NL Central

The Chicago Cubs are reportedly the "most likely landing spot" for free-agent outfielder Cody Bellinger.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported Bellinger is not close to choosing a destination as he continues to search for the right offer on the open market.

Bellinger spent the 2023 season with the Cubs, re-emerging as one of the best outfielders in the sport. The 2019 NL MVP hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and 97 runs batted in and earned his second Silver Slugger selection.

The performance was a complete turnaround from a rough three-year stretch for Bellinger, who slashed a dreadful .203/.272/.376 in 295 games from 2020 to 2022.

His free agency has been prolonged in large part as a result of those three years. From 2017 to 2019, Bellinger looked like a superstar in the making and potential cornerstone of the Dodgers franchise. From 2020 to 2022, he was one of the worst everyday players in baseball.

The 2023 season was something of a middle ground, but it's hard to figure out where Bellinger stands—particularly with a nine-figure contract hanging in the balance. His hard hit percentage, barrel rate and average exit velocity were all concerningly low, and Bellinger doesn't walk enough to justify his power regression if he's not hitting for a high average.

There's a decent chance Bellinger's contract winds up looking like an albatross if teams aren't careful.

A return to Chicago would provide him with a park where he excelled and an organization that took a chance on him when few would last offseason.

Baseball Hall of Famer and Chicago Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg announced on Monday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Sandberg said in his statement that he has already begun undergoing treatment and he "will continue to be positive, strong, and fight to beat this."

Sandberg spent 15 of his 16 major league seasons with the Cubs and put together a stellar career. The former second baseman was named to 10 consecutive All-Star Games from 1984 to 1993 and he won nine straight Gold Glove Awards from 1983 to 1991. He owns the record for most Silver Slugger Awards by a second baseman with seven.

Sandberg's best season came in 1984 when he batted .314 with 19 home runs, 84 RBI, 114 runs and 200 hits on his way to being named National League MVP, the first Cubs player to win the award since Ernie Banks went back-to-back in 1958 and 1959. He led the Cubs to an NL East title that year, their first title of any kind since their NL Pennant in 1945.

Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2005 class. That same year, the Cubs retired his No. 23, making him the fourth player in team history to receive the honor.

The 64-year-old most recently served as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies after being promoted from third base coach midway through the 2013 season. Sandberg served in the position until his resignation during the 2015 campaign.

The Chicago Cubs and Dominican shortstop prospect Fernando Cruz reportedly reached a $4 million contract Monday.

Jesse Borek and Jesus Cano of MLB.com reported the Cubs used the vast majority of their $5.1 million pool money to sign the 17-year-old, who is the No. 4 ranked international prospect.

Cruz is known as a tantalizing prospect with 20-homer potential at the MLB level, along with all the makings of a stalwart defensive player at shortstop.

The Cubs will have plenty of time to allow Cruz to develop in the minors after signing Dansby Swanson to a seven-year contract ahead of last season. By the time Swanson's deal ends, Cruz will be in his early 20s and potentially ready to take over as the heir apparent.

Cruz is the fourth noteworthy shortstop to be added to Chicago's minor league system. Matt Shaw is currently in Double-A and was a first-round pick in last July's draft. Shaw could wind up shifting over to second base in the majors, especially with MLB.com projecting him for a 2025 debut.

The Cubs signed Dominican shortstop Jefferson Rojas two years ago using $1 million of their international pool money and has been impressive despite being younger than most of his competition in the minors at age 18. They also dipped into the international pool to sign Derniche Valdez out of the Dominican Republic last offseason.

While one could question the Cubs for signing three straight shortstops using their pool money in as many offseasons, the minor league developmental system can be a crapshoot. Even if all of their top prospects wind up developing to the peak of their potential, they could be used as foundations for a trade or wind up changing positions as they develop.

It appears Shōta Imanaga really just wanted to be a Chicago Cub.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported during an appearance on 670 The Score that "there was at least one team willing to more than double the guarantee" Imanaga received from the Cubs.

Imanaga agreed to a multi-year deal with the Cubs on Tuesday with an average annual value in the $15 million range, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported.

It's unclear which team was willing to offer Imanaga a larger deal.

The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels were once considered candidates to land the Japanese pitcher. However, Heyman reported earlier this week that the Giants and Angels were no longer considered landing spots.

Imanaga had spent his entire career in Nippon Professional Baseball before signing with the Cubs, suiting up for the Yokohama BayStars from 2016-2023. He has been one of the best pitchers in Japan in that span, posting a 3.18 ERA and 1,021 strikeouts in 1,002.2 innings across 165 appearances.

The 30-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2023, posting a 7-4 record with a 2.80 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 188 strikeouts in 148 innings across 22 games.

Imanaga was also a member of Japan's gold medal-winning squad at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He helped Japan defeat the United States in the gold medal game, allowing four hits and one earned run in two innings.

It's unclear why Imanaga was so drawn to the Cubs, but he'll now join a 2024 rotation that includes Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon.

The Cubs enter the 2024 campaign hoping to bounce back from an 83-79 finish to the 2023 season. The team has missed the playoffs in each of the last three years and in four of the last five seasons.

The Chicago Cubs have made their first major move of the offseason, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports that the team agreed to a tentative deal with Japanese pitcher Shōta Imanaga.

The left-hander reportedly will undergo a physical in Chicago on Thursday to make the deal official.

After landing Imanaga, Chicago's pitching rotation is set to look like this for the 2024 season:

Starters: Justin Steele, Shōta Imanaga, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad

Relievers: Mark Leiter Jr., Daniel Palencia, Drew Smyly, Luke Little, Julian Merryweather,

Closer: Adbert Alzolay

Imanaga spent eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball before his posting by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars this winter. While he hasn't received the same amount of attention as his countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the southpaw is a solid addition to a Chicago team that has had a relatively quiet offseason outside of hiring Craig Counsell as its next manager.

Per MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan, Imanaga had an ERA of 3.18 over his NPB career, but he posted a 2.53 ERA with 306 strikeouts over the past two seasons. The 30-year-old starred for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and started and won the gold-medal game against Team USA.

Imanaga is joining a Cubs pitching staff that ranked 14th in the majors with a collective 4.08 ERA last season. Chicago finished second in the NL Central with an 83-79 record but fell short of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Perhaps landing Imanaga will help kick off more offseason moves for the Cubs as they try to retool for a run in 2024.

As the New York Yankees attempt to look for starting pitching help in the form of Jordan Montgomery, two-time All-Star Marcus Stroman isn't receiving any interest from the organization according to NJ.com's Randy Miller.

"If the Yankees whiff yet again, they could turn to the next tier of available free agents. The list likely includes Marcus Stroman, who, according to an MLB source, isn't on the Yankees radar."

Stroman compiled a 10-9 record with the Chicago Cubs in 2023, accumulating a 3.95 ERA while starting 25 games.

While the 32-year-old is a New York native and grew up watching Yankees games, there is some history between the team's front office due to a small feud between general manager Brian Cashman and the right-hander.

When Stroman was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019, the Yankees were interested in his services although they ultimately didn't acquire him at the trade deadline. When asked about their pursuit, Cashman didn't think that he would be a "difference-maker" in New York's rotation.

"We were interested in Stroman but we didn't think he would be a difference-maker," Cashman said, per Bill Baer of NBC Sports. "We felt he would be in our bullpen in the postseason."

The comments likely stuck with Stroman, who took shots at the Yankees in Oct. 2020.

"Besides [Gerrit] Cole, there's no current Yankee pitcher who will be anywhere in my league over the next 5-7 years," Stroman stated in a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Their pitching always folds in the end. That lineup and payroll should be winning World Series' left and right...yet they're in a drought."

While it appears that any animosity between the two is now gone after Stroman revealed that Cashman apologized to him for the comments at a later date, it's clear that New York will likely explore other options in the pitching market to pair alongside Cole.

This starts with Montgomery, who amassed a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers in 2023. The 31-year-old also spent the first five years of his career with the Yankees before he was traded during the 2022 season.

Frankie Montas is heading to Cincinnati.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Saturday that the right-handed pitcher is heading to the Cincinnati Reds on a one-year, $16 million deal.

He is the second notable free-agent pickup for the Reds this offseason, joining infielder Jeimer Candelario. Montas has a career record of 37-35 with a 3.90 ERA and 612 strikeouts.

Montas was a hot commodity at the 2022 trade deadline and the New York Yankees were able to land him. That move did not work out too well for New York as Montas struggled with a 1-3 record and a 6.35 ERA for the remainder of that season before missing the majority of the 2023 season.

Still, Montas is a pitcher with a lot of potential and the low-risk nature of the deal for Cincinnati could be an opportunity for him to revive his career and also help the Reds take the next step.

Cincinnati had an up-and-down 2023 season, but it was a huge step in the right direction. Cincinnati lost 100 games in 2022 but improved to 82-80 last season and was alive in the postseason chase in late September.

However, the Reds looked like contenders to win the weak NL Central in the summer, so falling short of the playoffs was a disappointment from where the team stood at that time.

Still, the team is developing, and adding an arm like Montas could be the key that gets the Reds back to the playoffs.

George Clooney has carved out a great career in Hollywood as an Oscar-winning actor, director and producer, but he once had a shot at a professional baseball career if not for one minor flaw in his athletic profile.

In an interview with Mike Fleming Jr. of Deadline, Clooney revealed he had two different tryouts with the Cincinnati Reds that didn't go well.

"No, I just lacked skill. I had everything else," he said when asked if his athletic career ended because of an injury. I had a good hat, I had a good uniform. I just lacked the ability to play the game."

The biggest issue for Clooney was trying to hit off-speed stuff:

"Curveball got me. I remember I went out and basically they just care about speed and arm. They can teach you how to hit. So after the second year when I came back, I could throw pretty well and I was really fast and I got to finally make it the next round, which is to take batting practice. It's a minor league pitcher, and he's throwing me 82 mile an hour fastballs, down the middle. I've got a little 32-inch Louisville slugger. I was a leadoff hitter and I'm just poking those pitched all over the field. Just playing great. And I was like, I'm going to be playing with the Cincinnati Reds man. And this guy's looking at me like I'm an idiot. And I'm thinking, this is it, man.

"He throws an 82 mile an hour curveball, at my head. I literally fell backwards, and the ball ended up on the outside part of the plate, and everybody laughed. The sound it made and the movement on the ball, from a minor league pitcher… I was like, oh dude, I'm not going to be a professional baseball player. This is a different level. I didn't understand that until right then. But sports are so important to me. I still play a lot of hoops, and I have such great affection for the people who do it at a level that is insurmountable to most of us."

Clooney has talked about his failed attempt at a baseball career before. He told David Letterman on the Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction in 2018 that his first tryout with the Reds came in 1977 when he was regarded as one of the nation's top high school players as a 16-year-old.

It was also bad timing for Clooney to try making it in the Reds organization. They were in the midst of the Big Red Machine era at that point, having won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.

If Clooney had come along in the past few years, when the Reds were routinely losing 95-100 games every season, perhaps they would have been willing to take a chance on a toolsy 16-year-old with the hope they could teach him to hit a breaking ball.

When the baseball dream ended, Clooney moved into acting a short time later. He earned his first film credit in 1983 as part of the ensemble for the horror film Grizzly II: Revenge that also featured Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen.

The Milwaukee Brewers already lost manager Craig Counsell to the rival Chicago Cubs this offseason and might be trending toward a rebuilding effort that could include trading away pitcher Corbin Burnes and shortstop Willy Adames.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that Milwaukee has "talked with multiple teams about both players." He added the "most likely outcome" is they are moved in separate deals and not the same trade.

Burnes could be a fallback option for teams that are unable to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Morosi highlighted the Los Angeles Dodgers as one squad that could take that path once the high-profile free agent signs somewhere.

He also suggested the Brewers will not look to trade either player to the division-rival Cubs.

Both Burns and Adames are under contract for just one more season, so trading them now would allow the Brewers to get something back in return before they potentially go elsewhere after the 2024 campaign.

If a rebuild is around the corner, such moves could accelerate the timeline if they are able to land impressive young talent in either trade.

Burnes is far more than a consolation prize for teams that miss out on Yamamoto. He is coming off his third straight All-Star appearance and fourth consecutive finish in the top eight of the National League Cy Young voting.

He won the Cy Young in 2021 when he led the league with a 2.43 ERA and was still quite effective in 2023 with a 3.39 ERA, league-best 1.07 WHIP and 200 strikeouts in 193.2 innings. It was the third straight season he reached the 200-strikeout mark, and he also led the league in that category in 2022 with 243.

Burnes is an ace-level pitcher who is just 29 years old and could anchor the rotation for whichever team trades for him.

As for Adames, he appeared in 149 games last season and slashed .217/.310/.407 with 24 home runs and 80 RBI. While the batting average and on-base percentage left something to be desired, the power stands out after he hit a combined 80 home runs the last three years.

He is just 28 years old and could provide significant power from a middle-infield position for a contender this season.

Cody Bellinger and agent Scott Boras are holding firm on their valuation for the free-agent slugger, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

Rogers reported Boras is lobbying "for a package well over $200 million" and cited an MLB executive who isn't expecting a lot of movement on that front for now.

"Boras is sticking to the money that was mentioned at the start of the free agency market," the exec said. "He will take it well into the winter. Not budging."

Bellinger is a former MVP and a two-time All-Star who had 26 home runs, 97 RBI and a .307/.356/.525 slash line in 2023. And at 28, any age-related decline should be well down the road.

His value looks pretty stable until you recall the valleys of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Over those two years, he batted just .193 and had 244 strikeouts in 819 plate appearances. The Los Angeles Dodgers non-tendered him in November 2022, and he signed what was basically a short-term prove-it contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Playing the waiting game with valuations of this magnitude has worked out for Boras clients in the past. It wasn't until February 2019 when Bryce Harper got his 13-year, $330 million offer from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Carlos Correa saga last offseason didn't end until January and still saw the shortstop collect $200 million.

The risk is obviously that interested suitors could be less inclined to pony up if they sense nobody else is coming close to Bellinger and Boras' asking price. The closer Opening Day gets, the more leverage the veteran outfielder loses because he'll ultimately have to sign somewhere and accept whatever's the best deal on the table.

For now, there's no reason for Bellinger and Boras to panic or significantly lower their demand. That will change if he remains unsigned going into the spring.