Tonight, the Super Bowl. Tomorrow, baseball season.
More specifically, the Cubs will have pitchers and catchers reporting on Wednesday, February 11, their first full squad workout on the 16th, and their first Cactus League Game on the 20th (just one week from this coming Friday). We are so close. And for the second straight season, I am both excited and optimistic for this particular Cubs team. It’s a good feeling.
If you want some more key dates from now until Opening Day, Jordan Bastian has a nice write-up at MLB.com.
In case you missed the news this week, 670 The Score is now also 104.3 The Score. Starting on February 2, the station is now simulcasting its shows on both channels in a move meant to protect them long-term from automakers who are removing AM radio from their vehicles. On the one hand, smart move. On the other hand, I liked 104.3 JAMS, which played throwback hip-hop music. That station was a nostalgia bomb that I will miss. In any case, during their first episode of Inside the Clubhouse simulcast on 104.3, Bruce Levine continued beating the drum for Zac Gallen to the Cubs. And I remain fully on board with the idea. But instead of selling you on Zac Gallen, the pitcher, or the way the Cubs might end up needing or wanting his innings this year, I want to attack this from one other angle: the payroll. Although the Cubs did add some long-term commitments this offseason in the form of Alex Bregman and Phil Maton, they still have a metric ton of money coming off the books after this year, especially with Shota Imanaga only on the qualifying offer (and not his three-year option). Specifically, the Cubs’ luxury tax estimate, currently sitting at $243.5M for 2026, is sitting at just $86M for 2027. Now, truthfully speaking, that number will be higher on Day 1 of the next offseason, as Miguel Amaya, Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Daniel Palencia will join Edward Cabrera (Arb 3) and Justin Steele (Arb 4) in arbitration. But even with all of those players factored in, the Cubs’ luxury tax payroll for 2027 shouldn’t be much higher than $115-120M. That leaves a TON of room to spend, not all of which needs to be spent next winter. Throw in the fact that among the outgoing free agents are three starting pitchers (Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd) and it’s not at all difficult to see why signing Zac Gallen, 30, makes sense. He can help out this season and be a key part of the rotation thereafter. The only problem is that assumes the Cubs can get Gallen to sign a deal WITHOUT an opt-out after year 1, something for which he is almost certainly holding out. The Cubs are not against opt-outs, mind you, but they have historically tried to push those back to Year 2 (and that’s probably especially true for a guy connected to draft pick compensation like Zac Gallen). As for Gallen, the player, one final note: I know the overall arc of his 2025 season was disappointing, but this is a 30-year-old pitcher who has three times earned Cy Young votes. If he were a free agent last winter instead of this year, he probably would’ve scored a $200M contract. But that’s not all. I think people are sleeping a bit too much on how strong he finished the year. Yes, his first 17 starts in 2025 were brutal: 5.75 ERA, only 4 quality starts, a 20.8 K%, 9.9 BB%, 46.4 hard%, 12.7 barrel%, etc. But compare that to his final 16 starts of the season: 16 starts, 95.0 IP, 3.88 ERA (3.77 FIP), 22.3 K%, 6.2 BB%, 39.4 Hard%, 6.5 barrel%, plus a 45.8 groundball rate. Those are all very, very good numbers. So, bottom line, this is a guy with a 3.29 ERA through the first 143 starts of his career, who had a rough first half and immediately bounced back to more or less dominate down the stretch. Why aren’t we banging the table for him, again? Oh, and one other thought: Do you know which big league catcher has caught more Zac Gallen starts than any other catcher in baseball? The Cubs’ own Carson Kelly. Kelly has caught 55 Zac Gallen starts in his career. And in those 55 starts, Gallen has a 2.81 ERA, while opposing batters are hitting just .202/.271/.337 (better than he has with any other catcher with whom he’s worked, min. 7 games). © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Let’s turn the page. A couple of Spring Training primers for you: At The Athletic, Patrick Mooney writes about five Cubs players in the spotlight as Spring Training begins. And at Cubs.com, Jordan Bastian lists the storylines that will dominate Cubs camp. In case you missed the sad news yesterday, former Cub Terrance Gore passed away yesterday at the age of 34.Terrible News: Former Cub Terrance Gore Dies at Age 34 t.co/Qcj3dfhjqY
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Your Chicago Bulls …I want the Bulls to lose out and have stuff like this happen every game because this is honestly more watchable pic.twitter.com/HZ1JalpRkw
— BriskerSZN (@BriskerSZN) February 8, 2026 If you haven’t pre-ordered my new children’s book yet, please consider getting one! Pre-ordering helps the book even more than buying it once it’s out.BREAKING: I wrote a children's book!It's about a little boy's first trip to Wrigley Field to sit in the bleachers and watch the Cubs. And it prepares them for everything they'll see, feel … smell, and more!I really hope you like it.Pre-order here: t.co/M1vOSVixtt pic.twitter.com/XDLyc7pPMh
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