Here are three things we will look at in the world of baseball today:
1. Deadline for filing arbitration:
Today is a big day on the MLB offseason calendar, as Thursday marks the deadline for teams and players to exchange figures before salaries are settled. Most of those cases will end with the two sides settling salaries to avoid arbitration, but any team that still has unsigned players as of today will be scheduled for a hearing before a three-member arbitration panel. It’s a complicated process that can cause friction between the player and the team. The Arb hearing presents a difficult balancing act for teams that simultaneously wish to avoid damaging the relationships they have with their players but are also motivated to hold a hard line on arbitration-level salaries to avoid setting damaging precedents for the future. The official deadline to reach an agreement is set for noon CT, but teams and players will continue negotiations until the hard filing deadline of 7pm CT this evening. As usual, MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz brought up the estimated arbitration salaries of every eligible player in the game at the start of the offseason.
2. What’s next for Cubs?
After a quiet offseason that was mostly focused on rebuilding the team’s bullpen, the Cubs made their first big deal yesterday when they traded for a talented pitcher. Edward Cabrera. Chicago provided a great opportunity for the outfield Owen Caissie (in accordance with the small internal expectations Cristian Hernandez again Edgardo De Leon) to the Marlins in exchange for Cabrera’s services. Cabrera is subject to arbitration for the next three seasons and is expected to earn $3.7MM in 2026. That should give Chicago enough room in the budget to engage elsewhere in the free market. With a rotation that suddenly looks deep, that could mean an aggressive pursuit of top free bats. Cubs are linked to Alex Bregman during the whole winter, and in recent days they have also been arrested Bo Bichette even an old friend Cody Bellinger. Reuniting with a rising star Kyle Tucker It still seems unlikely, but could a big free agent be in store for the Cubs before the season starts?
3. Will the exchange market continue to move?
Yesterday’s Cabrera trade took another big chunk out of the trade market, leaving only a few starters to continue that. Brewers right Freddy Peralta is probably the most talked about player at this point and could be an impact hire for the receiving team, but other players (eg Nationals lefty MacKenzie GoreMets right Kodai SengaRoyals lefty Chris BubicRed is fine Brady Singer) can all theoretically be obtained with reasonable agreement. Meanwhile, the lower reaches of the free agent market saw some movement yesterday when the Rockies agreed to a one-year deal with the right-hander. Michael Lorenzen. Less efficient has been a volatile market at the top of free agency, where arms are favored Framber Valdez again Guard Suarez there is still time left.
