The Rundown: Cubs Pitching Projections, Mets Getting LuBob May Clarify Bellinger Hunt, CubsCon Could Be Moving, HOF Gains 2 More

It feels like we’re in a weird sort of limbo with the Cubs, who made two major moves ahead of their annual fan convention and now seem to be lying in wait to see what happens with the rest of the league. Several other big free agents have come off the board since Alex Bregman headed to the North Side, and there are still more to go before the offseason is over, but the tweeners like Zac Gallen might end up looking for pillow deals.

I’m selling Gallen a little short there because he was among the top 15 or so available players according to many evaluators. My issue is that he didn’t seem like much of a needle-mover even before the Cubs added Edward Cabrera. The reports about them still being engaged with Gallen, a Scott Boras client, strike me more as a favor following their “overpay” for Bregman.

Unless Gallen has some big tricks up his sleeve following the toughest season of his career, I’m just not sure how signing him would be anything other than a lateral move. Then again, the latest ZiPS projections for the rotation don’t project a bunch of great performances. Dan Szymborski’s algorithm has Matthew Boyd leading the way at 2.4 fWAR, followed by Cabrera and Shōta Imanaga at 1.9 apiece. Cade Horton is at 1.7, with both Jameson Taillon and Justin Steele at 1.5 on the season.

Rather than seeing that as a sign that they’ve got a low ceiling, I’m inclined to be bullish on their high floor. These are, after all, objective computer models that could very well be outperformed by several different actual human beings. That isn’t a knock on Dan or his modeling, by the way, just a statement of fact. And hope.

Mets May Have Left Bellinger Race

Speaking of which, there’s probably not much solid ground on which to stand when pining for Cody Bellinger to be back patrolling right field at Wrigley. I mean, it’s a helluva lot more likely than thinking the Cubs were ever going to get close to a Kyle Tucker reunion, but still. Even though a fake quote from an “anonymous Cubs staffer” gained traction over the weekend, it’s pretty clear that the Cubs and other teams questioned Tucker’s motor and leadership.

That’s not the case with Bellinger, though he’s more of the chill vibe-setter than an in-your-face type of rah-rah leader. He was a great fit for the Cubs at a time when they weren’t competing at a high enough level, and he might be even better with a true contender, but it sure seems as though he’s still got very strong interest from at least two teams.

The Mets may no longer be one of those teams after trading for Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox and taking on the entirety of his remaining $22 million obligation. While neither the cost nor the fact that LuBob requires an outfield spot are necessarily prohibitive to a Belinger deal, it feels like the Yankees and Blue Jays are the frontrunners here. Jon Heyman tweeted Tuesday that there were two teams outside of New York showing interest, so the Cubs could still technically be in play.

CubsCon Leaving Sheraton Grand?

If you saw my CubsCon thoughts in a previous Rundown, you already know that this most recent celebration left a bit to be desired. That could be almost by design, as this was the last year of the Cubs’ contract with the Sheraton Grand to host the event. In a follow-up survey sent to attendees, some standard opening questions were followed by a series of queries that indicate the team is looking to move in a new direction.

That’s actually something I’ve been suggesting for years, though I can’t find my initial suggestion anywhere. Maybe I just said they should find a way to leverage their own facilities, though the complications with holding anything outdoors in the middle of January are obvious. Could they try to move it to McCormick Place like so many other massive conferences?

Take a look at the questions below and judge for yourself whether this is a very obvious series of trial balloons.

Would you prefer the ability to pre-register for Cubs Con’s most popular events (ex: opening ceremony, bingo, player autographs)?

How important is it that the Cubs Con venue has an on-site hotel?

Please share your level of satisfaction with the Sheraton Grand Chicago as the venue for this year’s Cubs Convention.

The other wrinkle here is that a lockout could prevent CubsCon from happening at all. Crane Kenney didn’t discuss that specifically, but he acknowledged that the 2027 All-Star Game at Wrigley could be in jeopardy due to a work stoppage. Losing their hosting privileges next year would likely mean getting bumped to 2029, but we won’t know more about that for a while.

Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

As revealed last night on MLB Network, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America has voted Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. They will join Jeff Kent, who was previously voted in by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, at the induction ceremonies on July 26 in Cooperstown. Beltran appeared on 84.2% of the ballots, easily eclipsing the 75% threshold, and Jones got 78.4% of the votes after being at just 7.3% when he debuted on the ballot in 2018.

Rather than decrying the stupidity of a process that somehow makes a player 10 times more worthy over less than a decade of eligibility, I will applaud how getting more oldheads out of the voting body helps the Hall. We should continue to see a more diverse group of inductees who are judged more on their merits relative to the eras in which they played, rather than a bunch of guys who get it based solely on counting stats or whether media members liked them.

More News and Notes

• The Twins have designated former Cubs great Vidal Bruján for assignment just a week after claiming him off waivers. This is probably an attempt to sneak him through so they can keep him in the org at Triple-A.
• That move was necessary because the Twins just acquired infielder Tristan Gray from the Red Sox. Catching prospect Nate Baez goes back to Boston in the deal.
• The White Sox get utilityman Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., and righty pitching prospect Truman Pauley back from the Mets in the LuBob deal.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong and Caleb Williams are going to bring quite a bit of fun to Chicago over the next few years. PCA has been attending Bears games regularly, and the pair has now been hanging out together at Blackhawks and Bulls games.
• We touched on this yesterday, but Marquee’s coverage of spring training will “probably” be reduced to fewer than 10 of their 33 total games (including split squad, Spring Breakout, and vs. Team Italy). They only carried 17 games last season after broadcasting 27 of 33 contests in 2024.
• For those who aren’t very good at math, this means Marquee — a network owned by and dedicated (mostly) to the Cubs — will only carry one-third of the spring games in 2026 that they did just two years ago. At a time when they could have exclusive coverage of games that fans are clearly hungry to see, they’re slashing their coverage.
• As much as the deep cuts they made to their digital and reporting teams in late 2025, this continued decrease in game coverage sure makes it look like Marquee is circling the drain. In addition to the wheelbarrows full of money the team-owned network was supposed to dump into the player budget, Marquee was supposed to provide Cubs fans with unprecedented access to the goings-on in Mesa. That’s how things started, but things are clearly moving backwards at a rapid pace.
• Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports that MLB owners are “raging” over the Dodgers’ signing of Kyle Tucker, citing a source as saying, “These guys are going to go for a cap no matter what it takes.”
• Dave O’Brien, Braves beat writer for The Athletic, shared a story about Jones that he was told by Terry Pendleton. As they were standing by the batting cage before a game in San Francisco, Willie Mays walked up and said to Jones, “You’re the best center fielder I’ve seen.”

Trailer Time

I’ll go ahead and let you know that tomorrow’s segment will feature the first Masters of the Universe trailer, the teaser for which was released today. My initial thought was to talk a little about Song Sung Blue, a decent movie that I’m glad we rented instead of seeing in the theater. Totally fine, not something I can imagine ever revisiting. Then I stumbled upon the trailer for Chain Reactions, a documentary about how The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became a cultural touchpoint.

My interest was piqued by Stephen King as the thumbnail image, and I was surprised to find that this was apparently released in theaters back in September. It’s available now on AMC+ and Shudder, with rental and purchase options through Apple TV, Amazon, and Fandango.