Temperatures MIGHT climb above freezing today, which is going to feel like a beach party. Gonna go get some sun.
- Although there were a flurry of updates yesterday, I don’t know how much has actually changed in the Cubs-Astros-Ryan-Pressly situation: a deal is reportedly in place that is acceptable to both the Cubs and Astros, and now it’s just a matter of whether Pressly wants to accept the trade. He has been in Houston for a very long time, has a family with young kids, and you could understand him wanting some real time to think through how he wants to live his life (and/or pushing for some financial or comfort or security incentives/accommodations from the Astros or Cubs to approve the trade). The baseball argument makes obvious sense – with the Cubs, he’d probably be the closer, with the Astros, he’ll keep setting up Josh Hader – but humans have to think about other things, too. I hope he says yes, because he’s a really good fit (and is just about as good as any other non-Tanner Scott option that was available), but I’ll understand if he decides to stay where he is.
- Give Pressly the time he needs, of course, but here’s hoping the Cubs are lining up a back-up plan to execute quickly in the event Pressly says no. For me, that’s probably old friend David Robertson, with whom the Cubs have reportedly had talks. Others available include Tommy Kahnle, Carlos Estevez, Kyle Finnegan, Kenley Jansen, Ryne Stanek, and Phil Maton, with varying degrees of attractiveness/interest. What you don’t want to happen is to have the last good chunk of the back-end reliever market pass you by while you wait on Pressly, only to find that he ultimately declines the trade. My guess is that we get a resolution on the trade one way or the other by the end of this weekend.
- Speaking of which, that Alex Bregman stuff sure is weird, eh? I still have my doubts that the Cubs would actually be able to finalize a deal with Bregman that (1) makes sense for them and (2) makes sense for him, but the fact that The Athletic group – who’d been quite clear in previous reporting that Bregman was not really on the table for the Cubs – are the ones now saying the Cubs have engaged … it was hard for it not to catch my attention.
- Gut says the Cubs are interested at an extreeeeeeeme bargain level, and are otherwise just happy to pressure the Astros: “You don’t eat enough money on this Pressly deal, or don’t get it over the finish line, and maybe we’ll just go ahead and sign Bregman away from you.” Since we know that the Astros’ attempts to trade Pressly are directly related to their financial ability to re-sign Bregman, there’s clearly a relationship here.
- I will want to give this a more dedicated review soon, but the MLB Pipeline crew dropped their pre-season top-100 list, and the Cubs fared much better there than on other recent lists (and of course the three recently-traded prospects, too):
- We’re 10 days into the IFA signing period, and still nothing official on Mexican righty Tadeo Gamez and Cuban infielder Jaims Martinez, two guys who were expected to be among the bigger names in the Cubs’ class. This year was already atypical for obvious reasons, but this is also atypical. No idea what’s going on, but there are a lot of possibilities, ranging from individualized issues with these guys to attempted poaching to simple timeline issues. Of note, the Cubs have reportedly used up about $5.4 million of their $6.2 million pool, and the way Gamez and Martinez were described, they sure sounded like the types who get decent-sized bonuses. Maybe the Cubs are having to acquire a little extra bonus pool space before finalizing?
- Really gonna miss this guy’s passion and energy:
- Remember how the Cubs got “outbid” for Tanner Scott, $72M to $66M? Welp, turns out that the Dodgers’ massive deferral program means the Cubs’ offer appears as though it might’ve actually been worth more:
- It’s possible the reporting was wrong, and it’s also possible the Cubs’ offer included deferrals. But, if the Cubs offered $66M in real money, then Scott got less to sign with the Dodgers. Do with that information whatever you want, because I’m sure some of you read it as a defense of the Cubs, while others read it as a criticism of their competitive attractiveness.
- He’s not a Hall of Famer yet, but Mark Buehrle is getting a statue at the White Sox’s ballpark:
- The Twins have announced that their dedicated streamer will be $19.99 per month, or $99.99 for the full season.
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