A couple of names we were tracking as possibly of interest to the Cubs are headed elsewhere.
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop is returning to the Tigers (on a modest deal), and reclamation righty Mike Foltynewicz is signing with the Rangers (on a modest deal):
Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has re-signed with the Detroit Tigers for one year and $4.5 million, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2021
Folty deal is for $2M guaranteed as @Ken_Rosenthal said. Has $500k in incentives, per source.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) February 5, 2021
On Schoop, the Cubs may yet pick up one of the remaining second base options on the cheap, or they could go with the Bote-Hoerner-Schrock-Vargas-Duffy group and see what makes the most sense at the end of Spring Training.
On Foltynewicz, I’m guessing the Cubs were hoping for a minor league deal, and I’m not sure they’ll get one from either Jake Arrieta or Jeff Samardzija, two of the other starters they’re looking at. You can bet they’ll add someone at some point soon-ish, but it’s still not clear if there is actually any real money for it.