The Astros signed Tatsuya Imai on Thursday, taking away one of the main options for the Cubs this winter. They now have to look elsewhere to enhance the starting rotation, but Jed Hoyer's offense will need an upgrade as well. Kyle Tucker 's departure has left a void in the lineup, and the Cubs have several different options to try and replace that production.
The Toronto Blue Jays made their first big splash of the 2025-26 offseason on Wednesday when they signed Dylan Cease to a huge seven-year, $210 million deal to bulk up their roster. In doing so, the Blue Jays now have their front-end of the rotation set for the upcoming season with Cease, Kevin Gausman and a returning Shane Bieber as their three-headed monster, creating a pitching nightmare for opposing teams.
Marte, who has mostly been a secondbaseman over the last few years, has been one of the premier players in the National League going all the way back to 2018. While he's only made three All-Star appearances since then, he's also been worth more than 2.0 bWAR five times since he joined Arizona in 2017. He also seems to be getting better with age, winning back to back Silver Slugger awards,
The Toronto Blue Jays' front office is notoriously firm in its valuations of players when pursuing free agents and exploring contract extensions. President Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins stick to their assessments of what players are worth throughout the negotiating process, and their discipline has paid off on many occasions. However, not every negotiation can be won with pragmatism. Sometimes front offices need to be emotional and push themselves to uncomfortable places to secure the long-term services of a true difference maker.
Guerrero finished the 2025 campaign with a 3.4 fWAR, ranked sixth in the big leagues among first basemen, and produced a 137 wRC+ on the year. His final slash line would come in at .292/.381/.467 with 23 home runs, 84 RBIs, and an .848 OPS, earning his fifth consecutive All-Star nod. The Montreal-born product continued this strong season into the playoffs, where he collected 29 hits through 95 at-bats (.397) and collected eight home runs, 15 RBIs, 14 walks, and a 1.289 OPS.