macarthur31

Jed has demonstrated aggression during his tenure - signing Counsell quickly in FA, trading for walk year Kyle Tucker... maybe the Bregman pursuit was "aggressive" in that he traded Bellinger to help pay for it with the fall-back plan was running rookie Matt Shaw out at 3rd base (even everyone knew that he needed to drop the high leg-kick batting swing). Aside from those, I can't recall many more daring moves during his five years as EVP. For Tom Ricketts, this is a feature, not a bug.

Ah! I'm happy to stan for BYCTOM which stands for Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat. The moniker is a reference to a lyric of "Wild Cats", a super obscure Northwestern University fight/spirit song. As a long suffering Northwestern University sports fan, I often visit their blog, which is mainly ruminations on Northwestern sports (very much in the same tone), but also dabbles into Chicago sports and sports in general. If you like that post, then check out the brilliant "The Chicago Cubs Have Spiraled into the Toilet Zone" (8/27/25) which includes riffs like:

Ah! I'm happy to stan for BYCTOM which stands for Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat. The moniker is a reference to a lyric of "Wild Cats", a super obscure Northwestern University fight/spirit song. As a long suffering Northwestern University sports fan, I often visit their blog, which is mainly ruminations on Northwestern sports (very much in the same tone), but also dabbles into Chicago sports and sports in general. If you like that post, then check out the brilliant "The Chicago Cubs Have Spiraled into the Toilet Zone" (8/27/25) which includes riffs like:

While I'm hopeful that it's too early to be thinking '26 and beyond roster construction, it's been a fascinating puzzle given Shota's unique contract. You covered why the Qualifying Offer would likely be the most financial savvy move, however unsure if that's worth the cost of triggering bad vibes with Shota and FO. However, here's a few reasons why it'd be worth the Cubs to pick up the extension: Per sportico, his extension would only be $13.5M vs. the salary tax each season. He'd be taking up the Jamo Taillon role ($17M against tax, expires in '27) on the squad as unflappable veteran. While the Cubs are paying him $5.5M in actual monies, I'd imagine that can be offset by the merch moved domestically and in Japanese markets Japanese market - Amazon Prime Video has the MLB Contract in Japan, and shows 54 regular season games a year - mainly focusing on teams like Cubs with Japanese players; fanbase's embrace of Shota positions Chicago as a favorable destination for Japanese FAs (I mean, there's only so much room on the Dodgers roster, right? *pause* Right?!?) Genuine positive locker room presence, and the "Throwing Philosopher" can mentor up and coming pitchers. Despite impending labor stoppage, Cubs books are quite clean heading into '27. Only Swanson ($28M) is locked, while Busch is ARB 1 (and if he continues apace, that should be a decent sized check). Otherwise, it's just mutual Options for both Boyd ($15M) and Kelly ($7.5M) Here are reasons why I could see them not extending: Despite practically immaculate books, Ricketts wants to clean as much off. Jed's irrational confidence in spamming the "Colin Rea $6M/1Y" play Already committed money to TOR FA signings Freddy Peralta and Dylan Cease. Reinforced windows and doors that keep pitchfork and torch toting fans from destroying offices.