Second Source Confirms Cubs Are Opening Up Checkbook, Meeting With Cody Bellinger
Among the many reports and rumors that came out on Monday maybe the most intriguing came from David Kaplan. He may not be your cup of tea and isn’t always as reliable as you’d like, but now we have a second reporter confirming that Cubs ownership has told Jed Hoyer the checkbook is open.
First, here’s what Kaplan said Monday night.
The Cubs did make two major acquisitions last offseason, signing Marcus Stroman and Seiya Suzuki. However, those pale in comparison to the huge deals we’ve seen over the years across the league in free agency. Those signings by the Cubs also came after trading away their previous core and having plenty of room in payroll to spend. The last time the Cubs signed a free agent for more than $100 million was back in the 2017-18 offseason, when Yu Darvish agreed to a six-year, $120 million contract with the Cubs. He was traded to the Padres after three seasons in Chicago.
Anyway, maybe you’re skeptical of Kaplan, but Russell Dorsey, who used to be the Cubs beat reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and is now a national MLB insider for Bally Sports, has confirmed that the Cubs are indeed open to spending big again.
Let’s fucking go!
The Cubs have to deliver. They have to. Fans are already pissed off to begin with and now you give them this much hope with leaks of being open to spending big? Again, talk is nice, we need results.
According to Jesse Rogers, the Cubs do have an offer on the table for Carlos Correa, who along with his wife and agent Scott Boras met with Cubs officials in California.
The Cubs are also showing strong interest in Xander Bogaerts and according to one Red Sox reporter are seen as the biggest threat to the Red Sox to sign Bogaerts.
Hey, if the checkbook really is open…
Cubs Meet With Cody Bellinger Over Zoom
The Cubs are also searching for a center fielder and have followed up their interest in Cody Bellinger by meeting with him over Zoom. Despite his offensive regression since winning the 2019 National League MVP with the Dodgers, Bellinger has a healthy market in free agency.
At 27-years-old, Bellinger has supposedly gotten multi-year offers, but he wants to bet on himself in 2023 so that he can test the market again next offseason. That being said, it’s not going to come at a discount.
The Dodgers appear to be out of the picture for Bellinger after they non-tendered him earlier in the offseason. Bellinger was projected to earn close to $20 million in the final year of arbitration with the Dodgers.
I’d love Bellinger on a one-year prove it deal with the Cubs. Not only does he provide a decent floor with solid defense in center field, he still showed some power in 2022 and gives the Cubs flexibility at first base, too.
And again, if the checkbook is open, a one-year deal shouldn’t be a problem for the Cubs.
Hopefully there’s a big Cubs signing by Wednesday night, when we’ll talk more in-depth about the winter meetings happenings on the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast.