(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Rundown: Plenty of Pitching Available if Hoyer’s Shopping, Schwarber Reportedly on Cubs’ Radar, Angels & Giants Get New Skippers

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterOctober 22, 2025

“Dedication, devotion: Turning all the night time into the day.” – Walk of Life by Dire Straits

I’ve been impressed with how Justin Steele is just grinding through his rehab, one of the loneliest aspects of playing a team sport. As Evan Altman reported earlier this week, Steele is progressing ahead of schedule and could be back in the rotation by Opening Day. Assuming Shōta Imanaga returns despite his complicated option clause, the Cubs have a strong five-deep rotation with Steele, Imanaga, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, and Jameson Taillon.

How those starters are slotted is another matter. I don’t want to pile on Imanaga because I believe he never fully healed from his hamstring issue. That said, he gave up a lot of home runs in 2025, which is particularly unsettling because Wrigley Field played as a pitcher’s park. Worse, many of those blasts came at very unforgiving moments. With that in mind, you can make a strong case that Imanaga is the fifth starter among that bunch. His three-year, $57 million option shouldn’t be a problem if the Cubs exercise it because Horton is making the league minimum and will through 2027. Taillon and Boyd are entering their contract years, and Jaxon Wiggins could get a cup of coffee next season.

In other words, the rotation is getting younger and much more inexpensive. Still, the Cubs are going to be looking to add length to their rotation. It also looks like the bullpen will need another overhaul, but I’ll address that in a future column.

The arms at the top of the alleged availability list are probably not in Jed Hoyer’s wheelhouse. That means Freddy Peralta, Hunter Greene, Sonny Gray, and Tarik Skubal are unlikely to be traded to Chicago. I like Hoyer’s chances of acquiring Joe Ryan, Edward Cabrera, Mitch Keller, or MacKenzie Gore because he has the prospect depth to be in play for each. Dylan Cease, Michael King, and Framber Valdez are options if Hoyer decides to shop the open market. As always, length of contract will trump total dollars and/or AAV in any negotiations. It’s going to be a buyer’s market if all of those arms are available, and Chicago’s front office should have more leeway to dictate terms, whether in trade or free agency.

The upcoming CBA negotiations may flood the market with more pitching as well. Nobody knows if the the next contract will include a qualifying offer option and its accompanying compensation. That means teams may also entertain offers for Sandy Alcántara (Marlins), Jesús Luzardo (Phillies), Logan Gilbert (Mariners), and Nick Pivetta (Padres). Expect Hoyer to strike early if he decides to add a bona fide starter to his rotation because prices will go up as the supply diminishes. His other option, of course, is to run it back with Colin Rea and Javier Assad while waiting on Wiggins.

Cubs News & Notes

Ball Four

How long will it be until Schwarber gets his own reality show on AMC? How about Marquee? Could the Cubs sweeten any potential deal that way, or is that a breach of ethics?

Central Intelligence

World Series News & Notes

The baseball writers at ESPN give the Dodgers a 59.6% chance of winning the World Series.

Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. head the list of players who could sway the World Series in either direction.

Deion Sanders has handed his self-proclaimed G.O.A.T designation to Ohtani.

Ohtani was very close to signing with the Blue Jays before choosing the Dodgers two years ago.

Players aren’t the only ones who receive rings when an organization wins a championship.

Wednesday Stove

The Angels announced they’ve hired Kurt Suzuki to be their new manager.

Former University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello is finalizing a deal to become the next manager of the Giants.

Vitello might have a tough time finding acceptance from his new MLB peers.

The Corbin Burnes trade in 2024 provides the best apples-to-apples comparison of what it may cost to acquire Skubal. The Brewers received left-hander DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz from the Orioles along with a Competitive Balance Round A Draft pick (No. 34 overall). Hall and Ortiz were top 100 prospects at the time of the trade.

The Yomiuri Giants will be posting slugging corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto.

Mike Trout testified Tuesday that he was alerted to concerns about former communications director Eric Kay’s alleged drug abuse before ex-teammate Tyler Skaggs suffered a fatal overdose in 2019.

Apropos of Nothing

Mark Knopfler claims the success of “Brothers in Arms” was a fluke and a serendipitous accident because it was released just when the compact disc launched. The album is unbelievably 40 years old, and to celebrate, the band dropped an anniversary edition that is available in several formats. You can get a package of five vinyl LPs, three CDs, or a super deluxe Blu-ray edition, which features five separate mixes. The package will run you £22.25 (about $28.67 US), hardly money for nothing. See what I did there?

Extra Innings

The Cubs need hitters with good-to-great contact skills and 2025 first-rounder Ethan Conrad could be one.

They Said It

  • “The totality of what our offense did was exceptional. We were fifth in baseball in run-scoring in a difficult home offensive environment. So I think our offense overall was terrific. I don’t know if we have any control over the shape of how that happens, to be honest with you.” – Hoyer
  • “I think some of that stuff is random, when guys are hot and when they’re not. If you look at the totality, we had a really excellent offensive team. We did have some struggles in the second half. We had a collection of players in the first half at the same time that were playing exceptionally well, and then some of those same players were struggling in the second half.” – Hoyer
  • “We’ll just continue to have meetings and talk through, ‘Are there ways that we can potentially reduce some of the ups and downs?’ But I think [controlling it is] pretty difficult.” – Hoyer

Wednesday Walk-Up Song

Knopfler is a great guitarist but I think he is underappreciated as a vocalist. His voice pairs perfectly with his arrangements on almost every song he composes.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterOctober 22, 2025
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