Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

In his latest piece about the Pirates trading away Johan Oviedo, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Pirates are open to trading another starting pitcher not named Paul Skenes. So while it still feels like it's only a matter of time before that domino falls and Skenes gets shippied out of Pittsburgh, it isn't likely to happen this season. Despite having perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, the Pirates finished in last place in the NL Central with just 71 wins.

At the risk of banging the Michael King drum too loudly after already featuring him in another post from earlier today, I wanted to look more at why he is a perfect fit for what the Cubs do. CI has been told that Jed Hoyer is infatuated with Japanese fireballer Tatsuya Imai, who will likely be a priority because his posting window closes on January 2, but King appears to be a very close second when it comes to their offseason wishlist. Though his fastball doesn't jump off the page, it's the way King manipulates it and the rest of his pitches that makes him so intriguing.

If recent predictions from ESPN's top baseball writers carry any weight, it doesn't look like the Cubs are expected to do much on the trade front. Though Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel listed as many as eight team fits for each of their top 25 trade candidates this offseason, the Cubs did not appear a single time. Not for Tarik Skubal (No. 1), not for Byron Buxton (5), not for Joe Ryan (6),

Reese McGuire filled in admirably for the injured Miguel Amaya, hitting a career-high nine home runs over 140 plate appearances as Carson Kelly 's backup. That wasn't nearly enough to entice the Cubs to tender him a contract at anything approaching his $1.9 million projection, so they told him to beat it. Or, more accurately, they simply chose not to tender him a contract for the 2026 season.

Morel finished the 2024 season with a 50 OPS+ in 49 games with the Rays, hitting three home runs and driving in only nine runs. For the season, he slashed .196/.288/.346 with an 81 wRC+ and -1.0 fWAR.

While getting Naylor might have worked out well, they sure dodged a bullet by failing to pull off a deal for the reliever. It sure doesn't look like either pitcher involved in the scandal will play in MLB again, and jail time is a distinct possibility. Luis Ortiz might end up getting the worst of it because Emmanuel may be able to plead his felony down to a Clase misdemeanor.

We knew the Cubs' defense was good, but now we have proof. This is the second time the Cubs have won the award, which was established in 2020.