Scouts love the addition of Cabrera, 27, for the Cubs who still need to add a big-time hitter. Cabrera is coming off a season where he threw a career-high innings, posting a 3.53 ERA. That was only 137.2 innings so there is some risk here. Cabrera has a phenomenal changeup and that plays in today’s MLB in a big way. Cabrera figures to make about $3.8 million in arbitration and that fits well with the big market Cubs’ cheap philosophy.

Hey, it’s the NL Central. No team likes to spend money in that division.

If the Cubs scoop up a big-time free agent hitter like Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman or Cody Bellinger or make a trade for a big bat, then the Cubs really will have something cooking this season. That is a big if, though.

I expect the Yankees to re-sign Bellinger and call it their big win.

First thing’s first. “Trading for Cabrera was a huge add for them,’’ one top talent evaluator told BallNine.

The NL Central is there for the taking.

“Let’s see if the Brewers can do it again, but Pittsburgh is nowhere close, Cincinnati has issues, the Cardinals are all screwed up, so the Cubs are in pretty good shape within that division,’’ the evaluator said. “They could really use Bregman. That ownership group has the money, but they have made some really bad deals like the Jason Heyward one (eight years, $184 million after the 2015 season) and now they are very cautious about giving out big deals anymore. They have had some really bad ones, so that is why you are seeing trades. I give them credit for not signing (Kyle) Tucker for $400 million. I wouldn’t give him $300 million. He’s hurt a lot. He is a good player, but he is not Aaron Judge. So that is where the Ricketts are coming from. I give the Cubs credit. Tucker got off to that great start, and they had a lot of fan pressure to sign him, he could still end up there, but I don’t think he will. It will be interesting to see what he gets. Bregman I think will go back to Boston, he fits there.’’

To get something in a trade you must trade something.

Cassie, 23, played 12 games with the Cubs last season, batting .192 with one home run. At AAA he had 433 plate appearances, batted .286 with 22 home runs and a red flag 121 strikeouts. The Marlins found success in trades for Kyle Stowers from the Orioles and Jakob Marsee from the Padres. Stowers hit .288 with 25 home runs last year and Cassie is four years younger. Marsee batted .292 in 55 games in 2025.

Here at BallNine, we love old-fashioned trades. Good for the Cubs heating up the hot stove.

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Winning in 2027: Who will be the big baseball entertainment winner when MLB stops in 2027?

An organization I first told you about here in September of 2020, long before they were widely known, after I went to one of their games when the rest of the world remained locked in at home — yes, the Savannah Bananas.

Speaking to a longtime baseball man on Wednesday he offered this unsolicited comment.

“There might not be any Big-League games but there will be Savannah Bananas Baseball,’’ he said. “They are going to mop up, man. I bet you they have eight teams by then. And they are smart. They don’t play Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, they don’t need to. They will have eight teams and games going on Thursday through Sunday and everything will be sold out before the season starts.’’

The Bananas’ Jesse Cole is the master baseball salesman of this generation. His fans’ first philosophy, along with his wife Emily Cole, has transformed the baseball experience for fans. The Bananas and the Texas Tailgators and Party Animals and Firefighters and Independence Clowns and Loco Beach Coconuts have combined for the Greatest Show in Sports. The season starts this February 28th in Tallahassee.

“The Bananas were so smart, they put out their schedule about a week before minor league baseball did,’’ the baseball man said, “and they will be even more proactive in 2027.’’

Way back in 2020 here is what Jesse told me “I’ve definitely been inspired by Bill Veeck. We constantly have Idea-Palooza’s. What’s the next crazy fun thing we can do? Challenge the rule of industry. Look at what’s happening with Major League attendance. It has declined over the last seven years. It’s time for a change and we are trying to be a catalyst for that …  We redesigned the baseball experience. We said what do people not like about the baseball experience. No. 1: Slow, boring. No. 2: You get nickel and dimed at every ballpark.’’

Jesse Cole hit the baseball nail on the head that night and when MLB stops in 2027, you better get your Savannah Bananas tickets early.

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto speaks after the Dodgers’ parade celebrating the team’s back-to-back series victories at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Nov. 3, 2025. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

Three-peat: Since we are talking winning, let’s talk Dodgers, who are looking to win their third World Series in a row, something that hasn’t been done since the 1998, ’99, 2000 Yankees of George Steinbrenner and Joe Torre.

One talent evaluator was talking about all the poor decisions being made in baseball and offered this unvarnished opinion on the Dodgers: “You look around now and say what teams are making really good decisions and the only one I would say is the Dodgers. Now, they get beat up because they spend so much money but what gets overlooked is that they have made a lot of good decisions. Think about it, 13 years in a row they are picking at the bottom of the draft every round, not just the first round, it’s every round. So, they are at the bottom of the draft for 13 years and they are still good – and they are killing everybody internationally. I think people don’t want to face that fact. The Dodgers have big analytics, but they have a lot of scouts too. A lot of teams talk the talk that they are going to mix analytics and scouting, but most of them don’t trust traditional baseball people. They’ve gotten rid of experience everywhere.’’

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Donnie Baseball: This was a win for the Phillies – hiring Don Mattingly as their bench coach. Mattingly did so much for the Blue Jays last season and all you had to do was see the interaction between Mattingly and Bo Bichette after the Game 7 loss to the Dodgers to realize the impact Mattingly had on that team. He was a great resource for the Blue Jays hitters. “I heard he was a huge impact the last two years, bringing some sanity back to hitting,’’ one scout told BallNine. And what was that sanity addition?

“Being embarrassed to strike out,’’ the evaluator said.

The Blue Jays had the second fewest strikeouts in baseball with 1099. The Phillies could use the help. They were 12th with 1337 Ks. Here is the most interesting number, though. Yankees hitters were 28thin strikeouts with 1463, that is 364 more strikeouts for Yankees hitters than Blue Jays hitters. Maybe the Phillies will sign Bichette, that would be a great addition.

Noted another talent evaluator: “I’d rather have Bichette over Bregman. To me, Bregman is on a little bit of a downturn.’’

The Phillies need to do something and shake it up a bit.

“I think the Phillies have just gotten a little complacent,’’ the evaluator said. “I think they need to go out and play pissed off for a whole season.’’

I agree. The Phillies have gotten a bit soft. They need a little more “Rocky’’ in their approach, a little more determination and competitiveness would go a long way and be a ‘W’ for the Phillies. At the same time, they are in a box behind the plate, they need to re-sign 34-year-old catcher J.T. Realmuto, a player I first saw at AA Jacksonville in 2013. Yes, Jacksonville was a AA team back then. That was a different front office for the Marlins with Mike Hill the president of baseball operations, but in that trade the Marlins received Will Stewart, Jorge Alfaro and Sixto Sanchez from the Phillies for Realmuto, a three-time All-Star.

Perhaps this Cabrera trade will work out better for the Marlins than the Realmuto trade did.

 

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