There’s nothing like a polar vortex to get you thinking about Cactus League baseball.
As you crank up the thermostat and wonder why you chose to live here, remember the Cubs and White Sox will meet one month from Friday at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., and they’ll be playing baseball almost every day for at least the following 7½ months.
Here are a couple of warm things to think about this weekend until it’s safe to go back outside.
The new year keeps getting better for the Cubs, who added some star power to the lineup last week with the Alex Bregman signing and on Wednesday watched the Milwaukee Brewers shed their best pitcher in Freddy Peralta.
The Brewers ace was dealt to the New York Mets, along with swingman Tobias Myers, for right-hander Brandon Sproat and infield prospect Jett Williams.
“The reality is that we have one year left here with Freddy Peralta,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told reporters. “That’s always going to be a challenge for us.”
Reality bites when you’re a Brewers fan. The team overachieves every summer, only to see management say goodbye to a star, from trading Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams to letting Willy Adames leave via free agency. Now Peralta was deemed too expensive to keep as he entered his walk year.
The Cubs already were the favorites to win the National League Central, and this move makes the Brewers even bigger underdogs. Since coming up in 2018, Peralta is 70-42 with a 3.59 ERA, and has a 9-3 record and 3.21 ERA in 22 games against the Cubs, including 17 starts. The Cubs did manage to beat Peralta in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Wrigley Field, but more often than not he has dominated them.
The Brewers did what they had to do, and Arnold got a good return for his ace. But it shows once again how much of a financial advantage the Cubs have in the NL Central, where they are the only big-market team. Their payroll projection is $231 million, according to fangraphs.com, which dwarfs the payrolls of the Brewers ($126 million), CIncinnati Reds ($121 million), St. Louis Cardinals ($104 million) and Pittsburgh Pirates ($95 million).
The Brewers still have a solid lineup and a stronger bullpen on paper than the Cubs, who traded Andrew Kittredge back to the Baltimore Orioles and let Brad Keller become a free agent, and he signed a two-year, $22 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Brewers starter Freddy Peralta walks off the mound during a tough first inning against the Cubs during Game 4 of the NL Division Series on Oct. 9, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
So who will be the main high-leverage “out-getters” along with Daniel Palencia, the projected closer, and Caleb Thielbar, their top late-inning left-hander?
Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, Jacob Webb and lefty Hoby Milner are the newly signed relievers, while Javier Assad and Colin Rea return as possible swingmen.
“Look, the bullpen is where the team has turned over the most,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s also, we know, an area of volatility on most teams. I don’t think we’ll have solid answers on that for a while. We brought what we think is a talented group to form a really good unit, but, roles? It’s going to be into the season before we establish (those). We’ll have to pick a way to finish a game on the first day, but then we’ll see.”
Kittredge didn’t even arrive until the trade deadline, and few expected Keller to become their most valuable reliever back in spring training. Building reliable bullpens has been President Jed Hoyer’s Achilles’ heel, but last year’s pen was perhaps his best unit, despite the struggles of Ryan Pressly, who retired last week.
Former Cubs ace Jon Lester thinks they still could use a little more pitching help.
“Not to step on Jed’s toes …” he said. “Palencia is incredible in the back end of the bullpen, but I think they need one more guy back there. Then maybe, not a big name, but somebody in the starting rotation. I know they’re getting (Justin) Steele back. I think they’re set up for really good success in their division. I tell people all the time, and it has backfired on me numerous times, but it’s not always the best team that wins the World Series. It’s the hottest team.”
White Sox outfielder Braden Montgomery attends photo day at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 20, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Top hitting prospect Braden Montgomery is the player most Sox fans want to see in right field on opening day. He has all the intangibles the Sox are looking for as they try to make the next step forward in Year 3 of the Chris Getz rebuild.
But whether Montgomery will make the jump from Double-A Birmingham to the majors is anyone’s guess.
Andrew Vaughn made the 2021 roster despite advancing only to High A ball, but the 2020 minor-league season was canceled because of the pandemic. The Sox did call up reliever Grant Taylor from Birmingham last year.
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“I think it’s more and more common,” Taylor said in June of skipping Triple A. “(Jairo) Iriarte and Drew Thorpe both went from Birmingham to here, and Brooks Baldwin too. It’s becoming more common, how organizations are using their talent.”
But Montgomery played only 34 games at the Double-A level, and his season was cut short in early September because of a small fracture in his right foot.
Getz, however, seemed reluctant to push Montgomery when asked about him Wednesday while discussing the Luis Robert Jr. trade.
“Coming into Spring Training, I want him to come in and compete for a spot,” Getz said. “I think at some point he could come into the mix, so we are open-minded. We always are with young players. But I just want him to go out and focus and be the best player he can be. It’s really about the long term for Braden Montgomery and the White Sox, it’s not about Braden Montgomery making the opening-day roster.”
Baldwin is likely to be the starting right fielder for the Sox on opening day March 26 in Milwaukee, but Montgomery could make it a tough call with a strong spring.
With the wind chill below zero, it’s the kind of thought that can warm the heart of any Sox fan.