‘Conclave’ was good. I don’t have much more to say than that, especially since I’m way late on watching it, and also because I don’t know much about how realistic it is. Just an interesting, well-paced story to enjoy.
The Cubs ultimately reached deals with three of their unsigned arbitration-eligible yesterday (Justin Steele, Nate Pearson, and Eli Morgan), after having already avoided arbitration with Keegan Thompson and Julian Merryweather earlier in the offseason. The only player they didn’t reach a deal with was Kyle Tucker, the superstar they just traded a boatload to get. I understand all the reasons and why it isn’t necessarily some big problem, but you cannot convince me it doesn’t look bad. “Hey fans! We did it! We finally got a superstar in the door! … and now we’re going to fight with him about a couple million bucks.” Speaking of which, you’ll recall that this thing doesn’t HAVE TO go to an arbitration hearing, and a settlement could still be reached between the Cubs’ number ($15 million) and Tucker’s ($17.5 million). You could argue that a hearing with a newly-acquired player also wouldn’t have the same kind of risk of bitterness that you might get with a long-time home-grown guy (though it’s not a great first impression!). You could also argue that the front office wants to stand firm on this point so that they don’t have to yield as easily in longer-term negotiations (i.e., risking a $2.5 million fight today could be worth $30 million or whatever next offseason). In other words, this situation doesn’t really have to negatively impact the relationship or prospects for a long-term deal. But it would’ve felt a lot better if they’d just instantly hit it off, come to terms easily for 2025, and then kept the positivity up throughout the year. If you want to be an absurdly optimistic type: now the Cubs and Tucker’s camp pretty much have to do some additional negotiating about the 2025 salary, which means more time to see if there’s a long-term deal available right now to make this whole thing go away! (Sorry, I can’t join you on that one, but I get it.) Let’s dispense with one criticism, though. The Cubs are not on an island in failing to reach a deal with every arb player. That happened for 11 other teams, including the Brewers, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. It also happened with very good players like William Contreras and Jarren Duran, and it also happened with guys who were just acquired in trade like Nathaniel Lowe. Don’t get me wrong, Tucker is the biggest name on the list and the most eye-rolling situation by far. I’m just saying it’s not entirely unique this year or any other year. The Cubs picked up Matt Festa yesterday and DFA’d Miles Mastrobuoni, if you missed it, which yields this fun fact:Miles Mastrobuoni will forever be the answer to the following trivia question:Who was the first MLB player to get a hit off Paul Skenes?(and the only player with 2 hits off Skenes in his MLB debut) t.co/fQx29OK2du
Some roster bookkeeping: The Cubs were granted an additional Minor League option year for righty Caleb Kilian.
— Jordan Bastian (@bastianmlb.bsky.social) January 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM Expected, but quietly significant: Kilian does not have to make the Opening Day roster or be subjected to waivers. The Cubs will have the flexibility to move him up and down this year (which also affords more flexibility regarding the decision to continue having him start, or begin the relief conversion process). The option also adds a little more value to Kilian if the Cubs were to try to trade him for something meaningful in return. Absolutely love to see Kohl Franklin throwing off the mound already:Thank you God & everyone who has made this day possible! 1st time off the mound post surgery. Looking forward to continuing this process ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6oZXkWF9D1
— Kohl Franklin (@kohlrf) January 9, 2025 Franklin, 25, had elbow surgery last May, but it wasn’t a full Tommy John. So he could well be back on a normal schedule this season, which will have me once again dreaming on his upside. He has the projectability and pitch characteristics of a quality big league starter, but he hasn’t been able to sync up both the health and the control for longer than a few starts at a time. Keep an eye on him, though. If he’s healthy and if he takes one more step forward, he would instantly be on the radar as a possible big league contributor in 2025.MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
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Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The Whole Tucker Thing, Mastrobuoni’s DFA, Franklin on the Mound, and Other Cubs Bullets )
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