I don’t have particularly strong feelings about the Super Bowl winding up a recent repeat, and with the Chiefs going for their third straight. Sometimes dynasty stuff is fun. But something in my gut just doesn’t love it. I think maybe the Dodgers doing what they’ve done in recent years has me feeling some cognitive dissonance, even though the structures of the sports are so different. Like, I just hope the Dodgers don’t steamroll the regular season and then the postseason and it’s all just so boring.
I wanted to re-share something from a set of Bullets about a week ago, just to make sure folks saw it, and also because it is now important after the Jon Berti signing and Ryan Pressly trade:“As for the Cubs’ resources, Nightengale’s piece reports on the expected number for the year: ‘Their 2025 payroll budget is $220 [million], according to a high-ranking Cubs executive.’ That’s the actual cash number, not the AAV-based luxury tax number, by the way. Because the AAVs are a little larger on most of the Cubs’ deals at the moment, the luxury tax number would be about $10 million higher, which would, in turn, leave about $10 million in flexibility in-season under the first tier of the luxury tax ($241 million). If true, that would leave the Cubs with upwards of $20-25 million or so still available to spend (in real 2025 dollars), and the Scott offer suggests that could be accurate. We’ll see if the Cubs actually lay out that cash, though.
That tracks, by the way, with Tom Ricketts saying multiple times this weekend that the luxury tax payroll number should wind up close-ish to the first luxury tax tier, give or take.”
That report came prior to the Cubs agreeing to a deal with Berti ($2 million, plus up to $1.3 million in incentives) and making a trade for Pressly and cash (taking on $8.5 million). So, if accurate, that would mean the Cubs are looking at something like $9 to $13 million left in 2025 funds available for committing this offseason (and then another $10-ish million available for in-season additions). That should be plenty to add another meaningful arm in the bullpen if the Cubs want, especially if they are a little opportunistic about it. Another bench piece, too, depending on how they view that situation. I don’t see someone like Alex Bregman as realistic, however, without a fundamental shift in the budget (either a big trade, or a big budget increase). Of the two primary explanations for the uptick in Cubs-Bregman rumors as the Pressly trade talks were playing out, I tend to think “leverage on the Astros” is much more likely than “Cubs think they can get a bargain.” The Cubs just wanted to make sure they get as much cash from the Astros as possible, knowing that the Astros, in response, were trying to offload as much cash as possible so they could make a real run at re-signing Bregman. It was just a dance. Bregman isn’t going to get a monster contract at this point for a lot of projection-related reasons that we already know, but I also don’t know that he’s going to have to settle for the kind of tiny contract that the Cubs would actually sign (would they even go beyond, like, two years and $40 million, with an opt-out in the middle? and there’s ZERO chance Bregman takes that little). I understand the theorizing about the Cubs trading Nico Hoerner, moving Matt Shaw to second base, and then signing Bregman to play third. But even that barely gets you there on the money (depending on what Hoerner would return in trade), and I’m not sure how much better of a spot it puts the Cubs in overall for the next few years. It would depend on a lot that I can’t predict as I sit here today, and I’m disinclined to do that predicting because I think it’s all so very unlikely. Speaking of the financial situation: I think an opportunistic Jack Flaherty signing is now also very unlikely. He’s gonna get multiple years, but even if he decided to take a one-year deal, it’d be at least $20 million, right? And the Cubs probably don’t have the space for that unless they commit right now to going solidly over the luxury tax in 2025. I don’t see that happening. And speaking of Flaherty, he doesn’t seem too happy about his time in free agency (via Foul Territory): “It’s like, ’What are you up to?’ [and] ’When is the market gonna move?’… You have to make an offer and then it’ll go, but just calling and checking in …. I don’t know. It’s weird …. It’s not that I don’t think teams want to win, I just think you have a lot of teams that look at their rosters and they’re happy with it… teams just want to get into the playoffs. Maybe it’s not World Series or bust, it’s just hope we can get into the playoffs and then kind of see what happens.” The Cardinals have done nothing this offseason – literally nothing – and they may not do anything until and unless they trade Nolan Arenado. Until then, they’re going to look pretty mediocre on paper:2025 ZiPS Projections: St. Louis Cardinals
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs.com) 2025-01-27T14:00:18.407Z Not good. Not abysmal. Probably in the range of 77-80 wins on paper, with enough variance built in to swing up into the mid-80s if they get some over-performance and luck. This is an adventure, and it sounds like it could get even more fun:¡QUE PALO! Tenemos juego nuevo ? HOMERUN de Gustavo Núñez y los @tigresdellicey empatan ???#LIDOM #SerieFinalLIDOM #CopaBanreservas pic.twitter.com/uDbv7XJad7
— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) January 27, 2025#BéisbolListín | El dirigente de los Leones del Escogido, Albert Pujols, explicó finalizado el partido seis que la decisión de pedir que se revise el bate de Gustavo Núñez fue basada en su instinto.#Escogido #Licey #SerieFinal #Lidom #ListínDiario pic.twitter.com/YLvgv049Kr
— LISTÍN DIARIO (@ListinDiario) January 27, 2025Surreal night in the Dominican Winter League playoffs.Gustavo Núñez hits game-tying HR for Licey, and Escogido manager Albert Pujols requests that Núñez’s bat be inspected to ensure it is legal.The bat is confiscated; Licey goes on to win Game 6. Inspection occurs Monday…
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 27, 2025MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
The Bears Have Reportedly Hired Dennis Allen and Declan Doyle as Their New Defensive and Offensive Coordinatorswww.bleachernation.com/bears/2025/0…
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@bn-bears.bsky.social) 2025-01-27T01:16:01.806ZLet's Talk About Mikko Rantanen and the #Blackhawks (Again)www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2…
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@bn-blackhawks.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T16:23:06.832Z Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Budget Status, Bregman and Flaherty, Cardinals, Wild DWL Moment, and Other Cubs Bullets )
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