Gearing Up For 2025

In Commentary And Analysis by Rice Cube17 Comments

Figured we could use a new post, what with not having written anything since last year (technically).

First item of business is the arbitration exchange deadline, which is on the 9th (Thursday as of this posting). Most of the arbitration-eligible guys on the Cubs have either been shipped out or settled with, but Justin Steele, Nate Pearson, and the newly acquired Kyle Tucker have yet to agree to a contract. Per the MLBTR post from October or so, Tucker is projected for $15.8MM in his final go-around before the Cubs have to figure out how to extend him, Steele around $6.4MM, and Pearson at $1.4MM. I imagine these will be done in short order as the Cubs are generally pretty good about not going to arbitration for any of their players.

Secondly, we have the Roki Sasaki situation. He can’t sign until after January 15 and must sign before January 23, so there’s about a week left before the first date to come to Chicago and visit the city and the ballpark and its associated facilities. Luckily for us (so far), the weather hasn’t been terrible, and given the success of the Japanese guys already hanging out with the Cubs, we have a pretty good chance for any team that isn’t obscenely rich (Dodgers) or mired in a family squabble (Padres).

Third, we have the Cubs Convention coming up! Would be kind of fun to invite Roki as a distinguished guest, which would seriously freak out a huge chunk of the population that cares about baseball. Of course we have a very legendary guest returning to the franchise in an official capacity, along with the new guys and top prospects, so a Roki surprise would be the cherry on top, albeit extremely unlikely for various reasons (dying laughing)

Finally, with the Cubs reporting to spring training early due to opening the season a week ahead of everyone else in Tokyo against the Dodgers, they will have to complete this version of the club that starts off. My guess is a couple more relievers (wouldn’t mind at least one more actual left-handed pitcher) and an additional starter, plus an extra bench guy who can back up the infield positions. Life gets a bit easier with a Roki Sasaki, but that is more of a bonus than anything at this point.

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  9. Perkins

    Bah

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  14. BVS

    Rice Cube,

    Have you heard anything specific on this? Because the Stroman I remember was pretty great with interactions, imo of course. He seems to be a bit of a lightning rod because he speaks his mind on Twitter, but I don’t recall teammates being upset with him, or even hearing issues between management and him. Seems like he’s just not good with NY media, particularly when with the Mets.

    I feel like he gets the Milton Bradley treatment. Somewhere in the Dmick/mb21 archives, we’ve covered that.

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  17. berselius

    In solidarity with Jordan Love, I managed to sleep on my arm funny and have a pinched ulnar nerve that is making two of my fingers numb-ish. Typing gonna be fun today.

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