The Rundown: MLB Sets Late Trade Deadline, Valdez’s Antics Could Be Costing Him, Cubs Have Bottom-Half System

What’s funny about today’s column is that I could have included almost everything from it in yesterday’s brief Rundown. That’s a testament to both my addled brain and how slow this particular point of the offseason has been. Much of my free time has been spent researching a college for my son and a car for my wife, both of which seem unfathomably expensive. I mean, have y’all looked at tuition these days?

Wild to think about how much we choose to pay for things we won’t use in five years. Well, unless you’re one of those people who actually got a degree that was readily transferable to real life. My kid wants to go into engineering, so he’s got a much better chance of parlaying his education into a job than I did as an English major. It’s so funny to me that he’s a whiz with math and science, but struggles a bit on the writing side of things.

I was always very good in all of those classes, but the math stuff had less than zero adhesion to my brain. Ryne’s that way with writing, but he does well enough to get by. He even just submitted his National Honor Society application, which included a brief essay that I was able to edit with him. Managed to sneak in quotes from Curt Cignetti — no, not THAT quote — and Ben Johnson, which was fun.

It sure would be nice of the Cubs to do even better than last year and generate a little more buzz around these parts. I’ve talked in the past about how this thing is more a labor of love than anything else, but it’s nice when we generate enough revenue to have some left over after paying to keep the lights on. Alas, I fear the ship may have sailed on that front.

We’ll still be here for a while, I just don’t know for how much longer. It’s a young man’s game, and I’m finding it more difficult to muster the energy for much more than one post a day. Between shorter attention spans and the need for ubiquitous coverage, I feel like a sit-down restaurant sandwiched between a bunch of fast-food joints. But enough of my complaining, let’s press on.

Late Draft

This season will feature the earliest traditional Opening Day in MLB history, with a March 25 tilt between the Yankees and Giants getting things started. The Cubs and Dodgers played a week earlier than that in Japan last year, hence the “traditional” tag. With that in mind, some found it a little odd that the league set the trade deadline to the latest possible date of August 3, 2026.

Not only is that several days later than the traditional late-July date, but it’s also a Monday afternoon. Ah, but therein lies the secret sauce. Only 16 teams are in action that day, and all eight games start at least 40 minutes after the 6:40pm EST deadline. That means no hug watches for players who are moved mid-game, and it helps with the logistics of travel and so forth.

Remember when Kris Bryant traveled with the Cubs to Washington, only to be told before the game that he’d been dealt to San Francisco? Situations like that can be avoided, plus managers don’t have to worry about scratching a guy from the lineup or holding them out in the event that they’re involved in conversations. Of course, some scratches could still happen since lineups have to be submitted hours before first pitch.

In the end, though, moving the deadline back makes a lot of sense.

Did Valdez Hurt His Market?

The anecdotal evidence sure seems to say yes, and we’re not just talking about what’s happening (or not, as the case may be) right now. Remember when Framber Valdez gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham, the second dinger he’d allowed in the game, and then seemingly crossed up catcher César Salazar in order to fire a fastball straight into his teammate’s chest? Yeah, that looked really bad at the time.

Framber Valdez really fumbled the bag
pic.twitter.com/FLuZpLrJaa https://t.co/20dvsYEiPZ

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) January 19, 2026

It doesn’t help that Valdez turned 32 in November and had a terrible second half with inflated numbers across the board, including a 5.20 ERA. His sinker was also down a full tick from his career-high 95.3 mph in 2023, and his velos were down on all of his other pitches as well. He may have a tough time finding a team willing to gamble more than four years on him at this point.

Cubs Farm System Ranked in Bottom Half

There’s a lot of subjectivity involved in prospect rankings, but it’s pretty safe to say that no one is particularly bullish on the Cubs right now. They’ve got two or three prospects ranked in various evaluators’ lists, leading to the system as a whole being poorly regarded. Part of that comes from trading Owen Caissie to the Marlins, and there’s something to be said for having big names matriculate to the majors.

But when you get down to it, you have to squint to find any surefire impact players in the minors. While Jaxon Wiggins stands out as a potential ace-type arm, the inherent volatility creates a necessary red flag. There are questions about how Jonathon Long‘s breakout performance will translate to the next level, similar to how folks wondered about Matt Mervis. Then there are positional issues with infielders who won’t have a spot in Chicago in the near future.

For those reasons and more, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked the Cubs 25th out of 30 MLB systems. His rankings are based on the “empirical surplus dollar values for each future value tier of prospect,” which is a way to project how much fWAR they’ll generate. As imperfect as that is, it’s as objective a way to compare the teams as we’ve got. The Cubs being ranked so low could actually be seen as a plus for their development, though they clearly need to rebuild their talent pool.

The Athletic’s Keith Law has the Cubs at No. 18 on his list, though his breakdown offers little to get excited about. He wrote that “they have four-to-five players with substantial upside atop their system,” but “a lot of role player and extra guy types” and “nobody who’s a dead-lock to be a major-league starter.” I can’t argue with that.

The real rub here is that the Brewers are ranked No. 1 by both writers, with all three other NL Central teams coming in ahead of the Cubs. The Pirates (McDaniel – 3, Law – 4), Cardinal (M – 9, L – 11), and Reds (M – 15, L – 17) all have stronger prospect outlooks at this point. That’s why it’s so important for the Cubs to continue leveraging their superior financial might over their rivals.

If you want to feel sick, the Dodgers sit among the top four systems in each ranking set.

More News and Notes

• The Nationals have claimed former Cubs great Richard Lovelady off waivers from the Mets, who DFA’d the lefty to open a roster spot for former Cubs great Vidal Bruján.
• Former Cubs great Eli Morgan inked a minor league deal with the Royals that includes an invite to camp. The changeup specialist was non-tendered by the Cubs in November after appearing only seven times and giving up 10 runs over just 7.1 innings. An elbow impingement ended his season early.
• Former Cubs great Tom Cosgrove, who worked four innings in two appearances for them last season, has agreed to a minor league deal with the Astros.
• Former eighth overall pick Cal Quantrill has signed with the Rangers on a minors deal with a camp invite.
• Lucas Giolito is drawing interest from the Orioles.
• SoxFest is taking place this weekend in Chicago.
• In pretty shocking news, the Twins announced that Derek Falvey is out as president of baseball operations. It’s reportedly “mutual,” though it sure seems like something must have happened to precipitate such a move just two weeks before spring training.

Movie Poster Time

We’re going in a slightly different direction today and sharing a teaser poster instead of a trailer. John Rambo, a prequel to the iconic action franchise, is currently in production under the guidance of director Jalmari Helander (Sisu) and executive producers The Russo Brothers. It will star Noah Centineo as the titular character.

“When I was eleven, I saw First Blood for the first time, and it changed my life,” reads a statement from Helander. “Rambo wasn’t just a film to me — it stayed with me growing up and was a defining influence on why I wanted to become a filmmaker.

“As we begin production on the origin of John Rambo, we’re going back to the beginning. This is Rambo stripped down, raw, and real — a survival story about endurance, persistence, and lost innocence. It’s an honor to shape this next chapter with deep respect for the character and the legacy, and to bring audiences the start of John Rambo’s journey.”

This has to be a period piece, but I’m wondering whether it will be set during the Vietnam War or even earlier. Regardless of the specifics, I’m stoked for this as a fan of Helander and the Russos. I’m only familiar with Centineo from his role in Black Adam, though I just saw that he’s been tabbed to co-star with Sydney Sweeney on a live-action Gundam movie.