Cubs 2025 International Free-Agent Class
IFA SIGNED BY CUBS IN 2025 ISP : last updated 12-14-2025 * bats or throws left # bats both SIGNED 12/14 : Johan Gomez , C (age 18 - 5'9 186) - VENEZUELA Esmerbin Guerrero , P (age 18 - 6'0 170) - COMINICAN REPUBLIC * Fenuel James , P (age 22 - 5'10 172) - COLOMBIA Ruben Torres , P (age 18 - 5'11 149) - VENEZUELA SIGNED 11/10 : * Juan de Jesus , OF (age 17 - 6'3 175) - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC # Dylan Guzman...
From The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
As you know, I have posted a series of articles here on players who could be free agent or trade targets for the Cubs this offseason. As a refresher, here are links to all those articles (except for two players who have already signed elsewhere). Dec. 5: Luis Severino (trade) Dec. 4: Edward Cabrera (trade) […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 1 read
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. Happy birthday to Johneshwy Fargas* and all of you who celebrate your natal anniversary on […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
The Cubs decided to go old-school in 2005 and 2006. From 1993-2004 they had put names on the back of home uniforms. Names had been on the back of Cubs road uniforms since 1982. But in 2005 management decided to go back to the pre-1993 look and take the names off. What they did not […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
In case you missed the early morning news, the Arizona Diamondbacks have pulled off the rare “trade away your player and re-sign him in the offseason” move with Merrill Kelly.
Let’s start there today.
When the Diamondbacks traded Kelly to the Rangers this July, they landed Kohl Drake (#6 prospect in the D-Backs system), Mitch Bratt (#9), and David Hagaman (#15), a tidy sum for a 36-year-old rental starter. And now they get him back, albeit at a very substantial $20M per year for tw...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
For however dead the 2026 MLB Winter Meetings felt, the days thereafter have seen some consistent activity. This morning, that begins ( per Ken Rosenthal ) with free agent starter Merrill Kelly re-upping with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he spent 7.5 of his 8 big-league seasons.
Merrill Kelly Back to the Diamondbacks
Merrill Kelly was a rumored Cubs trade target at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline, but he was eventually dealt to the Rangers, for whom he was serviceable, but not muc...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
Sources tell us that Burl Carraway is no longer in the organization. He was once a promising prospect with a big fastball from the sinister side, but his future didn’t turn out so well. So far, the offseason cache contains two MLB relievers and one player signed to a minor-league deal. *means autoplay on, (directions to […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
The kids are collectively old enough now that it’s been a minute since I had to clean up a massive puke. I guess they just wanted to make sure I wasn’t rusty …
On the one hand – fan attachment, mostly – I can understand why there is so much concern and frustration in New York about the Mets failing to re-sign Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz, and trading away Brandon Nimmo. They were at the heart of the team for a long time, and bringing in Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco is not going to feel...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 6 reads
This is another photo from BCB reader Clark Addison. As you know, Mark Prior suffered two serious injuries that eventually ended his MLB career. The first one was a collision on the basepaths with Marcus Giles of the Braves. That happened in the bottom of the second inning July 11, 2003, after Prior had walked. […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 5 reads
Former Cub and Ray Christopher Morel is now a Marlin, sources reveal. It sucks about Devin Williams, who would surely have been a fine Cub. Also revealed: several MLB players have signed with teams that aren’t the Dodgers. Dennis Franz still wants to know “What is a Met?” Insiders predict that the Dodgers plan to […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads
Cubs 2026 Rule 5 Draft & Minor League Free-Agent Watch List
12/12 UPDATE : The Cubs signed free-agent RHRP Collin Snider to a 2026 minor league contract. If he were to be selected to the MLB 40-man roster at some point in 2026, Snider is out of minor league options and he has the right to elect free-agency if he is subsequently outrighted back to minors. 12/11 UPDATE : The Cubs released LHRP Burl Carraway and RHRP Wil Jensen, a day after they went unselected in the AAA Phase of the 20...
From The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
Thirteen years have passed since Larry Biittner’s turn on the mound for the Cubs. Position player pitching was still pretty rare in Major League Baseball. And then came the spring of 1990. You have to remember the context here: The Cubs had come off a division title year in 1989 in which they won 93 […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
Because most of it came in the heat of a playoff race, when the focus is necessarily less about individual player achievement or development, and more about where the Cubs are in the standings, I think I probably didn’t praise Moises Ballesteros enough down the stretch.
The sample was small in 2025 in the big leagues for Ballesteros, but that’s because the playing time was sporadic. And that, in turn, is part of what makes his ultimate success so impressive. It’s hard enough to be a 21-ye...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
Are we in an Obsessive Alex Bregman Watch at this point? It’s been hard for me to get there, given that the budget likely accommodates one impact starting pitcher acquired via free agency *OR* one impact bat acquired via free agency.
But I think there is broad-based, reasonable speculation at this point that if the Cubs were to trade for a starting pitcher, their efforts to spend the unused funds on a big bat would accelerate. But since no starting pitchers have been traded anywhere, and ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads
The Cubs have not yet made any sort of major free agent signing or trade acquisition this offseason. In fact, the Winter Meetings were pretty quiet on the transaction front, with the exceptions of the signings of Pete Alonso, Robert Suarez and Edwin Diaz, all by teams other than the Cubs. This, you already know. […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 1 read
Good morning, LSB. Evan Grant is back from the Winter Meetings with a list of things he learned, including that a few teams have been sniffing around Evan Carter. Old friend Hoby Milner is headed elsewhere, signing a deal with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. And The Athletic touches on an intriguing new topic: Should […]
From Lone Star Ball
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths. “Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire. HRod had a couple of good years, and other stories. Today in baseball history: Cubs […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
Episode 42 of the Bleacher Nation Cubs Podcast is officially live!
In this week’s episode, Brett and I talk about the Winter Meetings, the two relievers the Cubs HAVE signed, and the remaining options on the board. After that, we talk about the Alex Bregman rumors, including his fit and the path that could lead to him in Chicago.
After the break, in our transaction corner, Brett and I talk about those pesky Nico Hoerner trade rumors that popped up last night. Although we can see the ...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 2 reads
Thinking about another off-season series to do, I came upon this idea. Position player pitching has become fairly common in modern baseball, so much so that MLB has codified when a position player is allowed to pitch. Now, a position player can only pitch if one or more of these criteria is met: • Game […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads
The Cubs have a new left-handed reliever: This seems a signing well in line with Jed Hoyer’s practice of recent years — sign a mid-range reliever who’s had some success in the past and hope to make something out of him, as the Cubs did in 2025 with Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz. Milner, like […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 5 reads
It was something I knew was true this week. Heck, we’ve been talking about it since even before the arrival of free agency. But it was something that got a whole additional layer of context when the Rule 5 Draft arrived yesterday.
You see, every year, just ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, someone fires off an info update on where every organization’s 40-man roster stands, since you do not get a slot in the Rule 5 Draft if your 40-man roster doesn’t have at least one open spot.
When that ha...
From Bleacher Nation | Chicago Sports News, Rumors, and a Reasonable Level of Obsession
| about 2 months ago
| 3 reads
Since the baseball offseason has run cold for the moment, let’s pivot to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Per Meghan Montemurro in the Tribune, the Cubs might send quite a few players to the WBC: As many as eight Cubs players might be on WBC rosters: Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matthew Boyd (U.S.), Seiya Suzuki and Shota […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 5 reads
Since the baseball offseason has run cold for the moment, let’s pivot to the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Per Meghan Montemurro in the Tribune, the Cubs might send quite a few players to the WBC: As many as eight Cubs players might be on WBC rosters: Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matthew Boyd (U.S.), Seiya Suzuki and Shota […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads
The Phillies have checked the biggest item off of their offseason to-do list, as they have ensured that Kyle Schwarber will be back in Philadelphia for 2026 and beyond. There still is a lot of work to do, namely answering the J.T. Realmuto question and remaking the outfield, but retaining Schwarber or finding a replacement […]
From The Good Phight
| about 2 months ago
| 8 reads
So the vaunted Winter Meetings turned out to have been a massive time-suck, completely useless from my point of view. It wouldn’t be a surprise for me at this point if the Cubs signed nobody at all. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to mollify me or even to start to allay […]
From Bleed Cubbie Blue
| about 2 months ago
| 4 reads