Screw Winter Doldrums! The Get a Big Bat and Call It an Offseason Thread

[squally1313]

Does McCutcheon have anything left in terms of being a short side platoon outfield bat? Would be awesome to bring him in if he would take that kind of role. The splits the last couple years aren't super encouraging but career 145 wRC vs LHP.

[CubinNY]

15 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Does McCutcheon have anything left in terms of being a short side platoon outfield bat? Would be awesome to bring him in if he would take that kind of role. The splits the last couple years aren't super encouraging but career 145 wRC vs LHP.

If I'm not mistaken, he'd be the only Black (American) player on the roster. I love him and he's pretty salty about being dumped by the Pirates, so why not?

[NorthsideAvenger]

24 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Does McCutcheon have anything left in terms of being a short side platoon outfield bat? Would be awesome to bring him in if he would take that kind of role. The splits the last couple years aren't super encouraging but career 145 wRC vs LHP.

McCutcheon is one of my favorite non-Cub in baseball. I'd take a flier. 

[Bertz]

19 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Does McCutcheon have anything left in terms of being a short side platoon outfield bat? Would be awesome to bring him in if he would take that kind of role. The splits the last couple years aren't super encouraging but career 145 wRC vs LHP.

Vibes are off the charts with Cutch but production wise juice doesn't really seem worth the squeeze.  Via ZiPS Long looks like a very similar hitter against LHP, while the Alcantara/McCormick/Carlson trio are all a step behind but probably better players overall when you account for their ability to actually play defense.

[Bertz]

If there's a run on back end starters look for the Cubs to make a move soon, whether it's paying up for Gallen or someone more from this tier.

[squally1313]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Vibes are off the charts with Cutch but production wise juice doesn't really seem worth the squeeze.  Via ZiPS Long looks like a very similar hitter against LHP, while the Alcantara/McCormick/Carlson trio are all a step behind but probably better players overall when you account for their ability to actually play defense.

Yeah clearly they valued what Turner brought to the table last year, but maybe that's just like...Bregman's job now. I kept squinting at Cutch's numbers trying to justify them, but ultimately you'd have to get a little meatball-y in the 'put him on a contender and hope he finds a fountain of youth for 6 months' way.

.333 xwOBA last year wasn't terrible and just high level math probably works out to like...a 115 expected wRC against LHP. But the defense is totally gone, which means the in house options are probably just as good, cheaper, and already here. 

[Stratos]

Do you guys think teams take recent footage of opposing. pitchers from upcoming teams they'll face and run software to analyze for pitch tipping?  I bet they do...

[Neuby]

"Kelly has caught 55 Zac Gallen starts in his career. And in those 55 starts, Gallen has a 2.81 ERA, while opposing batters are hitting just .202/.271/.337 (better than he has with any other catcher with whom he’s worked, min. 7 games).  Gallen has more Starts with Kelly than anyone else."

 

 

Nice tidbit from Bleachernation. Gallen would fit too nice, it's going to be a letdown if he goes elsewhere.

 

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Drohan does not have age on his side but seems like a perfect guy for the Brewers 

[Tryptamine]

Now that's it's fairly safe to say that Nico and Shaw are going nowhere. I'd really like Gallen and to see if they could perhaps turn Taillon plus a prospect or eating some of Taillon's contract into a reliever with some control. 

[Rcal10]

54 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Now that's it's fairly safe to say that Nico and Shaw are going nowhere. I'd really like Gallen and to see if they could perhaps turn Taillon plus a prospect or eating some of Taillon's contract into a reliever with some control. 

Yep. Gallen would be a nice end of off season signing. But has to be at least 2 years. Which might be his hold up. He might want to be able to opt out after 1. Can they give him an incentive deal where he could opt out after 1? Maybe if he is mvp of the World Series he can opt out? At least then that would mean the Cubs, most likely, won a WS. That would be worth losing a second round pick for as well as then losing the pitcher. Or maybe he signs a 3 year $60M deal where he can opt out after one. But if he chooses to opt out the Cubs can cancel that by adding 2 years to his original deal. So he gets 5/$100M. They get the last call on what happens. 
Personally I would rather the opt out come after year two, or just a straight forward 3 or 4 year, no opt out deal. 

[Bull]

40 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Yep. Gallen would be a nice end of off season signing. But has to be at least 2 years. Which might be his hold up. He might want to be able to opt out after 1. Can they give him an incentive deal where he could opt out after 1? Maybe if he is mvp of the World Series he can opt out? At least then that would mean the Cubs, most likely, won a WS. That would be worth losing a second round pick for as well as then losing the pitcher. Or maybe he signs a 3 year $60M deal where he can opt out after one. But if he chooses to opt out the Cubs can cancel that by adding 2 years to his original deal. So he gets 5/$100M. They get the last call on what happens. 
Personally I would rather the opt out come after year two, or just a straight forward 3 or 4 year, no opt out deal. 

The only team that will potentially give him an opt out after year 1 is the D-backs. That's why he likely ends up there. I'm not interested if there's an opt out. I honestly think there's a 30-40% chance Taillon outperforms him *this* year. 

[Rcal10]

19 minutes ago, Bull said:

The only team that will potentially give him an opt out after year 1 is the D-backs. That's why he likely ends up there. I'm not interested if there's an opt out. I honestly think there's a 30-40% chance Taillon outperforms him *this* year. 

I agree it has to be more than 1 year before he can opt out. But I do think he will be better than Taillon. And if he gets 2 or more years from the Cubs that means that is one less guy they have to replace next year. Which are reasons I would like the Cubs getting him. I agree that the Dbacks are the favorites to get him. But I think the Cubs are a good fit as well. 

[mk49]

1 hour ago, Bull said:

I honestly think there's a 30-40% chance Taillon outperforms him *this* year. 

I agree with you, but I think more like 40~50% chance.  Gallen has to bounce back quit a bit to outperform Jamo.  The main reason why I don't say over 50% is Jamo's health.  Most likely, Gallen will pitch more innings than Jamo.  Gallen's performance started regressing after the 2023 season, and got much worse in 2025.

I was surprised, when Gallen didn't take the QO.  Looks like he might be going back to Dbacks for a less than $22M deal.  I think the Cubs won't sign him, unless it's at least 2yr, less than $18M AAV. 

Edited February 9 by mk49

[imb]

3 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Drohan does not have age on his side but seems like a perfect guy for the Brewers 

yeah right maybe after he institutes sharia law in nyc

[Rcal10]

15 minutes ago, mk49 said:

I agree with you, but I think more like 40~50% chance.  Gallen has to bounce back quit a bit to outperform Jamo.  The main reason why I don't say over 50% is Jamo's health.  Most likely, Gallen will pitch more innings than Jamo.  Gallen's performance started regressing after the 2023 season, and got much worse in 2025.

I was surprised, when Gallen didn't take the QO.  Looks like he might be going back to Dbacks for a less than $22M deal.  I think the Cubs won't sign him, unless it's at least 2yr, less than $18M AAV. 

Aside from a bad first half of last season, Gallen has been a top 30 pitcher in baseball since he came into the league. That is a solid #2 starter. Tailon is a #3 or #4 starter. If the Cubs think Gallen is more the guy he was for all other starts except for the first half of 2025, or they think they can get him back to what he was, he would be a big upgrade over Tailon. If they don’t get him because they don’t tbh k they can get him back to that level, I am fine with them passing on him. I just don’t agree that Tailon is an even better to be just as good. 

[mk49]

40 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Aside from a bad first half of last season, Gallen has been a top 30 pitcher in baseball since he came into the league. That is a solid #2 starter. Tailon is a #3 or #4 starter. If the Cubs think Gallen is more the guy he was for all other starts except for the first half of 2025, or they think they can get him back to what he was, he would be a big upgrade over Tailon. If they don’t get him because they don’t tbh k they can get him back to that level, I am fine with them passing on him. I just don’t agree that Tailon is an even better to be just as good. 

Bad first half?  If I remember correctly, he had only one good month, Aug.  Sure, Sep was better than the first half, but he wasn't at the end of the season.

In 2022 and 2023, he was like top 5 pitcher in the league.  He wasn't as good in 2024, and got a lot worse in 2025.  So, if we're talking about just this year, there's a good chance Jamo (if healty) will be as good, if not better than Gallen.  

I agree with you about the last part.  If the Cubs can fix him, he would outperform Jamo.  If Gallen can go back to what he was 3 years ago, he'd be our ace easily.  If they sign and fix him, that would be great, but I'd be fine with passing on him.  Probably, I'd be happier, if they sign him (but not for one year), as long as they don't trade Jamo, at least until the deadline.  That way, we could see who's performing well and healthy.  At the TDL, we could trade one of the SPs for a bat, a closer or anything that we need at the time, if most of our SPs are healthy.

We'll find out soon.

Edited February 9 by mk49

[Rcal10]

I have said, in the past, that I wouldn’t trade Tailon until they found out if they really had pitchers performing as they hoped. Once Steele comes back they would have 7 starting pitchers. If they are all healthy and pitching well then you trade Jamo. I agree if the Cubs can’t fix Gallen I am fine letting him go. I do trust the Cubs coaching staff if they did sign him. So, really, we pretty much agree. To recap, if the Cubs feel they can get Gallen back at least most of the way to what he was a few years back he is a good risk to take. But only for multiple years. And they can also wait on trading Jamo to hedge against poor production of any if the others on the staff and/or Steele’s health. 

[mk49]

Very cool.  We're basically on the same page.

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, mk49 said:

Very cool.  We're basically on the same page.

Right. I just have more faith in Gallen. I am raring him higher. If they get him, I hope I am right. 😬

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree it has to be more than 1 year before he can opt out. But I do think he will be better than Taillon. And if he gets 2 or more years from the Cubs that means that is one less guy they have to replace next year. Which are reasons I would like the Cubs getting him. I agree that the Dbacks are the favorites to get him. But I think the Cubs are a good fit as well. 

Very hard for me to see a world where Taillon does better than Gallen, unless something weird/unlucky happens.  Can't see any reason he doesn't bounce back well. 

[Rcal10]

21 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Very hard for me to see a world where Taillon does better than Gallen, unless something weird/unlucky happens.  Can't see any reason he doesn't bounce back well. 

Did you mean to quote me with your response? Because I agree with you. Usually I would expect your comment to be after someone suggested Taillon will be better than Gallen. 

[mk49]

36 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Did you mean to quote me with your response? Because I agree with you. Usually I would expect your comment to be after someone suggested Taillon will be better than Gallen. 

I'm the one who said Jamo had a good chance outperforming Gallen this year, as Rcal10 knows.  Jamo's last 6 games + the playoffs last year, he looked awesome.  He found that his change up was effective last year.  Somehow, he fixed his HR issues that he had earlier in the season.  (Shota should be asking Jamo about the HR issue.😁)

OTOH, Gallen's regression started two years ago, and got worse and worse, except for Aug, 2025.  I think his last 4 games or so at the end of last season, his ERA was more like 5+.  I just don't have much faith in Gallen bouncing back much, especially if he goes back to Arizona.  If the Cubs sign him, Gallen might bounce back well, though, because we have good pitching coaches/lab + our defense.  

TBH, if I'm in Gallen's situation., I would sign with the Cubs for a 2yr contract (or opt out after 2 seasons).  I have better chance bouncing back with the Cubs.  At the same time, I think he should have accepted the QO for the money.  We'll see how it goes.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a Gallen hater.  I'm just frustrated by his performance in 2025, because he was really good in 2022 and 2023, and he isn't that old.  I like good pitchers, as long as they don't play for the Dodgers.😁

Edited February 10 by mk49

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Did you mean to quote me with your response? Because I agree with you. Usually I would expect your comment to be after someone suggested Taillon will be better than Gallen. 

Yeah I was just reading the convo and agreeing with you

[Geographyhater8888]

8 hours ago, mk49 said:

I'm the one who said Jamo had a good chance outperforming Gallen this year, as Rcal10 knows.  Jamo's last 6 games + the playoffs last year, he looked awesome.  He found that his change up was effective last year.  Somehow, he fixed his HR issues that he had earlier in the season.  (Shota should be asking Jamo about the HR issue.😁)

OTOH, Gallen's regression started two years ago, and got worse and worse, except for Aug, 2025.  I think his last 4 games or so at the end of last season, his ERA was more like 5+.  I just don't have much faith in Gallen bouncing back much, especially if he goes back to Arizona.  If the Cubs sign him, Gallen might bounce back well, though, because we have good pitching coaches/lab + our defense.  

TBH, if I'm in Gallen's situation., I would sign with the Cubs for a 2yr contract (or opt out after 2 seasons).  I have better chance bouncing back with the Cubs.  At the same time, I think he should have accepted the QO for the money.  We'll see how it goes.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a Gallen hater.  I'm just frustrated by his performance in 2025, because he was really good in 2022 and 2023, and he isn't that old.  I like good pitchers, as long as they don't play for the Dodgers.😁

For the rotation to be a top 10 unit, Steele, Horton and Cabrera are the guys I’m counting on to elevate the staff to a level way above 2025 assuming reasonable health. Tailon will have 5 quality starts and then a blowup outing. 
Unless the pitching lab believes he’s a mechanical tweak away from turning back the clock you’re swapping interchangeable pitchers with the hope of an extra year of control. Pitchers of his caliber are available every winter.

Edited February 10 by Geographyhater8888