News item: Pete Fairbanks signs a one-year deal with the Marlins. That happened on Wednesday, Christmas Eve.
With that, of the 50 top free agents listed by MLB Trade Rumors, 23 remain unsigned, including seven of the top 10. The Athletic’s Top 50 list, which has a few different players, also lists 23 unsigned players, including seven of the top 10.
The Cubs’ Spring Training opener against the White Sox Feb. 21 at Sloan Park is exactly eight weeks from today.
Now, I know you guys love to mock me when
I say “Any games today?” in connection with free-agent signings, but I’m going to die on that hill and here’s why.
Does it matter when a team signs a free agent in the offseason? If the Cubs were to sign Alex Bregman on Jan. 26 instead of today, a month from now, what difference does that make?
My point has been, and continues to be: The fact that the Cubs have not signed a major free agent rightfreakingnow does not mean they won’t. They continue to be connected to Bregman in various rumors, and even though many of you think they won’t sign him… maybe they will. What would you say then?
The only top free agent remaining on the board where there is some urgency is Tatsuya Imai, who must sign with a MLB team by a week from today, Jan. 2, when his 45-day posting window ends. I continue to have some optimism that Imai will be a Chicago Cub in 2026.
I will also say this. If the Cubs don’t sign one of the top free agents at a position of need at all this offseason (say, starting pitching or third base), then I will join the chorus in saying that they should have done so, and could easily afford to do so.
But as we stand here eight weeks from the Cubs’ first Spring Training game, to me it doesn’t matter (with the exception of Imai) whether they sign a top guy today, or the day before that first game.
All right, let me have it.
