Outshined_One

Jaims Martinez likely has something to do with this, and he's not on BA's list. Jaims was supposed to sign last year with the Cubs (and was a really well-regarded prospect), but he ended up rolling over to 2026 and likely will sign a seven figure deal once the next signing period opens.

I have to ask, are the Marlins actually sellers? They went on a run in June and didn't sell at the deadline despite all predictions, and finished with a mediocre yet respectable 79-83 record. I get that their history usually suggests they tend to go into Sell Mode in these kinds of circumstances, but they could also run it back with their current team and make a run at the NL East.

I kinda want Ole Miss to win it all at this point. Losing Lane Kiffin and then winning the National Championship within weeks of each event happening would be the perfect capper to one of the weirdest stories in recent memory.

I think we can agree this offseason has been incredibly annoying so far. What makes it even more annoying is this team has shown a propensity for coming out of nowhere with big deals (Tucker), and also a propensity for waiting until the absolute second to make a big deal by snatching up a top level guy who's withered on the vine (Bellinger). The latter is why I truly believe the stories about the Cubs checking in on top flight FAs; they're happy to make an offer to someone whose market hasn't panned out the way they expected. It's actually why I wouldn't be surprised to see them re-sign Tucker if he's not signed by the start of Spring Training. We don't know if this team is just running it back with marginal upgrades sans Tucker, or if the team is serious about addressing the rotation and getting a good quality bat, and these same horsefeathers discussions just go round and round and round ad nauseam because this team runs a tight ship and sometimes acts way later than expected, so we end up at each other's throats.

Oddly enough, what will kill them defensively in the playoffs likely won't be their pass defense, since they have a really good core of DBs (when healthy), even if their pass rush is decidedly mediocre. Their run defense is a huge, huge problem going into the playoffs, where the importance of the run game tends to increase significantly. They're a bottom 5 rush defense right now, and I could see the right team (49ers) go off on them in the playoffs.

Only when the team doesn't do anything noteworthy in the offseason, or seems like it's going into tank mode.

I feel like the aging curve is going to wreck everyone on that list come 2027/2028, save for Nico and maaaaybe Happ. It sucks we lost out on Imai, but it makes sense the Cubs didn't match it with those opt outs. They don't need another hole in their rotation going into 2027.

It does! If he went in for a physical with a team, and it turns out he'll likely need surgery in the near future, that team would have zero incentive to leak it (let him be someone else's problem) and Imai's people would clam up about it. In that case, either the team would cut him loose or the parties would go back to the negotiating table to work around it.

Okamoto is unsurprising in terms of the silence to me, considering he seems to be on a similar level as Murakami as a hitter with questions about how he'd transition to the majors. There's been a bit of chatter about him here or there, but I got the sense he wasn't exceedingly high on any teams' wish lists. Imai is one hell of a head-scratcher, though. I'll grant he's not on the same level as guys like Yamamoto, Sasaki, and Daisuke Matsuzaka when they came over, and they attracted interest from the Dodgers/Yankees/Red Sox, which naturally came with more media babble and leaks. Everything has been so weirdly quiet with Imai. It tells me that the teams involved with bidding on him either are teams which are traditionally tight-lipped or teams which don't generally attract much media attention. I guess you can say that's a good thing for the Cubs' chances, but normally by now we'd be hearing chatter about haggling over his rumored posting fee and dark horse teams entering the bidding process, and instead we've only seen vague social media posts and speculation about what teams are actually interested. You can't help but speculate that there might be medical issues that have popped up when he's gone in for physicals, because not much else makes a whole lot of sense.

In 2027 on a minor league deal, sure.

They are, but they've also had a bit of a history in Japan, even setting aside Murakami, with Tadahito Iguchi and Shingo Takatsu. It also makes sense that a rebuilding team like the White Sox would target a potential high quality guy who doesn't come with an attached draft pick penalty.

It's top heavy for sure, with most of the best prospects concentrated in AAA/AA, and also concentrated on the position player side of things. The good news is the Cubs have had a lot of success developing position players under this regime and that trend will likely continue into 2026 with Jefferson Rojas, Ethan Conrad, and Kane Kepley likely to be the headliners of the system after next season. There are also some really fun names to watch who are currently under the radar like Josiah Hartshorn, Eli Lovich, Angel Cepeda, Yahil Melendez, and Cole Mathis, who could all make big strides next season. Pitching, not going to mince words, is a train wreck after Wiggins. Birdsell is out with injury next season, so your guess is as good as anyone who the next best pitching prospect in this system is, be it Grant Kipp or Dominick Reid. Their draft had some fascinating names (namely Kaleb Wing), but overall, it's pretty rough right now.

That sums up 2025 succinctly. Nicely done.

I wasn't aware that the Bears' current HC won a ring with the Bucs until reading this thread.

I've been really PO'd with the mobile ads lately. They not only cover up what you're typing, but they'll do crap like jump-cover the Submit Reply Button or page numbers at random intervals to get you to mistakenly click on the ads.

I mean, building a stadium next to an inevitable super fund site is definitely a choice.

That's four catchers vying for spots on the ML roster between Kelly, Amaya, Ballesteros, and Bethancourt. I mean, sure, depth is nice, especially if Bethancourt is willing to hold down the fort in Iowa, but that's a bit of an odd move.

Wiggins and Conrad are solid bets to finish 2026 as the top two prospects in the system, assuming health. As was discussed when he was drafted, Conrad was a potential Top 5 pick whose season was derailed due to injury, and the early reports are that he's on track to be ready for spring training. Wiggins is solidly on the Horton track, and could find himself in the majors by summer if he progresses as hoped. Long and Triantos fall into a similar category as Kevin Alcantara for me as guys who would benefit from being traded due to being blocked. Triantos has the sort of profile that should work in the majors, but he hit a wall in AAA and hasn't looked like the same guy who was a menace at A+/AA. Long came on unexpectedly this year and should fit nicely onto a team looking for a bat first 1B/OF. With Kipp, I feel like there's a group of mediocre lower level pitching prospects every year that become the focus of wishcasting over reality (I am guilty of this), and Kipp seems to fit firmly in that mold, along with guys like Nick Dean, Will Sanders, and Connor Noland. Maybe they'll pan out as back end of the rotation types or journeymen middle relievers in the majors, but it's not a safe bet. As with everything, you never know, but the pitching depth on the farm is atrocious at the moment.

It's funny, I've seen a bit of discussion on this topic over the last few months, but I've been wondering where the board as a whole comes down on it. On the one hand, they won a playoff series and took the Brewers to the limit in the NLDS despite having an injury-depleted roster, while developing a young core of hitters and pitchers who should make this team competitive in the years to come. On the other hand, the team flailed throughout the summer despite having World Series aspirations, and it was easy to dream on this team if they had just been willing to open the pocket books for Ohtani/Soto/Yamamoto/etc. or go all-in at the deadline.

The really difficult part of this is this team has an ownership group which includes a sitting US Senator (Pete Ricketts), and Matt Shaw managed to put himself in the spotlight by associating with Charlie Kirk and ducking out on the team in the middle of a playoff race to attend Kirk's memorial rally. That's also not counting past news items like the Ricketts' fight with Tom Tunney and the City Council over redeveloping Wrigley or various politicians singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. That's also also not counting other teams' own activities, be it stadium fights or the antitrust exemption. That's all politics, and I think it's fair game in the baseball forums. I think it's productive to have conversations about these items organically. Where I tend to draw the line is when people bring up politics inorganically. Not all conversations are productive or healthy, and most of us don't come to NSBB looking to pick a fight, so when someone is posting about politics without context for doing so, it comes across as trollish behavior to me, even if that wasn't the intention. Under normal circumstances, I think I would have locked this thread sight unseen. However, since this has been a really horsefeathers dull offseason and everyone's been playing nicer in the pool than expected, I'm inclined to see if this thread dies a natural death.

I've been debating locking this thread, but it's been an oddly entertaining exercise in seeing who can get themselves banned first. Credit where it's due, this has gone way better than I first expected. I figured by now we'd be on page 20 of this by now:

This team started 0-2!!!!! Against two division rivals! What the horsefeathers?

Plus it's an power hitter friendly environment on a team with zero expectations. It's no lose for Murakami.

I mean, the Rays' haul was nice and everything, but they didn't get a Top 100 guy for Baz and instead got a bunch of upside players who might never see the majors (although Forret sounds close). If Gore won't cost us Caissie or Ballesteros, and instead would involve a package of guys like, say, Kepley and Reid, pull the trigger.

I think this is partially correct; it's not that the NFL would never okay it, but the Colts would never okay it. There were articles awhile back (which I annoyingly can't find) during the Commanders' search for a new stadium site and the Ravens were kicking up a fuss over some of the proposed sites in Maryland encroaching on the Ravens' territory. I just don't see how the Colts would give the green light to a stadium in Whiting or Hammond.