The Rundown: Bregman Rumors Won’t Go Away, PECOTA Loves Cubs, Fay Vincent Passes Away

It has been reported that Jed Hoyer intends to make another roster move or two, and the names Alex Bregman, Dylan Cease, and Robert Suárez continue to exist on the periphery. The Bregman speculation is the loudest but also the most difficult to comprehend because more than just numbers and years are involved. Trading for Cease and/or Suárez would instead cost Hoyer his best prospects. Adding both Padres players and possibly Bregman would certainly signal that Hoyer is 100% chips-in on winning a championship in 2025. I wouldn’t mind seeing him going after Ryan Brasier instead, and his relatively low salary could make signing Bregman more palatable.

“[Hoyer] is not done yet,” analyst Bruce Levine said on 670 The Score’s Inside the Clubhouse Saturday morning. “We’re talking about Bregman, we’re talking about Cease, we’re talking about [Suárez] with San Diego. These are all things that are still on the table, still being talked about.”

It would also signal a reversal in plans to build something Chicago’s front office deems sustainable. Then again, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Matthew Boyd, and Jameson Taillon will be free agents after next season. Justin Steele and Seiya Suzuki will hit the open market a year later, as will Suárez if he is acquired (unless he opts out after this season). Because Kyle Tucker and Cease are playing essentially on one-year deals, Hoyer’s current competitive window might come down to this season. Coincidentally or not, Hoyer is in the final year of his contract and Tom Ricketts has not indicated that that is going to be addressed anytime soon.

Choosing to dilute his prospect pool could leave Hoyer in a somewhat precarious position. Additionally, he might have to be committed enough to thin his system even further at the trade deadline. Where would that leave the organization in 2027 and ’28 if the Cubs fail to win a championship this year? Sustainability requires the type of prospect pipeline Hoyer has built, though the organization needs a lot more arms.

I love the idea of adding proven premium veterans to the roster, but I don’t see it happening based on Hoyer’s 23-year body of work as an executive. That calculus changes immensely, however, if the Cubs can extend Tucker. Only the Dodgers will have a better roster if Hoyer can pull all that off.

Cubs News & Notes

• The Baseball Prospectus Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, commonly known as PECOTA, projects that the Cubs will win 90-91 games this season. The algorithm has undervalued Chicago in each of the last three seasons.
• PECOTA also lists the Cubs as baseball’s third-best team according to its projections. Only the Dodgers (103.8 wins) and Braves (92.4) are better. The Brewers project to 80.4 wins, the second-best in the NL Central.
• Speaking of the Brewers, they’ve led the NL Central for 169 days more than all of their division opponents combined since 2020.
• Tucker has yet to be fully thrown into the team’s spotlight. That will change once he gets to Arizona.
• The pathway for Bregman to join the Cubs has always been a slim one.
• That hasn’t stopped new reliever Ryan Pressly from championing his former teammate to join him in Chicago.
• Chicago’s best third base option currently on the 40-man roster is Jon Berti. Matt Shaw will need to be added if he breaks camp with the Cubs.
• Kiley McDaniel of ESPN dropped his Top 100 Prospect List ($), which features five of the Cubs’ usual suspects. Shaw, of course, leads the contingent at No. 23, followed by Moises Ballesteros (50), Kevin Alcántara (64), Owen Caissie (86), and Cade Horton (97). It should be noted once again that Horton’s health issues resulted in his significant drop. That said, I like that he’s vastly underrated now.
• It was reported that RHP Jack Flaherty was open to a short-term deal that would have landed him squarely in Hoyer’s wheelhouse if he hadn’t signed with the Tigers instead.
• Chicago’s front office continued to add to its pitching depth over the weekend. Brad Keller and Brandon Hughes joined the organization, both on minor league deals.
• The team also signed 29-year-old righty A.J. Puckett to a minor league contract after his impressive display at a Tread Athletics Pro Day.
• The Cubs signed former White Sox infielder Nicky Lopez to a minor league deal. Lopez will likely serve in a role similar to Nick Madrigal, Miles Mastrobuoni, or David Bote.
• Madrigal, by the way, signed with the Mets over the weekend.
• The Cubs have been one of baseball’s most active teams over the winter, and the frantic pace will continue through spring ahead of this year’s Opening Series in Tokyo on March 18-19.
• I like what the Cubs are doing at Wrigley Field, but I’d prefer they named it after Ryne Sandberg. Should we start a “Sandberg’s Yard” petition?
• Pressly took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle to say thanks to Astros fans.

Odds & Sods

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— MLB Umpire Camps (@MLBUmpCamps) February 3, 2025

Central Intelligence

• Milwaukee: The Brewers could sign Yoán Moncada to fill their hole at third base now that Joey Ortiz is moving to shortstop.
• St. Louis: Former Cardinals’ star Jim Edmonds will not be returning to the team’s television booth in 2025.
• Cincinnati: Former Guardians slugger Chris Gimenez believes Terry Francona will be enough of a difference-maker to give the Reds the NL Central title this season.
• Pittsburgh: The Pirates’ ownership and executive group asked the team’s fans to provide customer feedback and got destroyed.

Monday Stove

Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent has died at the age of 86. He was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation due to bladder cancer but asked doctors to stop the treatment due to complications that included bleeding.

The Tigers remain interested in Bregman after signing Flaherty.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today said the Red Sox are also interested in signing Bregman.

Barry Larkin has joined a group that is attempting to get an expansion MLB franchise in Orlando, FL.

The San Francisco Chronicle will refer to the nomadic A’s as the “Sacramento Athletics” despite brand transition guidelines from the franchise to simply refer to the team by its nickname only or the approved acronym ATH.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. will attempt to become the second MLB player with three consecutive 30-30 seasons. Barry Bonds is the only player who has accomplished that feat.

I don’t believe there is any truth to this specific rumor, but at least one report indicates that Scott Boras botched a potential deal between Pete Alonso and the Yankees by asking for $150 million or more.

Alonso is looking at less than half that if he decides to return to the Mets. The only other suitor linked to the slugging first baseman is the Blue Jays, though they’ve been anything but aggressive.

Extra Innings

Welcome to Chicago, Press.

Ryan Pressly, Filth. 😷 pic.twitter.com/dSpvjKg5A4

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 7, 2023

They Said It

• “Our team should have high expectations. We’re a phenomenal organization with some really good players. So, our goal going into the year — we should expect to make the playoffs and make a run at the World Series. I don’t think you should go into a season [without] expecting that.” – Tucker
• “I would love to play with Breggy [in Chicago]. He’s one of those guys that you have in the clubhouse that, man, all he wants to do is win. He doesn’t care where he’s at. And that’s one thing that I love about him. He was the heartbeat of that clubhouse in Houston.”– Pressly

Monday Walk-Up Song

There is a lot of Beck influence on the latest single by The Black Keys.