*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter Cyforce
- Start date
I like Amaya but no team will trade quality starting pitcher with multiple years on team control for him.
There even going to be a season in '27? That's probably why we should go full out in '25 & '26.
Cubs most definitely improved their bullpen. I would of liked them to get a starter, but our rotation will also improve with Assad coming back. We could have improved more, but the 2nd best team in baseball did improve and has more pieces moving forward.
No one claiming he is. He can be solid though. No elite starters moved at all.
I’m disappointed that he’s the only starter we added, but of the rentals that moved he’s a fine option
It’s gonna be a long lockout. I expect the cubs to just hand out 1 year deals this offseason so there’s nothing on the books in ‘27
ESPN has the Cubs listed as trade deadline losers. Pretty fair assessment IMO.
www.espn.com
The moves they made weren't bad but were not the kind of moves that significantly improves the roster either. I agree with the analysis, they needed a big impact SP not only to win the division but to win playoff series too. If this team stumbles down the stretch and does not win the division or even worse misses the playoffs or goes out in a wild card matchup the trade deadline is going to be where they lost the season. I said it before the season even before Steele got hurt that we failed not adding a top half of the rotation pitcher either in free agency or trade and they failed yet again at the deadline too. I am curious what the actual ask (not reported rumors but that actual names that would of got a deal done) was for Gore or Ryan. To me I would have been fine with Caissie and some package going for a guy that is under team control through 2027.
What good is holding onto your top prospects if they don't have a path to the big leagues right now when you either use them to go for it now or you find a path to have them play in the near future. There are no guarantees any of them turn out to be can't miss guys either. I am still skeptical about just how that is going to change next year too without a trade as look at who is still under contract (last year of contract or team control)
C: Amaya (2029) Kelly (2026 with mutual 2027 option)
1B: Busch (2027+?)
2B: Hoerner (2026)
SS: Swanson (2029 w/ NTC)
3B: Shaw (still in pre-arb years)
LF: Happ (2026 w/ NTC)
CF: PCA (still in pre-arb years)
RF: open if Tucker is not resigned
DH: Suzuki (2026 w/NTC)
So if Tucker is not back just 1 regular spot and the bench open for position players
Pitching:
Taillon (2026)
Shota (2027 but has a 2028 club option that surely will be picked up)
Boyd (2026 with 2027 mutal option)
Steele (2027)
Rea has a $6 mil club option for 2026
Assad (2028)
Horton (still pre-arb years)
Kitteredge ($9 mil club option)
Still in pre-arb: Palencia, Kriske, Hollowell, and Morgan is arb through 2027 if they choose to keep him around.
The bulk of the roster turnover is pitching which the Cubs just don't have a lot of MLB ready guys in the system right now really but are loaded with AAA hitters that have no immediate path. Remember when some were calling to trade Hoerner in the offseason to open a roster spot in the infield? As well as he's played I'd rather spend the money to extend him and use Triantos, Long, and maybe even Rojas as a piece in some package to fill another need. Ballesteros I doubt turns into an everyday starting catcher so he's pretty much going to be mostly a DH so why not flip him for pitching as you can fill the DH spot with just about anyone who can also play the field once in awhile too.
One last note. The Mariners gave up their #6, #20 and #22 prospects for Suarez. None were top 100 prospects and MLB has Locklear as the #8 1B prospect just 1 spot ahead of the Cubs Long. Hard to believe the Cubs couldn't come up with some kind of package that included Long and some pitching or even another lower level position player to get a deal done there for the price Seattle got him for. That extension Hoyer got may look bad if this season sputters and they don't make some significant moves in the offseason to fill in the gaps. Hope I am wrong but I'm very disappointed we keep failing to add a significant arm to the rotation where there is a glaring need for one.
MLB trade deadline winners and losers: What we loved -- and don't understand
The 2025 trade deadline has passed. Here's who hit it out of the park -- and who swung and missed.
www.espn.com
The moves they made weren't bad but were not the kind of moves that significantly improves the roster either. I agree with the analysis, they needed a big impact SP not only to win the division but to win playoff series too. If this team stumbles down the stretch and does not win the division or even worse misses the playoffs or goes out in a wild card matchup the trade deadline is going to be where they lost the season. I said it before the season even before Steele got hurt that we failed not adding a top half of the rotation pitcher either in free agency or trade and they failed yet again at the deadline too. I am curious what the actual ask (not reported rumors but that actual names that would of got a deal done) was for Gore or Ryan. To me I would have been fine with Caissie and some package going for a guy that is under team control through 2027.
What good is holding onto your top prospects if they don't have a path to the big leagues right now when you either use them to go for it now or you find a path to have them play in the near future. There are no guarantees any of them turn out to be can't miss guys either. I am still skeptical about just how that is going to change next year too without a trade as look at who is still under contract (last year of contract or team control)
C: Amaya (2029) Kelly (2026 with mutual 2027 option)
1B: Busch (2027+?)
2B: Hoerner (2026)
SS: Swanson (2029 w/ NTC)
3B: Shaw (still in pre-arb years)
LF: Happ (2026 w/ NTC)
CF: PCA (still in pre-arb years)
RF: open if Tucker is not resigned
DH: Suzuki (2026 w/NTC)
So if Tucker is not back just 1 regular spot and the bench open for position players
Pitching:
Taillon (2026)
Shota (2027 but has a 2028 club option that surely will be picked up)
Boyd (2026 with 2027 mutal option)
Steele (2027)
Rea has a $6 mil club option for 2026
Assad (2028)
Horton (still pre-arb years)
Kitteredge ($9 mil club option)
Still in pre-arb: Palencia, Kriske, Hollowell, and Morgan is arb through 2027 if they choose to keep him around.
The bulk of the roster turnover is pitching which the Cubs just don't have a lot of MLB ready guys in the system right now really but are loaded with AAA hitters that have no immediate path. Remember when some were calling to trade Hoerner in the offseason to open a roster spot in the infield? As well as he's played I'd rather spend the money to extend him and use Triantos, Long, and maybe even Rojas as a piece in some package to fill another need. Ballesteros I doubt turns into an everyday starting catcher so he's pretty much going to be mostly a DH so why not flip him for pitching as you can fill the DH spot with just about anyone who can also play the field once in awhile too.
One last note. The Mariners gave up their #6, #20 and #22 prospects for Suarez. None were top 100 prospects and MLB has Locklear as the #8 1B prospect just 1 spot ahead of the Cubs Long. Hard to believe the Cubs couldn't come up with some kind of package that included Long and some pitching or even another lower level position player to get a deal done there for the price Seattle got him for. That extension Hoyer got may look bad if this season sputters and they don't make some significant moves in the offseason to fill in the gaps. Hope I am wrong but I'm very disappointed we keep failing to add a significant arm to the rotation where there is a glaring need for one.
I hope that is not the case but I would not be surprised either. The sport is already struggling with popularity right now and a long lockout would not help that. I do think the owners are going to find a way to screw over teams like the Dodgers who are deferring massive amounts of money in contracts and find a harsher way to penalize teams that are spending like that. Gotta get some kind of competitive balance where you don't have a handful of teams or so spending crazy money while about 10 or so teams are intentionally tanking and not investing anything back into the roster. Right now there are 10 teams with payrolls under $70 mil and some of those at the bottom of the list aren't even spending as much on their entire 26 man roster as some teams are spending on a single player.
Hoyer looks and sounded like a man who knows he fell short tonight. He was talking like a politician who can’t adequately explain away their own hypocrisy so they just throw out some words and hope for the best. I’m guessing Ricketts held him back.
I just think asks for starting pitchers via trade was much much cheaper this past offseason than it was at this deadline. My guess is this is why zero top 10 prospects were traded.
I’d give Jed a solid D+ this deadline. Bullpen is undoubtedly better, bench is better. Your playoff rotation is still sorry as ****
I’d give Jed a solid D+ this deadline. Bullpen is undoubtedly better, bench is better. Your playoff rotation is still sorry as ****
We'll probably never know how much the Ricketts hold back on the purse strings but Jed has sure made a good living being a spin man for not pulling the trigger on deals that would improve the Cubs. He is just as much to blame at times as the Ricketts are as he has a loaded farm system right now to deal from to make deals without eating a ton of money if that is the hold up. Ryan and Gore are only making $3mil or less this season and are still controlled through arbitration for a couple years so money is not an issue with them as much is how much prospect capital are you willing to part with to acquire good pitching.
This is exactly why going cheap on starting pitching will always come back to bite you in the ass. We committed to that when we had the window that won in 2016. They signed Lester in 2015 as the anchor, traded for Arrieta when they were selling off and he turned into a big piece. Hendricks was acquired for Dempster in a sell off, and they went out and signed Hammel and Lackey to round out the rotation. Let's not forget trading our #1 prospect for a proven lockdown closer in Chapman at the deadline. Even in 2017 when we were trying to repeat they dealt the top prospect in the org in Jimenez along with another prospect that turned out pretty good in Cease to get Quintana. Turns out we lost that trade but its an example of how when you have a window that going big is better than going safe most times. Torres has had a decent career but had his bumps in the road along the way. Jimenez couldn't stay healthy and is not even in the big leagues this year. Rankings are just rankings, you can't predict if a prospect is going to live up to the hype once he gets to the big leagues so its not necessarily a bad thing to deal a kid for a guy that can help you now over taking a chance that kid pans out for you. Baseball is a hard game, many top prospects over the years never had success in the big leagues.
I think the fact that there weren’t any other top-tier starters traded…and the Yankees specifically didn’t get one…is enough to say it wasn’t happening unless a team was willing to give up way too much. They probably could have had Merrill Kelly (who I mentioned a week ago)…or potentially someone similar. A 1 or 2 wasn’t happening though.
Screwing over the Dodgers is something America can get behind.
Regardless of how you view the trades made, we've got the squad we've got and they are still very capable of winning the division and making a WS run. I think the roster shapes up the following way down the stretch...
Rotation - Imanaga/Boyd/Horton locks. Imagine Soroka takes Brown's spot after his start tomorrow. Rea holds down the last spot untill Taillon is back in a few weeks.
Bullpen - Palencia/Braiser/Kittredge/Keller/Rogers/Thielbar locks. Leaves two spots, one I'd assume will be Assad once he's ready to go. Someone will have to earn that last spot, could be Brown to the pen, Rea to the pen once Taillon is back, Pomeranz if he finds his form again, wild cards would be Hodge as he tries to get it together in Iowa or even Yency Almonte who's finally been seen from again in Iowa. Lots possible options, but none that you'd be in love with.
Lineup - unchanged
Bench - Willi Castro becomes the back up for every position and will start frequently. Probably Kelly once Amaya is back healthy. Then there are decisions to make. Do they want to carry a third catcher (McGuire or Ballesteros)? If so, one of Berti/Turner has to go. Turner I'm sure they value the veteran leadership. Berti seems a bit redundant as he's just a much worse Castro. I'd be in favor of rolling with Castro/Kelly/Turner/Ballesteros down the stretch for the bench.
Rotation - Imanaga/Boyd/Horton locks. Imagine Soroka takes Brown's spot after his start tomorrow. Rea holds down the last spot untill Taillon is back in a few weeks.
Bullpen - Palencia/Braiser/Kittredge/Keller/Rogers/Thielbar locks. Leaves two spots, one I'd assume will be Assad once he's ready to go. Someone will have to earn that last spot, could be Brown to the pen, Rea to the pen once Taillon is back, Pomeranz if he finds his form again, wild cards would be Hodge as he tries to get it together in Iowa or even Yency Almonte who's finally been seen from again in Iowa. Lots possible options, but none that you'd be in love with.
Lineup - unchanged
Bench - Willi Castro becomes the back up for every position and will start frequently. Probably Kelly once Amaya is back healthy. Then there are decisions to make. Do they want to carry a third catcher (McGuire or Ballesteros)? If so, one of Berti/Turner has to go. Turner I'm sure they value the veteran leadership. Berti seems a bit redundant as he's just a much worse Castro. I'd be in favor of rolling with Castro/Kelly/Turner/Ballesteros down the stretch for the bench.
Makes sense. I'd imagine it's either DFA Kriske or send Brown back to Iowa in a few days once they need to add Soroka.
