*******Official Cubs 2025 Thread*******
- Thread starter hawkifann
- Start date
Speaking of the Dodgers and their 40 man, they just had to part ways with Diego Cartaya, a former top level catching prospect who didn't adapt to AAA pitching after mashing at the lower levels. He might be a guy to grab and put in Des Moines to see if you can fix something. He's had injuries for 2 seasons, but he's got an option left, so you could use him as a break glass in case of emergency catcher. All he'd cost is a minor prospect.
Yoan Moncada's agent is pushing a Cubs angle.
Hard pass. He hasn't been terribly productive for 3-4 years, and last year was a bust.
I also see Boras is whispering the Cubs and Bregman. He might have overplayed his hand 2 years in a row with some of his top level clients.
Hard pass. He hasn't been terribly productive for 3-4 years, and last year was a bust.
I also see Boras is whispering the Cubs and Bregman. He might have overplayed his hand 2 years in a row with some of his top level clients.
I actually like Moncada as a bounce-back bench piece as Matt Shaw insurance, depending on what else they do. Health is obviously a question and he has to be cheap and you’re not putting him directly into a starting role, but he has more real, actual upside than anyone else in that bench/IF/utility market.
Well, he was #2 in bWar for the White Sox last season. So, there is that.
2021 is that last time he was healthy, good, or both. He's a bag of magic beans.
It really depends on what you do with that spot. If they go for a Bregman to start at 3B, keep Nico and then use Shaw as utility until he forces his way in, then there’s certainly no room for Moncada - but if they don’t both sign a starting 3B AND keep Nico, then Shaw is likely starting and someone is coming in as depth/insurance in case Shaw has lengthy struggles. Of those kinds of guys, you can go high floor or high ceiling. Moncada would easily be the highest ceiling you could find for that sort of role, and certainly he could be completely unable to stay on the field or completely flame out.
Thanks.
Can you confirm the option status of Canario? Spotrac still shows him having 1 left. It seems like he's been given more option years than Cam McCormick had college eligibility years....
This one is confusing. My understanding is that he’s out of options. I went back and looked through his MLB transactions (you can find his profile page and do this yourself if you wish). Since it’s through MLB.com, I take it as the “official” source.
Giants added him to their 40-man roster in Nov. 2020. Once added to the 40-man, anytime you’re assigned to the minors, you’re “optioned”, so he was optioned in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for his 3 standard option years, but last year he was given an extra option year like Kilian is this year. (Kilian wasn’t on the 40-man when the KB deal happened, he wasn’t added until June 2022, meaning his 3 standard option years were 2022, 2023 and 2024, leaving him a year behind Canario).
I don’t think Canario is getting an extra year, but I’ll look into it. You’re right that Spotrac shows him with 1 left, but FanGraphs (Roster Resource) does not. If I hear anything, I’ll report back.
Pinged a few people. As best we can tell, Canario has no options and it’s an error by Spotrac currently
Sounds as if Nolan Arenado isn’t going anywhere. Unless Boston decides it wants him. With the market so small on him. Cards would be better off to keep him and hope for rebound. His contract will be less. And contenders should be more interested.
I think if it goes past mid January. Bergman ends up with a Matt Chapman type deal.
Bregman and Moncada are both guys I like for different reasons. Moncada is interesting because he’d be cheap Matt Shaw insurance. He’s going to make very little, but he’s a guy who has shown real ability in the past and he’s much more worthy of a bench bat gamble than some of the guys they’ve carried recently. If they wind up with Bregman, then Shaw probably opens the season at 2B if Nico isn’t ready post-surgery or he’s in a super-sub role if he is.
Former O's pitcher, No. 4 pick Matusz dies at 37
Left-hander Brian Matusz, a 2008 first-round draft pick who spent most of his eight-year career with the Orioles, died Monday at 37.
Sad deal. Got a WS ring with the Cubs
Yeah, I saw that. Shocking and sad. He pitched one game for the Cubs, and it was a magical win. He didn't pitch well, but it was a helluva game. As I recall he was on a contract that forced the Cubs to call him up by a certain date, or release him. So, he comes out of nowhere, makes one start, gets roughed up, leaves the game and is released the next day.Former O's pitcher, No. 4 pick Matusz dies at 37
Left-hander Brian Matusz, a 2008 first-round draft pick who spent most of his eight-year career with the Orioles, died Monday at 37.www.espn.com
Sad deal. Got a WS ring with the Cubs
Alright, I won't obsess over this much more, but cheap and bad isn't insurance. He had 40 ABs last season, went to Winter ball to prove himself, and got injured there.
If Bregman wants to take a realistic deal I'd listen. Hate to lose the picks and the IFA money, but Jed needs to make a splash. Even a short term deal would take a lot of cash, however, and I'd hate for that to impact SP and bullpen additions.
Well, the obvious key with Moncada is that the team has to believe they have the ability to get him on the field and productive. They’d have to have a specific plan for him, if not, then stay far away. My main point (whether Moncada or someone else) is that if I’m signing a bench bat and a bit of an insurance policy at 3B, I’d rather place a bet on a guy who has shown real MLB skill vs. someone who’s just years of “meh”.
But if you don’t believe in Moncada, then stay far, far away.
Scrap heap guy who never put it together. I'm guessing this was $50,000 and a hearty handshake kind of deal. He throws a decent mix of pitches, and the Cubs figured they might find a flaw the Rangers missed. If not, he gets DFA'd.
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He’s a Tread guy who worked with Zombro before and his stuff is a mix of Tyson Miller and Trevor Williams, from what I’ve read this afternoon. You hit the important part, though - Cubs are only a little cash invested, so if they don’t get what they want out of him early, he can be cut any time.
Kind of sad for Mastrobuoni. I still think he has the skill set to stick, but he didn’t get many runs as a true utility player. He was either forced into RF platoon duty (early 2023), starting SS (when Dansby & Nico were down) or largely left on the bench. When he got regular play, he played fairly well. In any case, the writing was on the wall when the Cubs picked up Workman.
He’s the only 1B on the 40-man roster, though Amaya and Canario have both played some in the minors. Brujan and Workman can both play 3B, but neither should be considered a starting option if Shaw has big struggles. More moves to come.
EDIT: Was incorrect on Canario. It was Amaya that played some 1B while rehabbing from TJ surgery. Canario has only played OF and then DHed when he was rehabbing.
I guess Cowles has had a fair amount of time at 3B during his minors career (a lot more than Brujan’s total of 23 games in minors/MLB), but he’s even further away from being the Cubs’ 3B option.
Busch is still the only one on the roster who has played primarily 1B or 3B in his baseball career. Seems weird.
I’m a little irritated the Cubs didn’t reach an agreement with Tucker yesterday. $2.5 million is a fairly big difference, but given what he represents and their payroll flexibility I don’t understand why an offer $100,000 over the middle wasn’t thrown out to him? Maybe it was and Tucker is standing firm? Seems silly. He’s arguably the best player on the team before ST begins.
15.8 was the expected # so I think Tucker's agent was trying get a higher amount thinking the Cubs would agree because they don't like to go to arb. Hopefully they settle around 16.5 before a hearing.
Cubs sign Colin Rea. He’s a lot better than that Jap pitcher everyone wants.
I really dislike this Colin Rea signing for a lot of reasons. Mostly because it seemingly means this is the last starting pitching addition and the Cubs aren't going to spend up close to the luxury tax. We didn't need another league average starter when we have a bunch of young ones that are optionable and don't cost 5 million.
Hopefully he/Jed prove me wrong but I'm very skeptical
Hopefully he/Jed prove me wrong but I'm very skeptical
I hope it doesn't mean they got a thumbs down from Roki. Maybe they will spend on a closer?
So we are just going to pick a guy out of the bleachers each day to play 3B?
What are we doing?
I think it’s too early to know this yet. It may wind up being true, but given Cubs recent history and what they talk about all the time, I think they’l spend north of $220-225M, which is $20-25M more than where they are now. Cubs also have a depth of interesting arms, so I’m not ruling out another trade at this point.
The plus to Rea is that he can eat innings. The Cubs have Boyd, Wicks, Brown and Horton as starters/depth that didn’t combine for 150 innings last year and Rea pushed 170. He’s a hedge against guys not being able to take enough innings.
Pretty sure it is Shaw's job barring something unexpected
I was surprised the Brewers declined their option on Rea. Dude almost always kept his team in the game & occasionally was really good. But, I give the Brewers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pitching. Also, he's an Iowa native for you guys to pull for.
Cubs have a bunch of guys that could fill the back end of the rotation who missed a lot of time last year, so Rea’s ability to come in and eat innings is A) an upgrade over last year’s version of Hendricks and B) a hedge against guys who might not be able to make 25 starts.
So....I guess the Cubs spent some $ to acquire Festa, just so they could DFA him 2 days later?
