The Rundown Sunday Edition: Bregman’s Big Deferrals Lower AAV, Beede Gets Minors Deal, Bellinger at ‘Impasse’ with Yankees
What a wild night it was for Chicago sports, with the Alex Bregman news breaking just before the Bears rallied for 25 fourth-quarter points to beat the Packers in the playoffs. I had a very difficult time processing it all, and it was not easy to fall asleep. A year after losing out on Bregman, who reportedly had strong interest in joining the Cubs, Jed Hoyer got his man with a five-year, $175 million contract that proves to everyone how serious this team is about winning in 2026 and beyond.
Frequent CI readers might not have been as shocked as others, since we had written about how splurging on arb salaries indicated a potential willingness to spend on a bat. Then we told you the Cubs were still actively involved with Bregman and Bo Bichette after the trade for Edward Cabrera left plenty of money in the budget. They didn’t have $35 million in room below the first penalty tier, but the big chunk of deferred money in Bregman’s deal lowers its net present value enough to keep them under…for now.
The deal contains no opt-outs and features a full no-trade clause, and Ken Rosenthal was first to report that $70 million will be deferred. While we don’t yet know the deferral schedule, and thus can’t pinpoint the exact AAV, expectations are that it’ll fall in the $30 million range. That would give the Cubs a roughly $1.5 million buffer before getting into penalties. Because that cushion can easily be eliminated by one or two players reaching incentives, like when David Ross kept running up Drew Smyly‘s innings, it’s clear that Tom Ricketts is okay going over.
Unless the addition of Bregman signals a trade involving either Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw, something Jeff Passan believes the Cubs “probably will consider.” Trading Hoerner and his $11.67 million AAV would clear a lot more salary space, but he might bring less of a return due to being a rental. He’s also a more integral facet of both the defense and the lineup, so parting with him would be more detrimental to the team’s outlook.
I think the Cubs are perfectly happy with what they’ve got and will move forward with Shaw as a super-utility option unless another team blows them away with a trade package.
Beede Little Eyes
Per Ari Alexander of 7 News in Boston, the Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with righty Tyler Beede. The 32-year-old journeyman pitched in the Guardians organization last season, logging 14 innings over 13 relief appearances with an 8.36 ERA. He started throwing a splitter last season and has posted big strikeout numbers in the past, but he has also struggled with command and giving up hard contact.
More News and Notes
- Pirates starter Jared Jones recently threw his first bullpen while recovering from internal brace elbow surgery and is projected to return by May.
- The Yankees and Cody Bellinger are “at an impasse,” according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. A previous report had the Yanks’ offer at over $30 million AAV, but the implication was that it’s for a shorter duration than Bellinger was willing to accept. Olney added that the Yankees are moving forward with the assumption that Bellinger will sign elsewhere.
- We’re recording an episode of The Rant about 4 minutes from when I publish this, hence the truncated nature of the column.
