Jason Ross

I understand that the Cubs haven't given us a lot of reasons to be positive, but at least for myself, this feels like a lot of premature worry. That isn't to say it might not be the case, but it also might not. And not in the "well anything is possible" way, but in the "Tatsuya Imai hasn't even signed yet and all of the teams you'd worry about sound like they are not going bananas for him". Like, there's a legitimate chance in 3 or 4 days the Cubs have already brought in Imai and things are very different. I won't tell anyone how to handle the off-season, but personally, I just don't have it in me at this point to just be worried all the time that they're not doing something. Which is where I'm at on Fairbanks. Check back in with how I feel about the off-season when camp breaks. If the Cubs sign Gallen and pack it in, you'll find me mostly upset at things (even if I think the Cubs can mostly fix Gallen).

The Cubs bullpen transformed greatly in April. We cant both say "the BP in April wasn't good" without also noting that the team did a wonderful job replacing the issues as they went. The Cubs seemingly do a very good job of finding players who they're capable of playing up in the pitching. And just to remind you; this has been a basis of your argument all off-season about the Cubs pitching; you're aware of this too. When it comes to the vision, you're correct, but I have said multiple times that when the off-season is done, I'll judge it. I judged the deadline last year harshly. What I won't do is manufacture anger in December just because another team did something. If the Cubs don't get an impact SP or pass on the offense, don't think I also won't be angry. But getting upset because the Marlins signed a RP who has declining velocity and shape, while also being a bit of a medical red flag isn't where I'm jumping on the bandwagon, either.

The Cubs had the best ERA of any bullpen after May 1st last year. You're right, it's a Jed thing to not allocate resources to the bullpen, but it's also something the Cubs have shown the ability to get value out of despite it. They did so last year with a group of castoffs and players who started the year in the MiLB. I wouldn't expect the top-run limiting BP again next year, but I would expect, regardless, the Cubs to put forth a very competent BP. They have a track record of solid BPs for shoestring budgets, and this year the Cubs haven't relied on the aged-closer. So again, let's wait and see how the Cubs spend the money they do have before we throw a fit about the BP. As of today, they look to have a solid group of arms there, even if it's missing one more definite guy.

If the Cubs had $240m to spend this off-season, sure. They don't. They seemingly have $50m based on reports. They definitely needed 3-4 relievers, an impact SP and some sort of a hitter. Eating $13m of $50m leaves you with $37m to solve the rest of the team. Can you do it? Sure you can. But another $23m spent on a SP leaves you with $14m to solve the rest and you're basically at a point where the only two players you brought in were Fairbanks and Imai or King. That's not the worst, but the Cubs seemingly are quite good at extracting relief value. I'd rather the Cubs spend that $13-$15m on a hitter or something else. We can't live in this reactionary world where every time a team other than the Cubs does something we throw a fit. If we look back in March and the Cubs don't do much, I'll be right with y'all upset. Until then, I'm not going to be upset because the Cubs chose to spend $13m on the relievers they did as opposed to Fairbanks, who I don't really love. Or even Devin Williams who I think is really good, but as we have seen in 2024 and 2025 with very good relievers (like Edwin Diaz and Devon Williams, they're quite volatile. Also, look at Tanner Scott in 2025). We can't see the vision yet. I get it, we are all a bit impatient right now, but this is the MLB off-season and we should know by now the speed of which it goes by. So I'm firmly "whatever" on not signing Fairbanks. I think the Cubs BP is in a perfectly fine place right now, to be honest with you. We can continue to (and should) point fingers at Ricketts as to why this conversation exists in the first place, but beyond that, I just don't really care much about not signing Pete Fairbanks.

Fairbanks has some medical concerns and a fastball that's declined both in shape and velocity. I'm not against a Fairbanks signing but 1/$13m treats him AAV wise right under Williams. The hope is that the Cubs would rather have spent $13m between Thielbar, Maton, Webb, and Milner and then taking the remaining money and solving the rotation and a hitter. As much as we hate this, the Cubs have a budget set. That budget should be higher, but that's also the reality we exist in. Getting four relievers should allow the Cubs to better go big game hunting with the rest of the money. Had they spent $13m on Fairbanks, they would still need three+ more relievers and that could have made it so that with the budget, Imai, Bregman or whatever wouldn't be as feasible.

McGuire probably believes he can get an actual MLB backup position, where as Bethancourt will spend his time in Iowa first and foremost.

A blind squirrel finds a nut every so often.

Makes perfect sense too. The Cubs love fastballs up and did some good work with sliders last year. And they love some pronation.

But by that logic, they were much closer to winning a World Series from 2024 to 2025, so last year was a success from that viewpoint. To be clear, last year was a definite success from me. They out did projections and young players all took step forwards. Contextually they weren't the best team in the league and I won't force them to win a WS for that to be a successful year. As we progress further with this roster, I'd set the barometer for success higher. Will 2026 be better? Hard to say, we still have two months and change to see what the roster looks like. I will say I'm not as convinced as some people on this board that the team won't do much or that they're going to be taking a step back when the off-season comes to an end.

Too many to list. People like Jeff Passan, Ken Rosenthal, and Jon Heyman are usually on it. They have a reputation to maintain. Locally, Sharma and Mooney of the Athletic, Jesse Rogers, Bruce Levine, and Michael Cerami all are pretty reliable, though will sometimes put opinions in. Every team has their versions of this; find those people as well. Others, like Bob Nightengale, Fracys Romero, and Hector Gomez all have reps that are in the gutter and they consistently are doing damage to themselves. Rep matters. Beyond that, just ask if it passes a sniff test. Does it seem real? Does the account on X have people who you trust who follows is? Are they attaching their name to it or are they hiding behind anonymity? Are they just making opinion sound like reporting?

Jack Curry of YES network, which is their team owned network just said the Yankees weren't likely to be the team signing him. Aaron Boone said the team hasn't even met with him. The Yankees are telling you how interested they are. Imagine that the Craig Counsell said the Cubs hadn't met with him and Marquee Network said the Cubs weren't signing him. Would you immediately believe the Cubs were the front runner? We don't get get to talk out of both sides of our mouths. Everyone here is freaking out because of a Dave Kaplan (someone who hasn't been a top Cubs news information for 15+ years now) report. I think we on know the answer here. I don't have a percentage for you. I think today the Cubs should be seen as one of the most likely destinations for whatever that's worth. Just as an aide; SI is a terrible source now a days. I wouldn't use it as legitimate. It was sold off and is just a relic of a name now. Their source is "Yankees Source" on that article. No one nationally has picked up on that, as well, his agent is Scott Boras. You pick Boras because money is your end game, not a destination.

If there is a mystery team, it's probably someone like the Giants who are acting like the they don't have money. Another option is that the big, $150m offers aren't coming right now and that the Cubs will be able to have their cake (not offer that kind of deal) and eat it too (sign Imai).

This is coming from those coming from the Yankees side of things.

The Cubs have been connected with enough hitters and pitchers that I think it's probably a trade and a signing. One for each.

In the Heyman podcast where he mentioned the Cubs as Okamoto-suitors, he guessed the Cubs would make one big deal this off-season and that prediction was Imai. It's probably just speculation but Heyman is also close to Boras. So TIFWIW

Also, another incredibly cheap contract. Either the Cubs are just not spending anything at all this off-season or they're saving this money for something specific and expensive.

Yep! This is another one of those "guys who just get outs" that you can drop into the 6th/7th inning mix. Nothing special, but another cheap contract that allows you to remain flexible financially for whatever else you want to do. Feels like equally a move you'd be hard pressed to be excited about or upset about.

Image courtesy of Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract with right handed reliever Jacob Webb, formerly of the Texas Rangers. The contact, as reported by Patrick Mooney, is a one-year deal with an option for 2027. Jacob Webb had a successful 2025 season with the Texas Rangers, as the 32-year old posted a 3.00 ERA over 66 innings. Webb features a fastball that sits around 93-mph while featuring a changeup and a sweeper. The reliever saw his K% drop from around 24% to 21% last year but still gets a lot of weak contact and forces hitters to get under the ball. One thing the pitcher does well; he gets pop-outs, inducing 21 of them last season. Webb did a great job of limiting damage across all three of his offerings last season, with xwOBA's on his three major offerings all under the .300 level with a .291 on the fastball, a .265 on his changeup, and a .257 on his sweeper. Because of his changeup, Webb actually had reverse splits last year, limiting lefties to a .243 wOBA in total (and has a better wOBA against LHH over his career). While the team has not added a "major" reliever to their bullpen, the Cubs have added a handful of useful arms between Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, Caleb Thielbar and now Jacob Webb to help stabilize their pen. Webb likely won't settle into a back-end role, but could help to stabilize the middle-innings and could give the Cubs more match-up-options with his reverse splits. As well, Webb represents another contract that should not break the bank at $1,500,000, allowing the Cubs the flexibility this offseason on who or what their "big additions" could be. Tatsuya Imai or Alex Bregman both remain more-than-in-play from a salary standpoint after this contract. What do you think of the addition of Jacob Webb? Do you think he will help bring stability into the middle-innings? Sound off in the comments below! View full article

I have a hard time believing the team is under some impression than Imai is signing a short term deal. That doesn't pass a sniff test. Either they have always been mostly out on him, and all of the reporting that they've been interested in him has been wrong, or that the team is actually interested in him on a longer deal. No one has thought Imai was signing a short term contract. His agent is Boras. Also of note; the Cubs were seemingly less excited about a short term deal with King. Any short term contract with Imai would obviously be opt out heavy and the Cubs basically punted that option per Sharma and Mooney around the WM. Kaplan has connections to Crane Kenney but he also doesn't break news often about the Cubs. So hard to tell whether this is something we should place a lot of belief on or not a lot of belief in.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs have agreed to a split-level contract with free agent catcher Christian Bethancourt, which would pay the player $1,600,000 if he is on the major league roster. The catcher spent his most recent season in the Toronto Blue Jays' system, appearing in 58 games with their Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, where he struggled with a 42 wRC+. Despite his struggles in 2025, Bethancourt had a successful stint with the Chicago Cubs the year prior, after being acquired from the Miami Marlins. He would go on to post a .281/.305/.509 line, smashing three home runs and finishing with a 125 wRC+ in 59 plate appearances. Bethancourt is not being signed with an eye toward starting with the major league club, as the team projects to have Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya (as he returns from injury) man the backstop. However, as we saw with Amaya last year, you can never count out a rash of injuries at the position, which will strengthen the organization's depth there. This contract will allow the Cubs to stash their new signing in Iowa and have him serve as a "break glass in case of emergency" type of player. It's true that the club also has top prospect Moises Ballesteros available at the position, but he's still a work-in-progress defensively. He may be able to make a lot of strides over the winter, or he may still need work. With as many as 40-man spots on the team, they can afford this kind of luxury, having a few different options to choose from. If everything goes to plan, you'd hope you'll never need him, but having someone capable of playing the position is always important, as the team has learned in previous seasons. What do you think of Christian Bethancourt? Do you think he's a good addition as a third- or fourth-option at the position organizationally? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

It depends. There have been projections as low as $80m and high as $200m. It's hard to determine his market right now; who is in? Yankees have been reported to be mostly out, as have the Red Sox. The Giants are acting like they don't have money. The Dodgers don't seem to be in on the top end pitching market. So it's hard to figure out who's bidding this thing up to $190m. It could happen; teams "out" might not be, for example. We will see. I think it'll end up at $22m-24m AAV over about 6.

It's a split level deal so he can accept going to Iowa. I would bet he's on the 40 man so that the Cubs don't have to kick someone off if they need him. They have a ton of space on the 40, too.

That's your Reese McGuire for the 2026 season.