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The Rundown: Hoyer Front and Center as Meetings Approach, Bellinger/Hoerner Rumors Escalate, Beltin’ Bill Melton Passes Away

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterDecember 6, 2024

Hey! It’s the last Friday before the 2024 Winter Meetings and we’re all hoping Jed Hoyer will ring those bells that’ll tinkle our troubles away. Please, Jed, make this December the one we’ll remember, “the best and the merriest we ever did have.”

Unfortunately, his sleighful of potential transactions doesn’t include Juan Soto or Corbin Burnes, but a splendid time could be had for all with a blockbuster trade or two and a free agent signing. The Winter Meetings are a great time no matter what, so if Hoyer initially abstains and keeps us waiting, it’s simply Jed doing as Jed does. The first rule of Hoyer’s Tao of Trading is waiting for the market to come to him. Unfortunately, it lacks the mysticism and spiritual enlightenment usually associated with Eastern philosophies, much to the chagrin of Cubs fans. We therefore live with tolerance and compassion as warranted when it comes to hot stove season.

Hoyer just makes it so damn hard. On the bright side, we can expect him and his entourage to be involved in a plethora of rumors all week.

Still, it’s a nice path to the genius of George Harrison while sliding into today’s Feast of the Epiphany, or, in layman’s terms, the meandering musings of yours truly that comprise today’s Rundown.

Cubs News & Notes

Odds & Sods

I once saw Max Patkin at a White Sox game back in 1977. He was interacting with some fans sitting in my section, though I was young and thought he was drunk. His brand of diamond theatrics would never fly today but I do miss it.

Central Intelligence

Friday Stove

The Red Sox are hoping Soto and his agent will grant them one additional meeting.

Soto is expected to sign soon, which means a market for Pete Alonso will develop almost immediately. This year’s meetings will be a dud if Thursday arrives and Soto is still shopping. Remember when teams shopped players and not the other way around? Shohei Ohtani flipped that paradigm.

The Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, and Giants are among the teams most likely to sign Burnes.

This year’s pitching market is “through the roof,” forcing several teams to find creative ways of adding starters and relievers.

MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal expects the Blue Jays to trade slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Astros presented a six-year $156 million offer to third baseman Alex Bregman to keep him in Houston.

Giants third baseman Matt Chapman said he is willing to temporarily play shortstop if the Giants sign injured free agent Ha-Seong Kim.

The A’s shocked all of baseball by signing Luis Severino, but they reportedly made a big offer to Sean Manaea too.

The White Sox and Athletics are not eligible for this year’s draft lottery. That’s a shame.

The 2025 competitive balance rounds are now set.

Former White Sox great and all-around good guy Beltin’ Bill Melton passed away yesterday after a brief illness. He was 79 years old. His 154 homers with Chicago were a club record until Hall of Famer Harold Baines broke it in 1987.

Extra Innings

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the Shaw era to begin.

They Said It

  • “[Ballesteros] can really hit. He has power, and he also has balance in his swing and bat speed. He’s fun to watch hit.” – Hoyer
  • “Do we need a star player [to get us] through those slumps? Hard thing to figure out. If I look at the 12 teams in the playoffs, every team has a guy with 5 or more wins [above replacement] this year. Having players outperform expectations is a big part of it. Only five of the 14 were projected to have a 5-win season. I think that’s what we lacked this year. [Our players] also kind of got back to their numbers, maybe a hair above, a hair below, but nobody had that carrying year that Cody [Bellinger] had last year.” – Hoyer
  • “I think the goal is also to build something sustainable. Craig [Counsell] talked about, you know, building 90-win teams. What he means is [creating] that team [that] will project to do that year after year after year, but that’s a difficult thing to do. Only three teams were projected for 90 wins going into the season, so to get to a place where we can build our projections up and get to the postseason year after year after year, there’s a level of discipline to get there. You don’t want to take wild swings and do things that will expose you long term.” – Hoyer

Friday Walk-Up Song

More George, please. All things must pass, my friends.

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterDecember 6, 2024
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