Kinda thought I would wake up to an Alex Bregman decision. It had that vibe last night, but nothing doing yet. Instead, we got Pete Alonso signing, which I suppose is not nothing. But I’m about ready for “the offseason” to wrap up so I can get my brain zoned in on Spring Training, which officially starts in just a few days …
The signings continue at the margins of rosters, with the Minnesota Twins signing center fielder Harrison Bader:Harrison Bader’s deal with #MNTwins is for $6.25m guaranteed plus up to $2m in bonuses per @Ken_Rosenthal. Deal is pending a physical and includes a mutual option.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 5, 2025 Bader, 30, remains a very good defender in center field, and runs the bases well, but he’s hit a dreadful .239/.284/.360/79 wRC+ over the last three years. For those three years, he made $21 million, and now he’ll get another $6+ million even after those three ugly offensive years. Teams will still pay for elite center field defense even if it comes with a consistently well-below-league-average bat. … which is my way of saying that Pete Crow-Armstrong is probably criminally underrated at a national level going into 2025. I’ll stand by my repeated assertion that if PCA can put up even a league-average offensive season and stay healthy, he’s going to be worth 5+ WAR. Another outfield signing, with the Pirates bringing in Tommy Pham on a $4 million deal. Pham, 37 next month, hit .248/.305/.368/91 wRC+ among three teams last year. The Pirates are his 8th team since 2022, which feels like it might be a record for teams in a 2.5-year period. No Festa Forever. Matt Festa departs the Cubs organization having never thrown a pitch for them, but he did get to attend CubsCon! Festa was outrighted earlier this week and elected free agency, and he has now signed a minor league deal with the Rangers. So, the timeline: Rangers DFA Festa, Cubs trade for him (cash), Cubs DFA Festa, he clears waivers, Cubs outright Festa, he elects free agency, Festa signs minor league deal with Rangers. In other words, through all that maneuvering, the end result was the same as if Festa had simply cleared waivers with the Rangers originally and been outrighted. I’d be more bummed that the Cubs weren’t able to keep Festa – and also recently-DFA’d lefty Rob Zastryzny, whose process is still playing out – if they hadn’t loaded up so thoroughly on relief options already, both guaranteed and minor league deal. I think Ryan Brasier is probably final sure-fire piece, though it’s possible the Cubs will ink another minor league deal from here (or could, I suppose, signing someone like Brooks Raley, who won’t be back until midseason). Speaking of Brasier, he’s excited to be with the Cubs and calling Wrigley Field home:“Everyone loves going to Wrigley … every time I go, I look forward to going.”Ryan Brasier is excited to play at Wrigley Field ?️ pic.twitter.com/uFvYzgQlDE
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 5, 2025 “I don’t know if surprised is the right word but yeah, it was a little gut punch,” Brasier said of the Dodgers’ decision to let him go. “Luckily, I ended up in a good place. It was kind of nerve-wracking there for a little bit, not really having any idea of where I was going or really having any say of where I was going. But I’m really excited to be in Chicago.”Brasier has not been part of a big league team that did not, at some point during his tenure, win a World Series, going all the way back to 2013. That is technically a true fact, and means that the Cubs are almost assured of winning a World Series at some point while he’s around. If not in 2025, they better bring him back for 2026 just to be safe.
New Cubs utilityman Jon Berti says the Dodgers were basically being aholes after winning the World Series:Jon Berti says the Dodgers post-World Series trash talk was disrespectful to the point where it felt like the Yankees didn't belong there. pic.twitter.com/HvWKxvOlui
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 5, 2025 Don’t just judge him on the pull quote, by the way, because Berti is very fair in his full set of comments in the video (the Dodgers can say what they want, because they clearly out-played the Yankees, who made a lot of mistakes). Mostly, judge the Dodgers for being aholes who really, really, really need to get some comeuppance this year. The Tampa Bay Rays are not for sale, even as their stadium issues (once again) persist:From MLB owners meeting in Palm Beach:As stadium deadline looms, #Rays' Sternberg wrestles with uncertain future, and discusses whether team is for sale, Trop repair plans, Tampa support, and morewww.tampabay.com/sports/rays/…
— Marc Topkin (@tbtimesrays.bsky.social) 2025-02-06T11:56:13.575Z Meanwhile, St. Pete’s mayor says the city is ready to move on without the Rays if they keep seeking more funding to account for the delays in construction on the would-be new ballpark. It’s just a mess, and it feels like so much is back to square one after taking nearly a decade to get to a new stadium deal. A lot of that is the fault of the hurricane, but a lot of it is tied to the same issues that made it a struggle in the first place. Speaking of those owners meetings, you can safely presume they are debating whether to push for a salary cap in the next round of CBA negotiations. The Athletic on that topic, which pits players against owners, sure, but also may pit large-market owners against small-market owners. This is correct:Cody Bellinger and Isaac Paredes are both gonna put up crazy numbers this year but I’m gonna need to consistently remind myself that they are playing in ballparks built specifically for them
— Greg Huss (@outofthevines.bsky.social) 2025-02-06T03:04:47.501ZMORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Check Out BN Fantasy | Subscribe to The BN Newsletter
WOW! Lonzo Ball is here to stay.
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@bn-bulls.bsky.social) 2025-02-06T02:24:32.481ZIt Sure Looks Like Things Are Changing For the Better Under Kevin Warrenwww.bleachernation.com/bears/2025/0…
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@bn-bears.bsky.social) 2025-02-05T19:33:55.937Z#Blackhawks Prospect Pool Climbing Rankingswww.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2…
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@bn-blackhawks.bsky.social) 2025-02-05T14:05:25.946Z Read More Details
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