*******Official Cubs 2025 Thread*******
- Thread starter hawkifann
- Start date
Yep, as I thought. He got paid, good for him, but the associated costs were pretty high. I also think he’s about due to start seeing his velocity dip.
I think there’s space for both things to be true, but it’s all going to come down to what the business choice is. As things currently stand, the Cubs only have Dansby’s contract, arb/pre-arb guys extending past the current CBA and potentially Shota. I expect the Cubs to go into the end of the CBA wanting a LOT of flexibility to operate under whatever the new rules are, but that doesn’t preclude extending Tucker. Having one more guy at even $40-45M AAV wouldn’t fundamentally change their position of significant flexibility.
He reportedly turned down $250M+ guaranteed with no opt-outs from at least 1 AL East team (presumably Jays since they were reported as finalists along with the Giants), but it’s also been reported that he and his family live in Phoenix, so I think it’s a case of him getting enough (plus an opt-out) to justify staying home. Also, the lack of state income tax makes up a chunk of that money, too.
They do, I misread a tweet. It’s still quite low, though, and far less than he’d pay in NY or Toronto for sure, so that helps some of the difference. Plus he got the opt-out and his home base is Scottsdale, so there’s always some value in staying close to where the wife and kids are.
Mervis dealt for Vidal Brujan. I like it.
It's basically a swap of fringe guys. Mervis was blocked in the Cubs organization and Brujan fizzled for the Marlins. Both guys rose fast and didn't adjust to MLB pitching. Hopefully the chance of scenery helps each guy.
He got 127 MLB PAs. The Cubs clearly chose to go in other directions. Now we’re happy with Busch, so Mervis is entirely redundant. I’m fine with the trade and I wish Mervis the best. I think he’ll do well in Miami.
Those 128 at bats were pretty similar to what Anthony Rizzo got with the Padres in 2011 when he only hit about .140 . Fortunately for Rizzo, Theo Epstein had some familiarity with Rizzo and made the trade with the Padres, sending them one of the Cubs better pitching prospects in Andrew Cashner. Hopefully Mervis's career path will follow what Rizzo has been able to put up.
Agree. It’s entirely possible that the Cubs are 100% right about Mervis and he will struggle. I’m rooting for him, but mostly, I just want him to get a full shot. Some guys can’t transition to the bigs. Getting both Hosmer and Mancini annoyed me (all the more when they both sucked), but I was fine with the Busch trade and with this trade. I just get tired of hearing fans talk about him getting “every chance” when he got so little real work.
And, as 2024 closes, let's relive 3 minutes of Cubs 1979 baseball with Jack Brickhouse and Vince Lloyd ... 
Roki Sasaki's agent speaks about the process. He's really dangling it out there that development is the goal. The money is about the same no matter who signs him.
I continue to hold out hope that Sasaki wants to be more than a sidekick to Ohtani and Yamamoto in LA.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...ing-process-next-phase-expected-decision-line
I continue to hold out hope that Sasaki wants to be more than a sidekick to Ohtani and Yamamoto in LA.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...ing-process-next-phase-expected-decision-line
Not knowing the money, they got a depth guy. Not being a numbers weirdo he seemed to regress in some areas last year, but he took the ball 60 times. Until Luke Little proves he can throw strikes and say healthy they needed more lefty help.
Haven’t seen the money yet, but from a piece I read, he made $3.8M last year and the expectation was that he was going to take a decent pay cut to not retire. So maybe $1-2M? Not a lot of downside risk.
Most reports have Dodgers, Padres, Cubs & Mariners most consistently and prominently mentioned. Sometimes Yankees & Mets are mentioned, sometimes the Jays, but it’s mostly the first 4.
Dodgers will probably get him for a dollar down and 60 million over 50 yrs.
Except for the whole he can only make league minimum thing.
This is a really unique free agency (much like when Shohei came over). They can bid a little on signing bonus, but it all has to come out of the team’s international free agent pool, so while there can be some differences, offers won’t differ by more than a million or two. After that it’s the standard pre-arb and arb years any young player would have, with him being eligible for full free agency in 6 years.
Jed finally gets rid of Never-Nervous Mervis; he sure knows how to sell low. Looks like he might have had some seller's regret about dumping Madrigal, since he is basically replacing him with this guy. This was basically the same as a non-tender, as this Brujan dude has no options left and I see very little chance of him making the 26-man out of camp, or really ever contributing to the big-league club. He'll probably have a better chance of clearing waivers than Mervis would have had, so we basically will have a dude with some Major League experience sitting in Des Moines waiting for several of our infielders to get hurt.
I suppose that's true, and I'm glad he's gone, but I wonder if anyone else on the 40-man roster, which is now full, has even had the slightest taste of playing 1B as a pro?
I picture the Cubs signing a journeyman 1B this spring to replace Brujan or Mastro after one of them is DFA'd.
Last I saw for each team available. I agree with your sentiment a couple mil likely won’t sway his decision, and a team can theoretically trade for more cash.
| Team | Pool Amount |
| Athletics | $7,555,500 |
| Cincinnati | $7,555,500 |
| Detroit | $7,555,500 |
| Miami | $7,555,500 |
| Milwaukee | $7,555,500 |
| Minnesota | $7,555,500 |
| Seattle | $7,555,500 |
| Tampa Bay | $7,555,500 |
| Arizona | $6,908,600 |
| Baltimore | $6,908,600 |
| Cleveland | $6,908,600 |
| Colorado | $6,908,600 |
| Kansas City | $6,908,600 |
| Pittsburgh | $6,908,600 |
| Atlanta | $6,261,600 |
| Boston | $6,261,600 |
| Chicago Cubs | $6,261,600 |
| Chicago White Sox | $6,261,600 |
| Los Angeles Angels | $6,261,600 |
| New York Mets | $6,261,600 |
| New York Yankees | $6,261,600 |
| Philadelphia | $6,261,600 |
| San Diego | $6,261,600 |
| Texas | $6,261,600 |
| Toronto | $6,261,600 |
| Washington | $6,261,600 |
| Houston | $5,646,200 |
| St. Louis | $5,646,200 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $5,146,200 |
| San Francisco | $5,146,200 |
Canario played some 1B during rehab from his big leg injury, but otherwise, not really. Cubs are clearly going to make more bench moves, so I think getting someone who can play some 1B (probably hitting RH) is probably a good bet. Maybe a vet bench corner IF guy who could be insurance for 3B and backup for 1B.
I don’t see any way more than 2 of Brujan, Mastro, Vazquez and Workman are still on the 40-man by Opening Day, possibly only one of them. I’m not worried about 40-man spots at this point, there are still guys who can go.
Yep, that’s the starting point and as you note, teams can trade for more cash. Also worth noting is that a lot of teams already have verbal agreements for contracts with young Latino kids, so it will be interesting to see what teams seriously in play for Sasaki do. Do they forego some prior commitments to be all-in on Sasaki? That’s not a great look, but this is a pretty unique situation for a really talented player who can be an MLB success right now.
He has options. Most of those teams do not interest him, so it's about culture, growth, and the money works itself out. He also could be counting on which team/market could generate other revenue streams for him.
They are, I think I heard it’s for substantial money, too. Will be interesting to see. I’m sure there are teams out there (maybe even the Cubs) willing to burn a kid and pull the offer.
Dodgers become more and more of an interesting trade partner. They have a lot of young, blocked talent eating up valuable 40-man roster spots.
They are apparently going to bring Kershaw back, too. Which should give Sasaki pause.
