{"id":129277,"date":"2025-12-08T00:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129277"},"modified":"2025-12-08T00:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:42:09","slug":"winter-meetings-preview-cubs-seem-to-understand-its-time-to-make-splash-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129277","title":{"rendered":"Winter Meetings preview: Cubs seem to understand it\u2019s time to make splash again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs are targeting a higher level of the free-agent market and signaling an openness to spending for certain players, according to team and league sources briefed on the club\u2019s deliberations.<\/p>\n

Reading that sentence, Cubs fans may understandably roll their eyes.<\/p>\n

After all, this is a multibillion-dollar franchise with generations of loyal customers, a valuable multimedia portfolio and an iconic ballpark that anchors the surrounding real-estate empire. A big-market team that wins 92 games and a playoff round is supposed to keep going for the World Series.<\/p>\n

The usual caveats apply here. The Cubs are not changing their business\/baseball model to the point where their payroll will approximate what the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees or New York Mets spend on talent.<\/p>\n

Jed Hoyer\u2019s front office still has to acquire the right players who can perform at Wrigley Field. Organizations don\u2019t raise banners for trying.<\/p>\n

But by entering the Dylan Cease negotiations \u2014 before the pitcher agreed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays \u2014 the Cubs showed a willingness to pursue a potential top-of-the-rotation starter rather than default to a safer investment or wait to see if prices drop.<\/p>\n

The Cubs have also reengaged with All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman and demonstrated that their bullpen won\u2019t be entirely remade with relievers on one-year contracts and minor-league deals with invitations to spring training.<\/p>\n

As the industry gathers in Orlando, Fla., this week for Major League Baseball\u2019s Winter Meetings, the Cubs should be a team to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be an active offseason,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be really active in the pitching market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Winter<\/p>\n

\n

Michael King made just 15 starts in 2025 after finishing seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting the previous season. (Orlando Ramirez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While the Cubs have not yet put the full-court press on Michael King, their interest is real. As teams such as the Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox fill out their rotations, the Cubs could be playing it coy, hoping they have fewer suitors to bid against.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s career arc has unfolded in a way that made the Cubs take notice. Educated at Boston College, he got drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2016 and then traded to the Yankees, a first-class organization that the Cubs have repeatedly tried to mine for talent and ideas, through trades for pitching and hiring for staff positions.<\/p>\n

Demonstrating his aptitude and self-assurance, King developed into a trusted member of the Yankee Stadium bullpen and lobbied to become a starting pitcher. His instincts proved to be correct.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s upside turned him into a key piece of New York\u2019s blockbuster Juan Soto trade. In his first season with the San Diego Padres \u2014 and only full year in a major-league rotation \u2014 King finished seventh in the 2024 National League Cy Young Award voting.<\/p>\n

That momentum slowed down due to various injuries (right shoulder inflammation, left knee inflammation) that limited King to 15 starts this year. During their playoff series at Wrigley Field, the Padres used him out of the bullpen for one inning in the elimination game they lost.<\/p>\n

Heading into his age-31 season \u2014 and coming off an injury-plagued year \u2014 it\u2019s unlikely King will get an extremely long deal or an exorbitant guarantee. That\u2019s also part of what makes him so appealing.<\/p>\n

The Cubs believe they could formulate a plan that would help King stay healthy and reach that tantalizing ceiling on a more consistent basis.<\/p>\n

For a free agent in this upper-middle class, Hoyer\u2019s front office has a reliable template, which includes good security for multiple years, a high annual salary and a robust overall number \u2014 without going to the top of the market.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Cubs are also expected to be involved in the process as Tatsuya Imai evaluates his options and maps out the next stage of his life. He\u2019s not necessarily determined to relocate to the West Coast, nor is he averse to playing in New York or Philadelphia. At the age of 27, he\u2019s open-minded and ready to make the leap.<\/p>\n

A dazzling playoff performance by Yoshinobu Yamamoto \u2014 a similarly sized right-handed pitcher listed at 5-foot-10, 176 pounds \u2014 likely increased Imai\u2019s leverage. Perhaps interest from multiple big-market franchises will spark a bidding war that escalates to a point that makes the Cubs uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

But the Dodgers can\u2019t sign every good player out of Asia. And the Cubs have established a presence and built up credibility within Nippon Professional Baseball.<\/p>\n

Even if having a Japanese teammate doesn\u2019t really matter to Imai, the Cubs have learned a lot from their experiences with Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki, and the club can tailor its recruiting pitch accordingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve proven that we\u2019re a place where Japanese players can succeed,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cA lot of teams don\u2019t have any kind of infrastructure to deal with that, so when you\u2019re talking about the market for Japanese players or Korean players, it\u2019s not 30 teams that are in theory going after those players. Because a lot of teams just don\u2019t have the infrastructure set up, so I do think we have that advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imai\u2019s success should enable him to cash in this winter. After three straight seasons with an ERA hovering around 2.30, Imai delivered his best season yet with a 1.92 ERA, a 27.8 percent strikeout rate and a 7.0 percent walk rate. The results are undeniable.<\/p>\n

The questions \u2014 especially if the price tag goes higher \u2014 revolve around how the stuff translates when facing major league hitters. Is the breaking ball sharp enough? Does his fastball \u2014 which sits in the mid-90s and touches higher \u2014 have the type of characteristics teams seek?<\/p>\n

Coaches and club officials often feel like they can unlock more with pitchers once they get a chance to work with them. At this point, it\u2019s unclear whether the Cubs view Imai as a likely ace or more of a mid-rotation piece. That final evaluation will determine their level of aggressiveness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth remembering that the Cubs currently have only Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson and reliever Phil Maton under contract after the 2026 season, when baseball\u2019s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire.<\/p>\n

Exciting young players such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cade Horton remain under club control through 2030. But this offseason represents an opportunity to plan for the future and follow through on the promises to build a consistent contender.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be bound to much going into \u201827, \u201828, \u201829,\u201d Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said. \u201cWhether or not there\u2019s a new economic structure is well, well beyond my pay grade. But, yes, there are going to be a lot of alternatives at that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s both exhilarating to think about and also a little scary to try to figure out. But we\u2019re confident in our ability to find wins \u2014 and find wins for a cost that makes sense for us. We\u2019ll try to continue to do that in all the different markets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt will be an active offseason,\u201d Jed Hoyer said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be really active in the pitching market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":129278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[282],"class_list":["post-129277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs"],"yoast_head":"\nWinter Meetings preview: Cubs seem to understand it\u2019s time to make splash again - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129277\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winter Meetings preview: Cubs seem to understand it\u2019s time to make splash again - 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