NEWSLETTER
I don’t think we should expect the Cubs to go absolutely nuts from here, but I do think it is fair to say that, since they have now added Kyle Tucker for 2025 (and possibly only 2025), it would be quite wise to further supplement the team for 2025, specifically. Keep going. A Cody Bellinger subtraction might be up next, but I’m looking at that rotation and bullpen and bench, and I see a lot of opportunities now ….
- The pre-arb bonus pool news came out from the AP, and a couple Cubs rookies got a nice little Christmas bonus: Pete Crow-Armstrong got $342,128, and Michael Busch got $325,723. That pool, you may recall, is part of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement as a way to funnel a little more money to players in their early seasons, before they start making real money in arbitration. The pool is composed of money evenly contributed by every club each year. The biggest bucks go to the guys who net the most WAR and/or win certain awards. For example, Bobby Witt Jr. got over $3 million, Paul Skenes and Gunnar Henderson got over $2 million, and each of William Contreras, Cole Ragans, Jarren Duran, Jackson Merrill, and Luis Gil got over $1 million.
- Based on where it looks like the WAR cutoff line was drawn, Ben Brown and Porter Hodge just missed out. I feel bad for those guys, because at this stage of their careers, a $200,000+ bonus at the end of the year is really significant! Maybe next season. (I assume that Shōta Imanaga, as an international pro signing, was not eligible.)
- The Cubs made the Carson Kelly signing official last night, and he could well be the team’s back-up-ish catcher for the next two years. I say back-up-ish because Kelly is one of those guys who is probably too good to be a true back-up, but maybe not quite good enough to be a true starter. The Cubs are hoping Miguel Amaya can flourish into the latter, in which case they would have a tremendous setup at catcher, even before Moises Ballesteros arrives, and even if they lose now-third catcher Matt Thaiss on waivers.
- Here’s how Craig Counsell talked about the catching situation earlier in the week (Sun-Times): “I think it’s important that we add somebody that has experience. Miguel showed at times last year that he should be the guy. And other times he showed us, he needs a break. I think Miguel is going to still have the opportunity to be a guy that is a regular contributor. But it’s also important for us to have a backup plan. We’re going to make sure we have a really good plan for that.”
- And indeed, on this market, Kelly was just about the best/safest catching addition the Cubs could make. It’s not Kyle Tucker, but this was an important move the Cubs made yesterday. Heck, we saw just last year how damaging a disastrous back-up catcher situation can be.
- Speaking of Yan Gomes, I remember something he talked about and that I’ll keep in mind with the Carson Kelly signing: Gomes (and I think David Ross before him) talked about how, in his first year with a new organization/new set of pitchers, he was so focused on helping them succeed that he wasn’t able to also prioritize his offense. He was all about making sure the pitchers got the best results they could get. But in his second year with an org, having known the pitchers for a good long while, he could focus more on his offense, and it seemed to click for him. You go through his history and you can see that pattern. So I guess we can keep hopes in check on Kelly’s offense (which is likely to be solidly below-average anyway) in 2025, and we’ll just hope he can at least outpace the line Gomes put up this past year (.154/.179/.242/16 wRC+). Kelly is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career (.238/.313/.374/99 wRC+), but it doesn’t look like it was flukey – most of it was built on some of the best plate discipline metrics in his career.
- Oh, and while we’re on it, back to the disaster thing: Gomes was worth -1.2 WAR for the Cubs last year in just 34 games. If Kelly performs up to his projections (which, hey, he’s only 30, so there shouldn’t be a cliff!), that swap from Gomes to Kelly could mark an almost THREE WIN IMPROVEMENT from last year. At the back-up catcher spot. That’s how truly disastrous Gomes’ performance was. (No offense, Yan. You were outstanding in 2023!)
- I am going to hate watching Cam Smith continue to explode in the Astros’ system – he is instantly their top prospect – but I am comforted to think that, even after acquiring Kyle Tucker, the Cubs still have Matt Shaw, Cade Horton, Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, James Triantos, Kevin Alcántara, and Jefferson Rojas as top-100 prospect types.
- I don’t know that he’ll win the third base job or anything, but I do know I’m extra glad the Cubs picked up Gage Workman this week.
- It’s nice that Hayden Wesneski got traded to his hometown team:
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- It sounds like rookie Matas Buzelis has won over Billy Donovan.
- Big news for the Blackhawks yesterday if you missed it:
It's Happening! #Blackhawks Call Up Frank Nazar www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2…
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@bn-blackhawks.bsky.social) December 13, 2024 at 9:06 AM
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