probably require him going outside his  comfort zone. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

5 minutes ago, KCCub said:

This has been the worry all along waiting for Imai. Jed can save the offseason by landing him, but it will probably require him going outside his  comfort zone. 

You can stop there, because Jed doesn't do that.

[Jason Ross]

So, here's a positive to the King thing; that is a Jed contract through and through. Entirely a Jed Hoyer contract. Maybe King super appreciated his time in SD and that's why he decided to go back, but that also feels like a contract Hoyer beats with more money up front or something. It could be as low as a 1/$22m deal for King, a pitcher we have heard the Cubs like. For all of the talk about Hoyer not getting irrational, he has never been afraid to pay more AAV to escape years. Especially front-loading a deal to encourage opting out (Stroman). So why didn't he? 

Well, maybe it's because the Cubs like where they are with Imai. 

I can't promise thats the reason. Cubs could be about to lose him, too. Maybe they don't love the King medicals. Maybe King loves SD and the Cubs tried that. But that isn't a deal the Cubs can't or probably don't try to beat most years because they love contracts like that. So we probably have to ask yourself "why didn't they?"

[Cuzi]

7 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

So we probably have to ask yourself "why didn't they?"

Because they aren't desperate. It's still early in FA. We haven't made it past the desperation phase where prices start to come down.

[thawv]

Well so much for having it narrowed down to 3 AL east team.  Rumors are just that. 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, thawv said:

Well so much for having it narrowed down to 3 AL east team.  Rumors are just that. 

To be fair to that report, the original one never claimed it was *only* those three teams, but that those three teams were competing for King. I think it got misread and warped a bit by the media and people took at as "the only" three teams competing for him. A few other reports, like Mark Fiensand added more teams to the mix. 

The Padres, however are a bit of a surprise based on their perceived money concerns. 

[Rcal10]

8 hours ago, squally1313 said:

I mean…this could be a horsefeathers disaster. 

 

8 hours ago, Bertz said:

I think we're a good ways away from *that*

While “disaster” might be a bit overboard, Cubs are not that far from ending up with a very disappointing off season. TBH, even if they got Imai and did nothing else with a good pen arm it wouldn’t be a great off season. And they are not sure to get Imai. Personally, I think the Cubs will get him. I agree with Jason’s take on it. If Jed didn’t get King short term he has to feel pretty good about Imai. But they really went low on the bench and low in relief. So even with Imai, who is their best case scenario, it wouldn’t be a great off season. Still more to go and I am hopeful.

Would getting Imai and stopping there constitute a solid off season? I don’t think so. I would place it at “fair”. 

[thawv]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

To be fair to that report, the original one never claimed it was *only* those three teams, but that those three teams were competing for King. I think it got misread and warped a bit by the media and people took at as "the only" three teams competing for him. A few other reports, like Mark Fiensand added more teams to the mix. 

The Padres, however are a bit of a surprise based on their perceived money concerns. 

I never said that.  It was being said on here.  

[Neuby]

Padres still cooking

Edited December 19, 2025 by Neuby

[mul21]

7 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

So, here's a positive to the King thing; that is a Jed contract through and through. Entirely a Jed Hoyer contract. Maybe King super appreciated his time in SD and that's why he decided to go back, but that also feels like a contract Hoyer beats with more money up front or something. It could be as low as a 1/$22m deal for King, a pitcher we have heard the Cubs like. For all of the talk about Hoyer not getting irrational, he has never been afraid to pay more AAV to escape years. Especially front-loading a deal to encourage opting out (Stroman). So why didn't he? 

Well, maybe it's because the Cubs like where they are with Imai. 

I can't promise that's the reason. Cubs could be about to lose him, too. Maybe they don't love the King medicals. Maybe King loves SD and the Cubs tried that. But that isn't a deal the Cubs can't or probably don't try to beat most years because they love contracts like that. So we probably have to ask yourself "why didn't they?"

Yeah, between the contract he got and how relatively early it still is in the offseason, this feels like a situation where he wasn't getting the offers he wanted and chose something safe to rebuild value for next year.  I think your assessment of the Cubs feeling good about Imai and/or not loving King for whatever reason is probably pretty spot on. 

[Bertz]

21 minutes ago, Neuby said:

Padres still cooking

Ah boo Moon sounded fun

Also does this mean the Padres have a Cronenworth deal lined up?  Doesn't have to necessarily but feels like a weird luxury to spend on when you've got a full infield and you're running horsefeathering Gavin Sheets at 1B.

[NorthsideAvenger]

I don't know who this is but I found it interesting. If Belly and Tucker are asking for that, I feel that they may linger in FA well into 2026.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

I don't know who this is but I found it interesting. If Belly and Tucker are asking for that, I feel that they may linger in FA well into 2026.

This doesn't come close to passing a sniff test. No one in their right mind is giving Bellinger $50m AAV 

[NorthsideAvenger]

Just now, Jason Ross said:

This doesn't come close to passing a sniff test. No one in their right mind is giving Bellinger $50m AAV 

I agree. I had not seen any kind of numbers connected to either player this off-season. Now I know why their FA are cooled right now. 

[thawv]

13 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

I don't know who this is but I found it interesting. If Belly and Tucker are asking for that, I feel that they may linger in FA well into 2026.

This is obviously a fake report.  He's at best in line for 5/150 or 6/180 range

Edited December 19, 2025 by thawv

[KCCub]

Phillies just freed up $7.5m. Strahm has been a good arm though.

 

 

[Bertz]

7 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Phillies just freed up $7.5m. Strahm has been a good arm though.

 

 

I kind of wonder if they had to do this to afford Realmuto.  They're at $300M after this and were at $315M last year.