Let’s catch up with some Cubs notes from the past couple days. The biggest news this week was Jon Heyman naming the Cubs favorites to sign Dansby Swanson in the New York Post and then on Saturday MLB Network’s Jon Morosi directly connected the Cubs to Swanson.

You can read more about Swanson’s fit with the Cubs here.

All right, how about some prospect thoughts.

Cubs Considered Calling Up Daniel Palencia

The Oakland A’s acquired right-handed pitcher Daniel Palencia as an international free agent in February 2020, out of Venezuela. He didn’t pitch in the minors until 2021 because the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season. Palencia didn’t pitch many innings in A-Ball and was then traded alongside outfielder Greg Deichmann in 2021 to the Cubs for Andrew Chafin. Now, while Deichmann was called up and played in 14 games for the Cubs late in 2022, it’s been Palencia who has impressed the Cubs the most out of the two.

It’s not the craziest thing for a team to call up a young pitcher, but it still would have been surprising if the Cubs had promoted Palencia up to the majors from A-Ball. Apparently that was almost the case according to Cubs prospects writer Bryan Smith.

The 22-year-old started 20 games for South Bend (Advanced A-Ball) this past season and made one more appearance out of the bullpen. Palencia had great strikeout numbers, punching out 98 batters in 75.1 innings.

The Palencia hype won’t be stopping any time soon.

Astros Claim Cubs Player Off Waivers

What was your favorite Rylan Bannon memory with the Cubs?

This isn’t that much of a big deal, but it still raised an eyebrow or two. Back in November, the Cubs claimed Bannon off waivers, taking him away from the Atlanta Braves. Well, the Cubs tried to pass the infielder through waivers themselves, so that he could be kept in the organization in 2023, but not take up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Bannon was scooped up by the Astros, thus losing out on some Triple-A depth. The Cubs now have 36 players on their 40-man roster.

Cubs-Killer Jesse Winker Back in NL Central

I’ll be honest, I thought Jesse Winker had much better numbers against the Cubs than he does. Still solid with a career slash line of .238/.363/400, facing Cubs pitching. But nevertheless, we all remember the times he’d kill the Cubs when he was with the Reds and now Winker is back in the division. The Seattle Mariners traded the left-handed hitter to the Milwaukee Brewers along with Abraham Toro for second baseman Kolten Wong.

Anyway, getting prepared for Winker to come through with multiple clutch hits against the Cubs in 2023.

Cubs Free Agent Miscellaneous

Bob Nightengale reported this week that the Cubs are showing strong interest in catcher Christian Vázquez.

Former Cubs reliever Chris Martin, who was traded to the Dodgers in the summer, signed a two-year deal worth $17.5 million with the Red Sox.

Speaking of relievers, the Cubs should sign lefty Zack Britton!

Get ready for the winter meetings with this week’s Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast.