bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Was wondering if Alcantara would be part of it. I believe he's out of options.
Chicago Cubs 2026
I’m reminded of my back-to-back posts during a Cubs-Marlins game last year:
“The guys on the tv broadcast are absolutely right. No clue how this Cabrera kid for the Fish has 5.50 ERA. He’s throwing absolute filth.”
“Wow. Cabrera gets Ballesteros on a disgusting 94 mph “change up” with 15 inches of arm-side break. Then immediately follows it up with a meatball straight down the middle that Amaya deposits over the left field wall.
So, I guess I answered my question from the previous “
I think that sums up what we’re getting in Cabrera nicely. 28 years old with 3 years of club control.
“The guys on the tv broadcast are absolutely right. No clue how this Cabrera kid for the Fish has 5.50 ERA. He’s throwing absolute filth.”
“Wow. Cabrera gets Ballesteros on a disgusting 94 mph “change up” with 15 inches of arm-side break. Then immediately follows it up with a meatball straight down the middle that Amaya deposits over the left field wall.
So, I guess I answered my question from the previous “
I think that sums up what we’re getting in Cabrera nicely. 28 years old with 3 years of club control.
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
Ah! Missed that - apologies for the fake(ish) news
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
as long as his W/9 don't revert back to what it was prior to 2025.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Ugh...
And Ballesteros as DH.
Get Bichette or Bregman, please. Shaw is your super utilityman.
Yup. With Ballesteros and Austin as your LH and RH DHs.
I thought I saw Bichette re-signed with Toronto, but could be wrong.
And seems I am wrong. Still seeing rumors about places he might sign.
Hernandez was Cubs #11 prospect. DeLeon is talked about in the article I linked yesterday.
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Looks like the trade is Caissie, Christian Hernandez (middle infield, fringe top-100 prospect, 21 years old, at South Bend last year) and Edgardo De Leon (18 year old first baseman who spent the whole year in Arizona).
Pretty solid trade for the Cubs at first blush.
I think they’ll add one of the top four remaining bats - Tucker, Bellinger, Bergman or Bichette - and then likely call it an off season.
Pretty solid trade for the Cubs at first blush.
I think they’ll add one of the top four remaining bats - Tucker, Bellinger, Bergman or Bichette - and then likely call it an off season.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
And his iron glove.
Wait … I thought the Cubs owners are too cheap?!
But seriously, thanks but no thanks on Tucker, Bellinger, and Bergman (not worth the money/contract they’d be demanding). I’ll take Bichette in a heartbeat
To be fair, he's under team control for 3 more years at 3.75M per year, so they're not spending anything on this guy other than prospects. Let's not act like they broke the bank.
They still need a couple of bats, which won't be cheap. We'll see what they do. Bruce Levine thinks they'll take their payroll to $240M. If that happens, that's more than enough to compete at the highest level. It's on Hoyer at that point.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
They traded prospects for a guy with a salary of 3.75M. It's a good strategy to trade assets but they aren't adding significant salary with this move. This isn't like signing a Blake Snell or any other big name free agent.
EDIT: I see SPIFL beat me to it.
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
I hate trading away Owen Caisse. 
I am looking at 95 wins with the pitching we have. You win by building from within. We have a solid staff ands bullpen. Let’s pick up at bat to replace Caissie and we are set. Quit thinking we need to spend like the Mets. Spending does not equate winning in most cases. What have the Mets, Padres won over the past several years? Less than the Cubs. We are doing things correctly.
Get Bichette now and I will be happy as a meadowlark.
LF Happ
2B Hoerner
3B Bichette
1B Busch
RF Suzuki
CF Crow-Armstrong
DH Ballesteros
SS Swanson
C Amaya/Kelly
Rotation
Cabrera
Boyd
Horton
Taillon
Imanaga
Steele returns midseason and go to a 6 man rotation or use Rea in that spot until Steele returns
That is a Central division champion my friends
LF Happ
2B Hoerner
3B Bichette
1B Busch
RF Suzuki
CF Crow-Armstrong
DH Ballesteros
SS Swanson
C Amaya/Kelly
Rotation
Cabrera
Boyd
Horton
Taillon
Imanaga
Steele returns midseason and go to a 6 man rotation or use Rea in that spot until Steele returns
That is a Central division champion my friends
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Who on this forum said they should spend like the Mets?
I was using the Mrets as an example. Some people think spending will equate to wins. Building from within and fill in with free agents.
Why does it have to be one of the other? Let's spend and build from within. Like the Dodgers do...
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
They don’t have to spend like the Mets but they should be over the tax threshold 2 of 3 years. If they did, they’d own the division. As it stands, they can’t beat the Brewers and that won’t change if they cheap out the way they have been.
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's so hard for me to imagine the Cubs already backing off Matt Shaw after the year he had last season. He really turned it around at the plate and was darn near a gold glove winner, which is just remarkable. Making him the platoon guy just feels so weird. Might the Cubs trade Hoerner and put Dansby or Bichette at 2B?
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Here's a statistical analysis of MLB spending and win %. MLB Spending vs Win %
The summary is that the higher the payroll, the better the win % which translates to a better chance to make the playoffs.