BREAKING: Cubs Sign Third Baseman Alex Bregman to Five-Year Deal

[Bertz]

For the bench I suspect it starts off with fairly strict platoons.  Alcantara backs PCA in CF, Austin backs Busch at 1B, and Shaw backs Mo at DH (via Bregman, Shaw obviously in the field).  

Except for Austin all of these guys are hopefully here for the long term, so I think you can let guys organically grow into more time.  Happ's not a liability against lefties but certainly isn't an asset, so I think there's some playing time to find there.  I think there's some opportunity to get Mo a little time behind the plate too.  And of course injuries will occur.

[Jason Ross]

Rosenthal: $70m of $175m is deferred. 

[BigbadB]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

Rosenthal: $70m of $175m is deferred. 

Crazy.

[Geographyhater8888]

5 minutes ago, Papa Cub said:

I guess that’s the big question - What does the lineup look like now with Bregman? I agree with your post, but what about this (hear me out) - would they ever consider Bregman as a DH?

If so, that completely changes the roster too. However, I personally think they play Bregman at 3B and Shaw will become full time utility to learn and grow into potentially covering for Nico after this year. Or they use one of them as trade bait. Either way - it’s exciting to see them being aggressive and trying to build a solid team! 
 

OF is a concern as far as depth is concerned though. 

I wonder if there’s a clause in his contract that requires playing X amount of games at third base. DHing vs lefties with Shaw in the lineup and starting at third base seems logical if they keep all 4.

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, Jason Ross said:

Rosenthal: $70m of $175m is deferred. 

This is hilarious 

IMO probably says Tom didn't want Jed deferring a bunch of money while his seat was warm.  They deferred a bunch of Heyward's contract long before that was en vogue so i was always skeptical it was a "never" sort of thing.

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Rosenthal: $70m of $175m is deferred. 

Wow. First the Cubs act like a major market by targeting a guy and getting him. And now we learn they also did it using deferred money. What a great turn of events. Not sure what was more unexpected. This deal or the Bears comeback. 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Bertz said:

This is hilarious 

IMO probably says Tom didn't want Jed deferring a bunch of money while his seat was warm.  They deferred a bunch of Heyward's contract long before that was en vogue so i was always skeptical it was a "never" sort of thing.

It is great news. Wonder if the deferrals will make enough difference to actually keep the Cubs under the LT. Honestly, I don’t care either way. But maybe they do?🤷

[BigbadB]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

It is great news. Wonder if the deferrals will make enough difference to actually keep the Cubs under the LT. Honestly, I don’t care either way. But maybe they do?🤷

Just imagining that it allows the team to stay intact as it's currently constructed, allows moves at the deadline and keeps the team under the LT.

[17 Seconds]

bears, bregman, and bedard. what a great weekend for chicago sports

[Jason Ross]

This essentially takes the contract from around 5/$175m to 5/$150m (give or take a few mil).

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

This essentially takes the contract from around 5/$175m to 5/$150m (give or take a few mil).

Cool. It is the few million that matter, if you believe they want to stay under. I honestly am not sure they care. Also, Bregman didn’t have a QO attached, right? Another small win. 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

Cool. It is the few million that matter, if you believe they want to stay under. I honestly am not sure they care. Also, Bregman didn’t have a QO attached, right? Another small win. 

No QO attached.

[cl smooth]

edit: double post

Edited January 11 by cl smooth

[cl smooth]

9 hours ago, bukie said:

 

This is an all-timer right here.

[UMFan83]

I hate this move if it means trading Nico. I think Nico is arguably the Cubs most important position player besides PCA

[Jason Ross]

Just now, UMFan83 said:

I hate this move if it means trading Nico. I think Nico is arguably the Cubs most important position player besides PCA

I don't think that will be the case. I cannot see a trade that would make any sense.

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, cl smooth said:

This is an all-timer right here.

Wins the internet. 

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Jason Ross said:

I don't think that will be the case. I cannot see a trade that would make any sense.

I spent a good bit of time last night trying to come up with something and, for 2026 at least, I couldn't really come up with anything that made sense. There's some, depending on how in need teams are that make sense for the future, i.e. Nico for Ryan Sloan, but nothing that helps now.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Tryptamine said:

I spent a good bit of time last night trying to come up with something and, for 2026 at least, I couldn't really come up with anything that made sense. There's some, depending on how in need teams are that make sense for the future, i.e. Nico for Ryan Sloan, but nothing that helps now.

Yep. And I don't think you sign Alex Bregman and then immediately look to ship Hoerner off for future players. So my guess is that the Cubs keep Hoerner for 2026 and then Shaw is the heir apparent. 

The Cubs can do a lot of damage in the 2027 draft as they will probably be able to get QOs on a lot of their FAs which makes it less likely, IMO, for the Cubs to try to restock the MiLB side of things with a Nico trade. 

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

Rosenthal: $70m of $175m is deferred. 

So does that mean only 21 is going towards the luxury tax ?  That would put it exactly where we thought they'd offer up the most for someone if the plan was to stay under( approx. 12 under)  and save some for inseason moves

[chibears55]

14 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I hate this move if it means trading Nico. I think Nico is arguably the Cubs most important position player besides PCA

I dont feel like theyre gonna trade Nico, that would be a backwards move with the lineup and weakens it alot.

[Tryptamine]

So the deferral news to me is actually kind of a bummer. If they'd already blown past then there's the chance they keep going, but now that we know they haven't, the odds of them making more moves is pretty limited.

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

So does that mean only 21 is going towards the luxury tax ?  That would put it exactly where we thought they'd offer up the most for someone if the plan was to stay under( approx. 12 under)  and save some for inseason moves

No. His CBT number will be based on his real-world dollars. To figure out his deferrals it's based on how much money and what year it's being paid. 

Bregman's AAV isn't known yet, but based on initial reports his deferrals are not super distant, and looks to be paid out shortly after his contract ends. Estimates have brought his CBT number to around $30-$31m. 

[17 Seconds]

4 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

So the deferral news to me is actually kind of a bummer. If they'd already blown past then there's the chance they keep going, but now that we know they haven't, the odds of them making more moves is pretty limited.

without the deferral, i think they were much more likely to trade nico to get under than splurge and go way over. the deferral makes me optimistic they're keeping hoerner

[Bertz]

I suspect the team is mostly done from here.  Them being a hair under the LT doesn't feel like an accident.  I'd assume the plan is to be basically right at the line entering the season and let the results in July decide if they're comfortable going over by more than a hair or whether they try and drop back down.

They do have 2 more 40 man spots so they're definitely not done done.  I could see a trade or two to clean up the back of the roster.  Maybe move Rea to save a bit of cash for instance?