Jason Ross

I think boiling it down to "he's a year behind" is kind of hand waving it away. If he was simply a year behind, we'd still expect an upward trend. It was opposite; he fell off a cliff as the year went with little development. He wasn't making better swing decisions, wasn't making more contact, wasn't making harder contact, his swing path flattened out more... Point is, I don't think it's as simple as "Well, he's a year younger!" I really don't think I see anything his data that suggests he was getting better against MLB pitching. I don't wish ill on Cam, honestly, whether he does well or not, I'll be fine. But I really don't see much in there that makes me think it's as simple as his age or experience. I think he need a bunch of work; his swing is an issue.

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Eli Morgan - Relief Pitcher Age on Opening Day 2026: 30 Service Time: 3.1 years 2023 salary: League Minimum 2024 salary: League Minimum 2025 salary: League Minimum 2026 projected salary: $1,100,000 Background: Eli Morgan was acquired from the Cleveland Guardians last offseason. The Cubs had seen their bullpen fail in September 2024, succumbing to injuries and ineffectiveness. Morgan was coming off a sub-2.00 ERA, fueled by good contact suppression. Never much of a strikeout artist, with a fastball averaging under 92 mph, Morgan was still a useful part of a contender's bullpen. 2025 Season: The 2025 season was not one to remember for Morgan. He would log just a fraction over seven innings for the Cubs, as he suffered a right elbow impingement in April. Despite attempting a comeback during the season, he was ultimately shut down in August. It's hard to judge Morgan's truncated campaign. His numbers were awful across the board, posting an ERA over 12.00; a strikeout rate of 11.4%; and an xFIP of 6.00. However, considering it was just seven frames and he was clearly injured, it's difficult to see how much was regression and how much his injury contributed Cubs' Depth at reliever: Likely on the MLB roster: Daniel Palencia, Porter Hodge, Andrew Kittredge (1-year option) On the 40-man roster: Jack Neeley, Jordan Wicks, Luke Little, Javier Assad, Gavin Hollowell, Ethan Roberts Triple-A options: Jaxon Wiggins, Tom Cosgrove, Riley Martin Summary: The Cubs acquired Morgan to help fix an ailing bullpen. Sadly for both the Cubs and Morgan, he did not help accomplish that. The reliever was always likely to see some regression, as his xFIP sat well above 4.00 even in his ostensibly excellent 2024, but due to his contact suppression, he's got the profile of a FIP-beater. This wasn't the season either side had hoped for, but the injury does give Morgan a bit of an excuse. Why the Cubs should offer Eli Morgan a contract: Morgan was really good in 2024. Not only did he have a stellar 1.93 ERA on the season, but the crafty hurler had an expected ERA of 2.57. He accomplished this with elite marks in preventing hard contact and keeping the ball in the park. Morgan doesn't need overpowering stuff to be useful. When you add in how good the Cubs' defense should remain going forward, he still seems like a potentially strong option. Why the Cubs should not offer Eli Morgan a contract: The margins for someone like Morgan are precariously thin, as he does not suppress contact through overwhelming stuff. With a below-average heater, the only pitch Morgan throws that grades out above average on shape models is his changeup. He does not offer strong whiff numbers, despite inducing a lot of chase. Elbows are fragile, and it's hard to tell exactly what to expect from Morgan after suffering an elbow problem this year. Projection: The Cubs are likely to tender Morgan a deal, but settle before they go to arbitration at a number below what MLB Trade Rumors projects. Morgan, coming off of a lost year, likely doesn't want to hit the market, and the Cubs are losing much of their bullpen heading into 2026. Depth is always important, when it comes to the pen. Because of this, I think the two can agree on a deal south of the $1,100,000 projection. Even if it's that number or higher, though, this won't be a troublesome line item on the budget. If Morgan does return, expect his grasp on a relief role to be tenuous. The Cubs wasted little time cutting relievers last year, as they reimagined their bullpen unit throughout the season. Veterans Ryan Pressly, Julian Merryweather and Chris Flexen were all designated for assignment by the end of July, after starting the season as key arms. Morgan would be a low-leverage guy, though he could work his way up the pecking order if he can look like his 2024 self. What do you think will happen with Eli Morgan? I think I already let the cat out of the bag there. The Cubs have better info than we do on Morgan's elbow and his stuff during rehab work after the injury, but unless the prognosis is worse than you'd guess, they're likely to bring him back. Would you tender Morgan a contract? What should the Cubs do? Let us know in the comments and spark a conversation. View full article

"Unknown Finalist" is also a possibility per the article. They could still hire the guy in the mascot getup. Don't count them as sane yet.

Yeah, I think there are some narrow pathways in which the Cubs would tender him, but I think in the end, he'll probably end up somewhere else. With that said, I feel a little like we haven't seen the last of McGuire in a Cub uniform? He seems like the exact kind of player who a team signs to be their backup, he struggles, gets the DFA and then ends up back with the Cubs in Iowa come June. Or a guy who the Cubs trade a low-level prospect for when Amaya gets knocked out again. Credit to Reese for even making this debatable.

He even checks the boxes of things the Cubs tend to target. He's a pronator, not a supinator, he has a low-arm angle slot (look at how the Cubs lowered the arm angles of many of their SP's last year), and he's got real funk - he throws a reverse slider. The Cubs are not afraid of pitches that stuff+ models don't like (they went heavy on mediocre and bad 4 seam shapes last year) and they always love a little funk. I really think Imai hits a lot of the internal boxes. And what it would allow them to do is to spend their 2nd round compensation elsewhere if they wanted to. Tucker is going to net the team a 2nd round pick and they have been more willing to spend on comp players when they already were getting a pick back. So I think if you want a big offseason, Imai might be the pathway.

Image courtesy of © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images C : Reese McGuire Age on Opening Day 2026: 31 Service Time: 5.1 years 2023 Salary: 1,225,000 2024 Salary: $1,500,000 2025 Salary: $2,000,000 2026 Salary (Projection): $1,900,000 Background: Reese McGuire signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs in January 2025. The veteran catcher was expected to split catching duties in Iowa with top prospect Moises Ballesteros while waiting in the wings in case of injury befalling either Carson Kelly or Miguel Amaya. McGuire had bounced around between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox in previous seasons as a backup. Despite carrying a disappointing career wRC+, his 87 wRC+ against RHP suggested that in a limited role, he could be a useful member of an MLB organization. 2025 Season: When Amaya hit the IL this summer, the Cubs turned to the left-handed hitting catcher to fill in. Hitting not one, but two home runs in his first game with the Cubs, McGuire planted himself on the MLB roster throughout the rest of the season, finishing with a somewhat respectable (for a catcher) 86 wRC+ while allowing his strong defensive ability to carry him to being worth 0.8 fWAR in 140 plate appearances. It looked like the Cubs might have needed to move on from Reese around the trade deadline, but a second injury to Amaya once again showed his importance to the organization as he finished out the year as Kelly's understudy. Cubs Depth at Catcher: Carson Kelly: 115 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR (111 games) - 40 man roster Miguel Amaya: 124 wRC+, .9 fWAR (28 games) - 40 man roster Moises Ballesteros: 120 wRC+, .3 fWAR (20 games) - 40 man roster* *denotes an optionable player Summary: McGuire was probably as good as could have been hoped for. The catcher hit nine home runs in 140 plate appearances, which was triple his previous career high, while providing plus defense at arguably the most important defensive position on the diamond. It's likely that the Cubs got a bit lucky, as well, considering that McGuire's .290 wOBA crushed his expected wOBA of .266. Regardless, he was exactly what a backup catcher should be: available and capable. Why the Cubs should offer him a contract: Good catching is in short supply around the league. Even with hitters like Cal Raleigh, who went bananas in the 2025 season, MLB catchers posted a 94 wRC+; it's not easy to hit and be behind the dish on a daily basis. Beyond just how poor league catching is, catchers get banged up pretty often. Amaya lost half of the season and he isn't unique in losing games to injury; we can expect that the Cubs will need an emergency third catcher at least once in 2026. While the North Siders do have a top prospect in Moises Ballesteros who, in theory, can catch, the reality is that his defense is still a work in progress and I'm not sure he can be trusted to pick up catching duties at the MLB level just yet. Why the Cubs should not offer him a contract: With the way MLB rosters are organized today—i.e., they carry 13 pitchers—teams only get to carry four reserve hitters. What this means is that versatility is of the utmost importance. It's why players like Vidal Brujan continue to get looks. With Carson Kelly under contract for 2026, and Miguel Amaya set to be healthy, the Cubs will already have one of their four bench positions spoken for by a catcher-only type. The Cubs are unlikely to devote half of their entire bench to catchers. Projection: The Cubs non-tender Reese McGuire. I don't think this is necessarily because McGuire is not a capable MLB backup, but a circumstance of their current roster; Carson Kelly was too good in 2025, Miguel Amaya is too young and promising to give up on, and McGuire is not versatile enough. If the veteran catcher had an option left, I think the Cubs would be glad to carry him in Iowa, but he's probably been too good to have to settle for another minor league deal. When you add it all up, even though McGuire acquitted himself well in 2025, he will likely have to find a different organization to call home in 2026. What do you think about offering arbitration to Reese McGuire? Reese McGuire's arbitration case is a unique one. If the Cubs didn't have two capable catchers, he'd be a fine backup, especially at his projected price tag. At the same time, he's not so good you have to keep him around. There are interesting arguments to be made on both sides. View full article

Lance's guess was in the 7/$140m range. Which feels high for a pitcher and the Cubs, but with how arms are aging, and his age, I think that feels like a contract they could conceivably stretch to and it not be insane for the team. No compensation attached as well.

With the NPB guys coming over, Lance Brozdowski did a rundown on a lot of the high profile guys coming over. After looking at the Imai profile, I think the Cubs are going to like him a lot. He's got a lot of the things the Cubs enjoy. I'm not 100% sure they will go with him, but I think he'd be a guy the front office likes. If you told me he was at the top of their wishlist, I wouldn't be shocked.

I wouldn't rather see Owen Caissie. I like Caissie as a prospect, but the likelihood he's in the ballpark of Kyle Tucker's 140 wRC+ is unlikely for a rookie season. He struggled with velocity at times in Triple-A and he's not going to add much defensively. We can safely assume most, if not every single rookie will struggle and his contact rates, even if they got better, will be a hurdle. I do think he can be a good MLB player, but I think most of the people who say they'd rather see Owen Caissie in RF now will not feel that way come June 1st (I've seen how Cub fans have reacted to Pete Crow-Armstrong, Miguel Amaya, Matt Shaw and even the first stint of Ballesteros this year and it's never pretty). There very well may be a cross over point, where Caissie will be just as good of a hitter, but that's probably a 95% or better outcome. I also don't think that's going to come nearly as soon as many seem to think. And this is coming from someone who has always been on the high end of Caissie.

Matt Shaw posted a 99 wRC+ after he came back in May, and a 131 wRC+ in the second half of the season. Even his worst month in the second half was a 95 wRC+. None of that is "Triple-A" ish. His pathway with his bat literally mirrors what PCA did in 2024, it's fair to expect a similar 109 wRC+ possibility next year. As well, where he hit matters little. Who cares? Similar players to his hard hit% and EV's (to his second half, specifically) are players such as Isaac Parades and TJ Friedl, both of whom were well above league average hitters. The special sauce there is a significant pull% and guess who turned into one of the highest pull hitters in the league? Matt Shaw. You can overcome these things with pulling the baseball, exactly what he did. There's a lot we can say about Matt Shaw the person. As a baseball player, none of what you're suggesting here is correct. He was essentially an MLB league average hitter after returning in May, made significant progress in the second half, and did so in a way that is sustainable with a lower EV style. I'm not sure he's going to be a star baseball player, but his floor of a 2 - 2.5 fWAR player is clear and there's a pathway to be a good MLB regular.

It's a funny bitch. Anyone who says anything definitive about a prospect on draft day is talking about things they do not understand. You really have to be prepared to be wrong and left with egg all over your face every time you have an MLB draft opinion.

Even Lance Brodzowski wasn't very high on him....just two months ago! It's funny how these things go. It's really hard to get these 100% correct. Lance is at the forefront as to what I'd consider pitching analysis and even he came away kind of unenthused with Yesevage. I'll still take a bit of a wait and see approach, but recent results certainly suggest that he is better than advertised.

His BABIP was .40 points lower than his career numbers yet all of his batted ball data was better. His xwOBA was also his career high. All of his predictive data suggests not only was this a good year, but his best season in Major League Baseball. His ISO was .30 points higher - not some asinine rise, either. Whether he hits 28 or 32 home runs next year,. there is nothing in his profile to suggest any downturn in power production coming like you are suggesting here. It wouldn't be a surprise at all for him to hit 30 home runs again.

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Depending on which prospect list you favor, the Chicago Cubs finished the year with somewhere between two and four top-100 prospects from their offensive ranks—players such as outfielders Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara, and catcher (or designated hitter) Moisés Ballesteros. The Cubs also saw other impressive performances, from positionless slugger Jonathon Long and shortstop Jefferson Rojas. Not everyone had their best season, but most of the Cubs' best prospects had solid seasons. Determining a winner was difficult, but there was one player who (in my opinion) made the most progress, on top of having the best season. Honorable Mention: Jonathon Long, 1B/DH It's really hard to not give this award to Long, truly. He finished his campaign in Triple-A with a .305/.404/.479 slash line, good for a 131 wRC+. This, on its own, is really impressive, but it's when we go further into the data that the most impressive portions of his season become obvious. Not only did long strike out less than 20% of the time on the season, but he walked 13% of the time to go with it. Beyond a good approach, the batted-ball data Long posted hints at a ton of future success. Long was patient, didn't chase, and when he swung, he did damage, finishing in the 98th percentile for xwOBA. His barrel rate, exit velocity and hard-hit rate were all 80th percentile or better. Long has probably done all he needs to do in Iowa, and could be playing in the majors (for someone) by Opening Day 2026. 2025 Minor League Hitter of the Year: Owen Caissie I went back and forth between Long and Caissie, but I came down on the side of the lefty-hitting Canadian. The two had similarly good offensive seasons, with Caissie finishing with a 139 wRC+ to Long's 131. Caissie struck out more on the top line, but hit a few more home runs. You can make a strong argument for either, but I think the development that Caissie showed as the year wore on is the deciding factor. if there has been a knock on the big outfielder's game, it's been his low contact rates and copious strikeouts. Over his first two months, the hulking hitter was sitting at a 33.2% strikeout rate; this is just not good enough for someone who's had as much time in Iowa as Caissie has had (2025 was his second full campaign). After June 1, however, Caissie's strikeout rate steadily declined, sitting at a very good 23.9% for the rest of his time in Iowa. He saw a jump from a 105 wRC+ to a 165 from the first span to the second. This is sparkling; that's a true middle-of-the-order hitter. All of this would even culminate with the Canadian getting a small cup of coffee with the Cubs. It's true that Long had long stretches of great play, but the transformation Caissie showed was impressive. We should be careful not to assume Caissie's strikeout concerns are in the past, as with the amount of playing time he had in Iowa, part of the forward leap could simply be figuring out the league better. Pitchers in the majors can't be figured out the same way Triple-A arms can. With that said, I think this type of improvement is key, and really gives you an idea that he may he the type of slugging corner outfielder the Cubs can trust in 2026 if they lose Kyle Tucker to free agency. What did you think of Owen Caissie's year? Would you have had a different winner? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

He dropped his arm slot before. I do think the issue with his fastball and splitter were tied to the arm slot. It's really hard to get on top of the fastball when the arm slot drops. He was over 40 degrees last year. He never came close to where he was last year: But yeah. his velo drop should be noted, I don't want to go entirely against that.

The Cubs already tried to change him into 2025. I don't think the answer is velo. The Cubs dropped his arm slot, my guess, is to add to the sweeper. Didn't work, it left his fastball (high ride and needed to get to the top 3rd) sit more middle third. I think Shota is what Shota is. That's okay. His fastball at his velo plays top third, But it dropped in location due to a drop of arm slot.

His xwOBA was up. Which is more predictive. In fact, it was his career high. His BABIP was ,50 points under, despite having a better than career average hard hit%, pull rate, and barrel rate. Why exactly do you think that?

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images Pitching out of the bullpen is one of the more difficult things to quantify because they have the smallest sample sizes of almost any player, allowing for more wild swings in data, both year to year and month to month. There are also scoring rules that can hide poor performance, or instead, magnify struggles; if you surrender a run, but the previous pitcher put him aboard, your ERA isn't affected. Relievers of all kinds come and go, and even the best have odd years here or there. Entering the 2025 season, the Cubs had a mandate to fix an ailing bullpen. Down the stretch last season, the Cubs pen was seemingly a player short due to a handful of injuries and poor play. It wasn't a terrible bullpen, ranking 12th in ERA despite ranking 17th in xFIP and 19th in fWAR, but it was one that, over the last month of the season, just wasn't strong enough to hold together. To combat this, the Cubs added a few new faces, trading for Astros closer Ryan Pressly, Dodger's right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier, and Guardians' middle reliever Eli Morgan. They also signed veteran relievers like Caleb Thielbar. Those guys were added to returners such as Porter Hodge, Julian Merryweather, Tyson Miller, and Nate Pearson. To highlight how odd bullpens can be, the Cubs finished the season fifth in reliever xFIP despite the fact that only a single reliever who made the Cubs' Opening Day roster in Tokyo was also on hand against Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series. So, with the volatility of relievers clear in our minds, let's analyze how the Cubs' relief corps performed in 2025. Ungraded due to injury: Eli Morgan, Ryan Brasier, Tyson Miller, Michael Soroka I combined the three who were added to the Cubs' Opening Day roster (Eli Morgan, Ryan Brasier and Tyson Miller) but barely made an impact for the Cubs, as they would combine for just a fraction over 33 innings on the season. Morgan would spend most of the year on the 60-day IL, Miller would suffer an early-season left hip impingement and was then released mid-year, and Ryan Brasier would battle injury after injury and never really got his feet under himself. Brasier did post a .366 xFIP over 26 innings on the year, but his ERA was considerably higher. Michael Soroka was added to be a swingman at the trade deadline with the goal of helping both in the rotation and the bullpen, but almost immediately got hurt, pitching just two innings before suffering a strain. He had a rough outing in the NLDS, but I just don't think he was ever right. F: Ryan Pressly, Nate Pearson This is a harsh grade for someone who at times looked like he might turn a corner, but for what he was brought in to accomplish, I can't give him anything else. Pressly was almost immediately removed from the closers' position after struggling early. Perhaps his most memorable moment was imploding against the San Francisco Giants, surrendering nine runs and securing no outs in an extra-inning affair in early May. By the trade deadline, the Cubs released the veteran reliever who had a -0.3 fWAR on the year. This one just didn't work out. Nate Pearson had a really interesting second half of the 2024 season. While relievers such as Jose Cuas were thrown to the wolves in September, the former Blue Jay looked like an interesting multi-inning weapon headed into the 2025 season. Sadly for the Cubs, Pearson would only log 14 innings, walking more than he struck out, posting a terribly 7.27 xFIP and being worth -2. fWAR. Bullpen life can be cruel. D: Julian Merryweather, Porter Hodge Julian Merryweather, after a lost 2024 campaign, looked like there might still be some juice to squeeze early on, posting a 1.74 ERA over the course of his first 10 innings. Then, the wheels fell off: A 14+ ERA over his next 5 2/3 inning would do the reliever in, and the Cubs released him. I hesitated to give him a full F as he provided some value and, unlike Pressly, wasn't tasked with fixing the back end of the bullpen, but if you wanted to move him down a grade, I think that'd be fair. Porter Hodge had a terrible, no-good year, but I also chose not to dump him into the F tier because I think an early injury derailed him. I also chose to grade him over Ryan Brasier because he was healthy at times down the stretch portion of the year and the Cubs chose to option him. Hopefully, a full offseason and rehab returns the 2024 version of the righty to Chicago. B : Aaron Civale, Chris Flexen, Taylor Rogers Civale just wasn't with the Cubs long enough, but he gave them some good innings when they needed him. He didn't blow anyone away, but in 17 innings with the Cubs, he posted an ERA under 2.00. I don't want to give him too much credit—most of his workload was in low-leverage situations—but they were valuable contributions. Chris Flexen was added mid-season and was shockingly good for his first 29 innings, posting a 0.69 ERA over that span. I'd give him a bump,. but there were always signs that this was pixie dust; during that initial stretch, he had a shockingly low 14 K% and a 4.69 xFIP. In other words, the wheels were always going to fall off. When that happened, it got ugly, as Flexen was knocked around over his last 14 innings, surrendering 13 runs. He too was released, but those first 29 innings were useful, even if they were a little lucky. Taylor Rogers was acquired mid-season but never really ingratiated himself to the Cubs enough to be used in an important role. His 5.00+ ERA makes it seem like he was terrible in his short stint, but a 3.49 xFIP suggested otherwise. Seven of the lefties' 10 total runs surrendered with the Cubs came in back-to-back appearances in late August and early September. The southpaw was left off the NLDS roster, which showed where he truly was in the pecking order. A: Daniel Palencia, Andrew Kittredge, Caleb Thielbar, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller No one in this group could be graded as anything other than an A, and you could make an argument for almost every one of these as an "A+". The reason the Cubs bullpen was as good as it was in 2025 was because these five relievers were simply amazing. More amazing is that only Caleb Thielbar was on the Cubs' Tokyo Series roster proper (Palencia and Keller were announced as a part of the taxi squad originally). Keller, Thielbar and Palencia all broke the 1.0+ fWAR barrier on the season—a truly amazing feat when you consider the circumstances. Thielbar and Keller were nothing but castoffs looking for a home where they could rebuild value, and while Palencia always flashed a fun fastball, 2025 saw him refine his control and develop a true secondary offering. By the end of the season, these were some of the most reliable relievers the Cubs have had in years. Drew Pomeranz should be considered one of the best stories in baseball this year. Having not pitched in Major League Baseball since a stint in 2021 with the Padres, the lefty found new life after a mid-season trade from the Mariners to the Cubs. No one thought much of the acquisition, and yet, Pomeranz posted a 28% strikeout rate to go with a 2.17 ERA. Just an unreal year and a superlative comeback. Lastly, the Cubs acquired Andrew Kittredge at the deadline. While Mason Miller, Jhoan Duran, and David Bednar were likely bigger names, the former Oriole outpaced every reliever in the league after the deadline who wasn't Miller. With the Cubs, who adjusted some of his offerings, Kittredge posted a 3.32 ERA, which probably hid his 1.45 xFIP and 39% strikeout rate, (a 15% increase from his time in Baltimore). Oh yeah, don't forget, he also threw an immaculate inning. Overall: B+ This is a hard year to grade. On the surface, the bullpen originally announced for the Tokyo Series was ultimately a failure, with only Thielbar and Colin Rea (who I believe should be graded with the starters, and was thus left off the list) making it onto the NLDS roster. Many pitchers were hurt, but many failed outright. Along the way, the Cubs threw some spaghetti at the wall, with players such as Luke Little, Jordan Wicks, and Gavin Hollowell getting looks. But, the Cubs should get credit for savvy pickups along the way. Chris Flexen gave the Cubs all he had for a bit, and Aaron Civale pitched well enough after being released to make the playoff rosters. Their best relievers were scrapheap pickups, like Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, and Drew Pomeranz. And there was some real internal development with Daniel Palencia. In the end, the Cubs finished with a bullpen that out-pitched its xFIP a bit, probably didn't strike out enough hitters all the time. Still, it was an unquestionably good group, and that's all that really matters. For every Ryan Pressly who failed, a pitcher like Andrew Kittredge transformed the pen into a formidable unit. It was the bullpen who carried a bulk of the pitching in the playoff, after all. I think there were just enough who underperformed right off the bat to keep this grade from being an A, but I cannot imagine having this much internal turnover and getting any closer to one—credit to the Cubs for identifying useful arms and getting just the right amount of luck. The Cubs don't beat the Padres without this unit. View full article

PCA prior to ASB-2024: 63 wRC+ PCA August 2024: 153 wRC+ PCA September 2024: 90 wRC+ Matt Shaw prior to ASB-2025: 60 wRC+ Matt Shaw August 2025: 127 wRC+ Matt Shaw September: 95 wRC+ I wouldn't be so sure. The two had shockingly similar routes in their rookie seasons. Both faced swing decision questions and had mechanical fixes implemented during the season. Both were equally as not good through the break, Shaw really took off a bit earlier, so even though PCA outpaced him in August, if we just move the needle to ASB to Aug 31st for Shaw, it's a 154 wRC+. It's incredible how alike offensively the two performed. I don't think Matt Shaw is going to be the defacto NL MVP through May 31st next year, but do I think Shaw could match the 109 wRC+ PCA put up this year? Yes. Yes I do, if not a bit more.

The issue is present with the post. You are using yearly salary ($17m) and total contract value ($300+m). If The Cubs sign Kyle Tucker, they're not paying out $300m right away. It would be around a $13m increase (or so). What Bertz is trying to say is that the Cubs can both sign Tucker, and spend on pitching in 2026 without having to be the Dodgers. They're sitting around the $170-$180m mark on spending right now, which is $60m under the first LT line. Add in the extra $25m of revenue in playoff cash, as well as factoring in the amount of money dropping off from the 2026 roster cliff, the Cubs are in prime position to spend a bunch this year and still get under the LT again in a year. I think we both know that it isn't necessarily going to happen. But if the Cubs stopped behaving in the way that they have been, this is the offseason to sign both Tucker, a good SP and stock the pen. Ultimately, the Cubs will probably pick one or the other instead.

19th round pick in 2024 out of Marshall. I'm a prospect sicko and I only recognize the name because I watch Myrtle Beach games more than I should.