Wonder how long he was playing with that. Probably drops his offseason trade value now too.
*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter Cyforce
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Wonder how long he was playing with that. Probably drops his offseason trade value now too.
I’d like to see if they can get good value for Amaya and resign McGuire. Hopefully Ballestareos is our future catcher maybe as soon as 27.
Assuming we don’t resign Tucker I think Alcantara is an ideal 4th OF. Then possibly replace Happ in 27.
I don’t think they envision Ballesteros ever being a full-time catcher.
Totally agree, it's a combination of things, and to complicate it more postseason is different than regular season. Part of what makes Nico great is he doesn't swing at stuff outside the zone much, which matters a lot. Other thing that matters, which is hard to measure in reality, can you carry over your season stats to the postseason. Most guys can't, simply because the pitching is better.
Nico is never going to slug, but he does everything else so well he doesn't need to, most guys just aren't that talented. Most guys don't slug in the playoffs that well anyway, again, pitching is better.
Hitting is really hard, and guys throw so hard now it just gets worse every year.
Tucker is a Scottie Pippen, he's not a Michael Jordan. Only the Jordans get the crazy 400MM+ contracts some people think Tucker will get. The Pippens get half that and they'll like it.
Tucker seems to have a real attitude problem too, he's always distant and not very approachable. You don't make a guy like that the face of a franchise. He needs to be a junior partner so he can fade into the background.
So yeah, to me Tucker screams Yankees or Mets. Yanks in particular; he can hide behind Judge and provide overall better numbers (if healthy) than Bellinger did.
Too bad cheap ass Ricketts burned that bridge, because I'd actually like Belli back. He fit here.
Tucker seems to have a real attitude problem too, he's always distant and not very approachable. You don't make a guy like that the face of a franchise. He needs to be a junior partner so he can fade into the background.
So yeah, to me Tucker screams Yankees or Mets. Yanks in particular; he can hide behind Judge and provide overall better numbers (if healthy) than Bellinger did.
Too bad cheap ass Ricketts burned that bridge, because I'd actually like Belli back. He fit here.
Especially to sign a 31 year old journeyman catcher that every organization in baseball passed on in May that somehow outdid his expected metrics and still had a sub-.700 OPS and .245 OBP.
There are two dozen Reese McGuires out there and most of them are AAA catching depth just like he was.
We should keep Amaya and McGuire. Kelly had a career year but he is a lifetime .229 hitter with .692 OPS. Play Amaya everyday and keep McGuire as a backup. This will be a cheaper option.
Before Amaya's injury they had a good tandem with him and Kelly. McGuire filled in well but he's still the 3rd best at the position and probably played well enough to wind up as someone's backup catcher for next season so I don't expect him to be back as a non-40 man catcher depth that is stashed in AAA like every team usually has. Don't see them trading 26 year old Amaya just to keep two 31 year old catchers. I also don't think Mo is going to ever be an everyday catcher in the big leagues. Most likely is destined to be a DH/backup 1B option and maybe an emergency 3rd catcher. If they are serious about him potentially playing catcher going forward he likely needs more time to work on in in AAA but his bat looks ready now and I'm not sure the Cubs think he's a long term option at catcher to have him stay in the minors long enough to prove he can play everyday at the big league level there.
I don’t think Tucker has an attitude issue. I think he’s just socially awkward as hell.
Kyle has played MLB for 8 seasons and no one, that I'm aware, has said he has a bad attitude.
I'd love to hear your first hand knowledge of him being distant and not approachable.
Horton, Steele, Boyd, and Imanaga is a really good base for 2026's rotation.. Just need guys to stay relatively healthy!
1B: Busch (Thoughts on a long-term extension here, with a couple years of remaining control?)
2B: Nico
SS: Swanson
3B: Shaw (bad postseason but good post all-star break.. Let's build off the latter), ideally have a utility guy just in case
DH: Tucker (2-5 year deal and big dollars.. No long term madness please)
LF: Happ (Expect a big year as it's a contract year for Ian). Would love an upgrade, but that depends on Ricketts..
CF: PCA
RF: Suzuki
I expect Tom Ricketts and family to cheap out again and not deliver us a great bullpen, despite how good the Cubs COULD be...
1B: Busch (Thoughts on a long-term extension here, with a couple years of remaining control?)
2B: Nico
SS: Swanson
3B: Shaw (bad postseason but good post all-star break.. Let's build off the latter), ideally have a utility guy just in case
DH: Tucker (2-5 year deal and big dollars.. No long term madness please)
LF: Happ (Expect a big year as it's a contract year for Ian). Would love an upgrade, but that depends on Ricketts..
CF: PCA
RF: Suzuki
I expect Tom Ricketts and family to cheap out again and not deliver us a great bullpen, despite how good the Cubs COULD be...
Don't forget Taillon. Could do much worse than him as the 5th guy
IMO the realistic path to improving the team this offseason (assuming Tucker is gone) is upgrade 3B, add front end SP and then a bullpen to rebuild.
3B - Bregman is available again, Suarez as shorter term add with serious right handed pop, Murakami coming over from Japan as a possible fit too. All this could push Shaw to a "super-utility" type role and competition is a good thing to get the best out of him.
SP - I'm assuming Cubs won't pick up the Shota option, 3yr/$57mil just seems steep right now for him. Steele back and Horton feel like front of the rotation guys you'd trust in the postseason. Boyd/Taillon locked into roles. I think there are multitude of FA/trade options to add another high end arm
RP - Jed just refuses to spend money here but they absolutely need to make moves here. Rea option will be picked up and he'll be that swing man (along with Assad). Don't see them picking up a $9mil option for Kittredge. Palencia is the only trusted arm from the postseason that is for sure back. Keller/Thielbar/Pomeranz all will be FA's. They have to get this area of the roster right.
3B - Bregman is available again, Suarez as shorter term add with serious right handed pop, Murakami coming over from Japan as a possible fit too. All this could push Shaw to a "super-utility" type role and competition is a good thing to get the best out of him.
SP - I'm assuming Cubs won't pick up the Shota option, 3yr/$57mil just seems steep right now for him. Steele back and Horton feel like front of the rotation guys you'd trust in the postseason. Boyd/Taillon locked into roles. I think there are multitude of FA/trade options to add another high end arm
RP - Jed just refuses to spend money here but they absolutely need to make moves here. Rea option will be picked up and he'll be that swing man (along with Assad). Don't see them picking up a $9mil option for Kittredge. Palencia is the only trusted arm from the postseason that is for sure back. Keller/Thielbar/Pomeranz all will be FA's. They have to get this area of the roster right.
Busch is still pre-arb and you've got control though his Age 32 season. I don't see any need to extend him or have any contract negotiations at all.
I'd certainly be talking extensions with Nico (5/100M) and Seiya (3/80M).
I'd certainly be talking extensions with Nico (5/100M) and Seiya (3/80M).
Been saying it all season, extending Nico should be a priority. If anyone on the roster should be extended it's him as IMO he's the most valuable position player we have on the roster. If we get a repeat of 2025 Seiya I'd be for talking extension for him too.
Agree that 3B may be a position of opportunity to upgrade if the fit is right even if that pushes Shaw to a utility role. Second half Shaw was better but he's gotta take a big step forward with his hitting as 3B is a position you usually like to get some power and run production from.
Can never have enough pitching so if you aren't going to spend big on a position player it really needs to go towards a top end of the rotation starter. You look at the teams in the playoffs and they have elite pitching and depth and that is why they win series. Best case scenario even if you go out and sign or trade for a top end starter and Steele and Horton are healthy and pitching well then you have 3 very good guys at the top of the rotation and everyone else slides down to the 4/5 spots and having Taillon, Boyd, or even Shota there makes for some pretty good options. Do we know if Steele will even be ready to start the season is another question. Would rather have too many options at SP than not enough and you figure it out later as there always is going to be some kind of unexpected injury to the rotation every year.
Agree that 3B may be a position of opportunity to upgrade if the fit is right even if that pushes Shaw to a utility role. Second half Shaw was better but he's gotta take a big step forward with his hitting as 3B is a position you usually like to get some power and run production from.
Can never have enough pitching so if you aren't going to spend big on a position player it really needs to go towards a top end of the rotation starter. You look at the teams in the playoffs and they have elite pitching and depth and that is why they win series. Best case scenario even if you go out and sign or trade for a top end starter and Steele and Horton are healthy and pitching well then you have 3 very good guys at the top of the rotation and everyone else slides down to the 4/5 spots and having Taillon, Boyd, or even Shota there makes for some pretty good options. Do we know if Steele will even be ready to start the season is another question. Would rather have too many options at SP than not enough and you figure it out later as there always is going to be some kind of unexpected injury to the rotation every year.
