Things are still mighty quiet overall, but the least I can do is one more round-up before I let the sweet surrender of sleep spirit me away to dreams of, you know, actual moves. At least we got a couple Cubs name checks (Rhys Hoskins and Matt Chapman).
Other things to discuss …
San Diego Padres President A.J. Preller just about confirmed that Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s free agencies are kinda holding some things up, and the Padres are content to wait to deal Juan Soto unless and until they feel like all the suitors are in (San Diego Union-Tribune):
“There are some teams that when we’ve had conversations, you can tell they’re waiting on a certain free agent or two,” Preller said. “There’s some years where the top guys, teams don’t really wait around and they kind of do what they have to do. Other years, it’s kind of a domino effect, and that top player or players is going to unlock some other guys. …. It does seem like you have some dynamic players at the top of the market with Yamamoto and Ohtani. Teams are going to be competitive for those guys, and then things may fall from there.
“It’s all about making the best decisions possible, whether that’s holding him and adjusting other spots, whether it’s holding him because we feel like we have other pitchers that we can line up within our budget, we’re listening to hear what other people have. It’s not going to be, ‘Hey, we need a decision by this time.’ It’s gonna be what’s the best decisions we can have on any of these calls, and when we feel like we’re there we’ll make them and go from there.”
Juan Soto is GOING to be traded by the Padres. It just … it just is going to happen. Period. As we’ve discussed, it isn’t going to happen at the reported price tag they were seeking from the Yankees, and it isn’t necessarily going to happen soon. Honestly, it’s probably for the best if the Padres wait, juuuuuust in case the Cubs do decide to explore a pivot to Soto if they miss out on Ohtani.
Jesse Rogers got some comments from Cubs GM Carter Hawkins tonight about how you balance filling holes and leaving open opportunities for young players:
There’s some art to it, and you REALLY have to self-scout so well. But it’s true that sometimes you put a veteran in place because you think their superior big league floor will help the big league team, and then a young player doesn’t get an opportunity to break out. That doesn’t mean you just don’t sign high-priced veterans to a variety of roles, but you do have to balance these things. The Cubs can’t ASSUME guys like Pete Crow-Armstrong or Alexander Canario or Matt Mervis or any of the young starting pitchers or anyone else is DEFINITELY going to be a big-time contributor in 2024, when the team needs to win. But they can factor that possibility into whether they believe it’s worth pursuing Veteran X on a two-year deal if he’s unwilling to accept a one-year deal.
All that said, no, I don’t want the Cubs to pass on a quality free agent signing or trade that can truly impact 2024 just because they’re holding out a spot for a prospect, especially where the acquired player is on the shorter-term side of things.
As I guessed, the Braves-on-Ohtani stuff seems to have been in error:
I am going to continue to assume any surprise stuff like that is just an attempt at leverage for Ohtani’s camp to get a little more added to the offer from whatever team he ultimately wants to land with (probably the Dodgers, who probably know it, and who are probably therefore holding their offer down a bit). Speaking of which, I just don’t buy this:
Things are getting heated in New York, where expectations for the Yankees to DO SOMETHING are growing feverish:
The latest from Jon Heyman, including word of “four or five serious offers” for Tyler Glasnow:
That is an absolutely WILD duo of teams fighting for the same player:
Trevor Bauer is attempting to come back to MLB, but even after his success in Japan and even at a reduced price, he might not find a team willing to sign him:
NEWSLETTER
