Bertz
-
Posts
13,319 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
37
Content Type
Profiles
Joomla Posts 1
Chicago Cubs Videos
Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking
News
2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
Guides & Resources
2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
The Chicago Cubs Players Project
2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker
2026 Chicago Cubs Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses
Blogs
Events
Forums
Store
Gallery
Everything posted by Bertz
-
Would also indicate the plan with the bullpen is not as spartan as what Trueblood heard. If the plan is going into March with ~4 spots filled and then just throwing out a small army of relievers in ST to compete for the last four there's no reason not to take a live arm here and just cross your fingers and hope he learns to throw strikes in the next four months.
-
Yikes
-
-
Elite is a strong word but if the team signed Bregman they'd be looking at this lineup? Steamer projected wRC+ in parentheses. Hoerner (107) Busch (122) Suzuki (121) Ballesteros (108) Bregman (120) Happ (114) Kelly (100) PCA (108) Swanson (98) With Shaw (107) as the 10th man. There's not a 150 wRC+ monster anywhere but that's a lineup that will do some bludgeoning.
-
I've been pretty all in on Cabrera since July, so I hope this makes it across the finish line. I also assume the sudden cacaphony around Alex Bregman is tied to an increasing belief from the FO that they're going to address SP via trade. Bregman is not where I'd personally throw my cash after addressing SP on a shoestring, but it's hard to argue that something like Cabrera, Bregman, Keller isn't a significant infusion of talent this offseason.
-
I can't imagine in 2025 thinking pitchers, especially those in their mid 20's, are a cast die.
-
I think there's going to be less certainty than I'd like but I'm becoming less and less worried that Trueblood's article will come to pass.
-
He'd be an interesting conversation point for how to weight playoff performance, because by regular season performance I'm not even sure he would warrant making the ballot.
-
-
I don't have any specific names, but I think there's a good argument to pick a defensive minded infielder
-
Worth noting that the Nats are/were one of the handful of teams who haven't really properly modernized their pitching dev.
-
Two guys the Cubs added last offseason made the all star team and Kelly came damn close to making it three
-
Okay yeah consider that dam busted What a terrible 10 minutes for Mets fans lol
-
Hopefully the dam breaks now
-
-
Cubs batters last year took 6162 plate appearances. That is essentially 10 full time hitters plus a 2025 Justin Turner on top for good measure. The Cubs can, even in a world where we assume no lengthy injuries, sign an everyday 3B and still give two of the kids semi-everyday at bats (think what Shaw got last year). When you consider the inevitable injuries it's relatively safe to assume they can balance a third one.
-
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6874240/2025/12/08/cubs-will-pursue-high-leverage-relief/ Thank god, Sahadev to the rescue Hell yeah, sing it Jed Uhhhh.... Alright alright back on track *sigh* I'll say this does not sound as spartan as Ryne Stanek and a bunch of NRIs. It DOES sound like Brad Keller or Pete Fairbanks and a bunch of NRIs, but I think Matt's source is probably a bit more bearish than where we're going to actually net out.
-
I think it's also fair to point out that Kantrovitz got hired in October of '19. So it wasn't just the generally disruptive force of COVID, it was that on top of doing it in a new org.
-
Yeah honestly the two easiest ways to reconcile what we're consistently hearing are: - Payroll is a little higher than we're expecting (nothing crazy...an extra 10-15 mil would do the trick) - The team has all these balls in the air but in the end one of their three needs is not actually going to get addressed in FA Hopefully if it is the latter case handle it via trade rather than just punting on it completely.
-
It feels somewhat clear that the team's FA pref list is Imai followed by King followed by Gallen. What isn't clear is what would it take to push them into the trade market as opposed to free agency. Especially because every bat we've heard about (sans a random Jo Adell nod over a month ago) has been to guys who will make a healthy salary. And the idea of signing both a FA bat and arm of substance from here undermines our assumptions about payroll.
-
Apparently Heyman is blowing a lot of smoke about the Cubs and Imai. Given the Heyman/Boras stuff you could read that one of two ways.
-
Bingo. There is nothing immediately behind Dansby/Hoerner/Shaw. If Caissie fails there's Mo, or Alcantara, or Long. Even after a hypothetical Alex Bregman signing Shaw is less redundant than the lesser of Caissie/Mo.
-
I'm also not a huge Murakami fan but he is a 26 year old who projects to 4 WAR/600 PAs. So that contact risk is scary but also why he's looking at $180M and not twice that.
-
Murakami doesn't fit this, but if you add a RHH who can cover 3B and don't subsequently deal Shaw away you've got probably the ideal balance of giving runway to the kids while insulating yourself from the downside of them struggling.
-
Sahadev Sharma has name checked Stanek as well, so there definitely seems to be something here. That said he can't be the only guy from here. Stanek screams out as a good buy low candidate but this bullpen needs *at least* three relievers you feel good about closing a game on day 1 next season. The team can miss me with the handwringing about roster room. The bullpen right now is Palencia, Maton, and six open spots. Let's hold two of those for guys who end up on the outside looking in for the SP mix (e.g Rea and Brown). Let's hold one for whichever minor league vet shows out most in ST. That's still three openings. The team last year correctly identified the need for depth and had Daniel Palencia open the year as the first guy up at Iowa. Hodge should be on exactly the same track. The shopping list should be two Staneks and a Keller unless/until they make trade(s) to significantly improve the crop of optionable arms at Iowa.
