macarthur31

I, too, am a relative newcomer to the site, and quickly have shared links to Trueblood's articles in my Cub group chats. NSBB has quickly become my go-to. IIRC, I was listening to a Lance Broz pod interviewing Zombro around this time last year, and at that time Brad Keller had just signed on as a minor league contract. Zombro had suggested to "look out for Keller," and right as rain, that dude went from upside flyer to bedrock of the Cubs 'pen. Perhaps, this foretells another case study to look for in '26.

Uhh... I don't know if I should feel good about this.

Shota Imanaga has been recording a podcast in the offseason - SHOTAISM. From the link: I came across it as I follow CubbyMike76 on Twitter, and he had previously did summaries of the podcast. He linked this English version. If you look at CubbyMike's account, you can catch his summaries of further episodes (which include revealing a Spring Training teambuilding activity where he and Dansby had lunch together to learn about each other's journey. Dansby comes off as such a great teammate in that exchange, as well as a cameo from Justin Steele who also shows up in the most Justin Steele way). I was already a big Shota fan, and after listening (and reading those summaries from CubbyMike), I'm even more of a fan of this guy.

Rates and Barrels pod with Eno Sarris and Derek VanRipen spend the first 35 minutes of this ep examining the Bregman signing, as well as the knock on effects for Matt Shaw. Sarris notes that Bregman is 40% better than league average at both walking and not striking out, and that combo is unicorn type stuff. He generates the comps list of 8 other players that have done that in MLB history, and how they did after age 31. There's some serious variance: Lenny Dykstra was the lowest, having generated 5.6 WAR while Joe Morgan put up 46.7 WAR! Sarris notes: "...just not striking out and walking and having defensive value like he does...puts him in a place where the average guy that was his comp after 31 put another 20 wins on the table..." Of course, injuries can happen and it could be cut short - but overall, that's a good list to be on.

Cubs Pitching Infra was able to squeeze 43.2 IP, 3.09 ERA, 1.145 WHIP outta Chris Flexen last year. Man, I'll take s'more of that.

That Keith Law/Athletic comment was interesting - at the time, the team seemed to do an effective job of mitigating the controversy of Shaw's attendance at the memorial services/political rally (it was reported as vetted by several veteran players and Counsell, as it was outside of the MLB bereavement policy). However, just because the veterans were consulted doesn't necessarily guarantee that it was wholly endorsed. I'm intuiting that Dansby Swanson was among the consulted - he who played games while tending to his wife Mallory as she suffered complications in recovering from surgery, I wondered how that landed on him. Again, I don't necessarily see urgency in having to move Shaw because he's a "clubhouse cancer" or whatever - I expect that they can roll with Shaw being the "super sub", but I intuit that Jed might be more open to exploring deals with Shaw than Hoerner.

(Didn't know if this belongs in "General Baseball", but posted here since it's relevant to minor leagues, and given Lance's presence on Marquee, mentally I got him as a Cubs guy) Given we're in the quiet part of the off season (that is, until Jed lands one of the Big 4. *cough, cough*), wanted to flag this video posted by Lance Brozdowski that examines the changing landscape of MLB development. I saw recently that MLB was going to start regulating the use of data/tech across the minor leagues, which seemed curious to me. Anytime MLB wants to spend on anything, it raises hackles for me. I also hold a mental model that the Cubs have invested in data/tech in their own infrastructure, and wondered if this undercut any advantages that have been built with this move. Lance examines the Commissioner's latest comments around further contraction of MiLB, and the implications of shifting the onus of development towards college baseball - which is experiencing it's own chaos and complexity with regards to the implementation of Name, Image and Likeness, and the migration of managing talent like Tony Vitello to the major leagues. Finally, Lance forecasts a scenario in the next CBA where MLB tries to emulate the NHL with regards to drafting the rights to undergrad players. It definitely got me thinking around how Jed/Carter are trying to navigate this shifting landscape, and attempts at identifying advantages. Not that I grew up in a minor league baseball town, and perhaps I'm more of a baseball romanticist than I realized - but I'm sad at the notion of closing more minor league teams. I intuit there's something positive about ensuring baseball is connected to as many places across the country, as well as the civic/placemaking benefits of sports (when it's not totally subsidizing billion dollar stadia, though). While change is inevitable, and continuous improvement is a good thing - it just feels like these shifts are more about increasing profits rather than sustaining the game long term.

Just saw that AZ Phil posted the 18 Cubs minor leaguers eligible for selection in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Among them: Burl Carraway (2020 2nd rd pick) Ed Howard (2021 1st rd pick) Jordan Ngowu (2020 3rd rd pick) Now on first blush, it seems like a real bummer that our 2021 1st round pick didn't pan out to getting to the major league roster, or even as part of a productive trade. However, Is this the usual hit (or miss) rate for 1st-3rd round picks with regards to being made available to the Rule 5 Draft?

Some tea leaves on Imai: https://x.com/JustBB_Media/status/1993027294932484332?s=20 On why he'd rather play on a team without Japanese members: https://x.com/NekoSuke5_5_2/status/1992971578351694164?s=20

Thanks for the writeup! While I align with the "pump the brakes" rec on hyping him, I love seeing a late round pick making noise. Plus, given hes a C, we can still wait on him. Hoping that we hear more late round picks generating some juice in 26.

Ok, Owen Ayres! We see you!

Cubs extend Rea for 6.5M + 6.5 club option in '27. Currently Rea, Assad, Wicks project as fighting for the 4 and 5 slots. Assume that Jed picks up a 2/3 in offseason, now they're fighting for the 5th. Finally, Steele will come back mid summer (fingers crossed), and those guys are depth. Of course, Jamo, Cade and Boyd may not post all those starts, so that's solid depth to pull from. Assad and Wicks both have 2 options each, so there's flexibility there. I was hoping Jed would shoot for a couple 2/3 guys, so that option isn't totally off the table, but I intuit that Rea is a real nice security blanket in case that doesn't shake out.

Stroman signing was certainly assertive, and the Cubs also got out at the right time with him. (I also wondered if they were fatigued with his social media/public persona.) On that note, I can't recall any bigger FA signing that they regret letting go too soon. Sure, Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam have thrived, but they seemed to benefit better from the change of scenery/system. Maybe Mike Tauchman? 1.9 WAR on just 1.95M is good business. Hindsight says that he may have been able to step in for Tucker and PCA and be a steady lefty bat (.263/.356/.400), but the counter is that at some point you gotta give ABs to ONKC, Alcantara and Bally. (With regards to Shota, I align with FO that 3 years at $57 may not be worth it.) Boyd signing was also a winner - however, at the time of the signing, it seemed like a solid upside play. Boyd had succeeded as a starter before, and $29M/2Y was affordable and short-term. To your point, there are TOR guys out there, and I'd love to see Jed land one sooner rather than try to wait 'em out. All in all - I'm holding hope that this money being cleared out (Shota, Kitteredge, et al) and perhaps the uncertainty of the looming work stoppage will invite Jed to be more assertive earlier.

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.