- In the past week the Chicago Cubs have DFA’d three players who each had some time in the big leagues since 2021. Right-handed pitcher Erich Uelmen, left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder Alfonso Rivas, and right-handed hitting catcher and infielder P.J. Higgins were all cleared from the team’s 40-man roster. Those moves were made to make room for the additions of pitchers Drew Smyly and Anthony Kay and most recently catcher Tucker Barnhart.
- Not only did Sahadev Sharma predict the Cubs trading for Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, he also predicted that Ian Happ gets traded in 2023. Happ is entering the final year of arbitration and will be a free agent after next season if the Cubs don’t work out a contract extension with him. You can read more of Sharma’s predictions in The Athletic here.
- Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami brought up the Cubs ending the 2022 season with the fourth most steals by a team in MLB.
- That got me thinking about my 2023 Cubs predictions and I’m going to add Dansby Swanson hitting at least 20 home runs and stealing at least 20 bases to my list. In case you forgot, MLB will not only have bigger bases in 2023, but new pitch clock rules will also limit the times pitchers can attempt pick-off throws. Of course, the Cubs were more aggressive in 2022 stealing bases mostly out of necessity as they needed to gain whatever advantage they could with a sub-par offense. But it’s still good to know that they have several guys on the team capable of swiping some bags if that becomes a valuable part of the game again. You can read more about the rules here.
- One of the lesser known moves of the offseason from the Cubs was getting veteran left-hander Roenis Elías. He was with the Seattle Mariners in 2022, but spent most of the year pitching in the minors after coming back from Tommy John surgery. The 34-year-old has been a starter, multi-inning reliever and was even closing games back in 2019 for the Mariners. Elías is now back to starting games and he’s dominating in the Dominican Winter League.
- You can read more about Elías’ career here.
- Eric Hosmer was connected to the Cubs by Jon Heyman and I don’t like it.
- So there was a Trey Mancini rumor on Thursday, when he was supposedly in active talks with the Washington Nationals on a one-year deal. Nothing’s been added to that since from any other credible reporter, so although I felt bad about the Cubs chances to sign Mancini Thursday night, now I still think they’re very much in the mix for him. The original source seems to be backing off his initial info on Mancini and the Nationals.
- The Miami Marlins are reportedly having many trade talks. Not sure if there’s a perfect fit with the Cubs, but there are some players who would fill the Cubs’ remaining needs. The San Diego Padres are also open to listening to offers for Trent Grisham and Ha-Seong Kim.
- Let’s not forget about Nico Hoerner and what a contract extension could look like for him. He’s under team control for three more years, so maybe a five-year deal may keep him around a little while longer?
- Finally, I was thinking about the 2022 Cubs and there is one clear moment that was my favorite.
