Just a stray thanks to you, the reader. I never forget that, if you’re not out there reading these words, I don’t get to write them.
The timing doesn’t really matter on these things, so it isn’t a worry or a complaint. Just an observation: feels like this is pretty late in November for the Cubs not to have made their first small move. Now, to be fair, they retained Shota Imanaga via the Qualifying Offer, which is a major move, but that’s more of a procedural thing. What I’m talking about is the kind of thing the Cubs do throughout the offseason, but usually at least once by now: a waiver claim, a modest trade, or a minor league deal on a reclamation type. We’ve usually seen that by now. So far, though, nothing. And with 8(!) spots still open on the 40-man! With the tender deadline coming tomorrow, by the way, that number is going to increase to at least 9 – Reese McGuire, for as great as he was as a fill-in, back-up catcher, won’t be tendered a big league deal. It’s possible the Cubs will try to retain him on a new minor league deal (he’s pretty perfect as a veteran third catcher at Iowa, if he’s willing), but tendering him a big league deal at what would be around $2 million doesn’t make much sense for a 40-man roster that already has Carson Kelly, Miguel Amaya, and Moises Ballesteros, to say nothing of the fact that Kelly, Amaya, and McGuire aren’t optionable. Back to the minor moves, the Astros and Braves swapped Mauricio Dubon and Nick Allen. Dubon, 31, is a really good and versatile defender who tends to hit about 15-20% worse than league average at the plate. A solid bench guy, who’ll cost about $5.8 million in his final year of arbitration, per MLBTR. Allen, 27, is an outstanding defensive shortstop, but a zero at the plate (career .213/.265/.272/53 wRC+). He’s projected for $1.5 million in arbitration, with four years of control available. I can see the value equivalence here, and I can very much see this from the Braves’ perspective. I suppose I have a harder time seeing how the Astros will actually use Allen, who has no minor league options remaining, and does nothing at the plate off the bench. So he’s a pure middle infield defender that you can rarely use, unless some significant combination of Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena, Jose Altuve, and Isaac Paredes all get hurt. Maybe the Astros were considering non-tendered Dubon anyway, so getting literally anything at all – even a guy they might end up ditching, themselves – was better than nothing. Very cool news about next year’s Field of Dreams Game festivities:Some more big news out of Dyersville: The @IowaCubs and St. Paul Saints will be playing a Minor League Baseball game at the "Field of Dreams" movie site in 2026. The details: t.co/9Egj0Duqzk
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) November 19, 2025 So mark your calendars for August 11, as the Iowa Cubs will be something of an opening act for the MLB game the comes a couple days later between the Twins and the Phillies. That’s gonna be a pretty special moment and memory for the Cubs’ minor leaguers who’ve reached Triple-A by that point. We haven’t yet heard about Shota Imanaga’s decision to accept the Qualifying Offer, but here are the thoughts from a similarly-tiered starting pitcher who accepted his:Brandon Woodruff says it was an "easy decision" to accept the Brewers' qualifying offer.
— Adam McCalvy (@adammccalvy.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T23:32:08.134Z I remain of the mind that too many folks – outside these orgs – were just really misreading the market for players with downside risks, who would then ALSO be attached to draft pick compensation. In an environment where no one knows what 2027 is going to look like, it obviously made even more sense for these borderline guys to accept. They knew their markets would be rough. And it’s not like I’m some secret genius, because OF COURSE the organizations knew all of this, too! The Brewers made this offer to Woodruff because they knew they could be fine with it if he accepted. Same with the Cubs and Imanaga. Anyone calling these (or Gleyber Torres’s or Trent Grisham’s) decisions shocking wasn’t really paying attention to the bigger picture (the clues for which were there bright and bold with Shane Bieber’s and Jack Flaherty’s option decisions!). The Giants have poached from the Brewers org for Tony Vitello’s staff:Justin Meccage was the pitching coach at Triple-A Nashville in his lone season with the Brewers and received strong reviews from players. His nephew Bryce is Milwaukee’s No. 15 prospect per MLB Pipeline. t.co/tzpaJsdN7F
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) November 18, 2025 MLB has signed a six-year extension with PitchCom. Oh? Canada:Congratulations to Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) who is the winner of CBN's Randy Echlin Award, as the top ??minor league hitter (affiliated ranks).In 99 games with the triple-A Iowa Cubs, he batted .286 with 22 home runs.@owen_caissie @FHPirates @BaseballCANJNT @IowaCubs pic.twitter.com/qyOvugK3lv
— The Canadian Baseball Network (@CDNBaseballNet) November 18, 2025 MORE CUBS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN NewsletterHence then, the article about light on the action braves astros trade qo decisions field of dreams and other cubs bullets was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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