We\u2019re coming off one of the greatest World Series in history<\/a> and heading into a season that could be the last one for a while, thanks to a likely lockout in December. The final straw, many experts have theorized, was the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 signing of former Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The rich get richer. PECOTA projects the Dodgers to win 104 games, while Fangraphs has their payroll at an astonishing $396 million. Tucker\u2019s annual average salary of $60 million is $20 million higher than Aaron Judge\u2019s AAV of $40 million from the New York Yankees star\u2019s nine-year, $360 million deal<\/a> signed in 2022. By today\u2019s standards, Judge is already severely underpaid.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy, the numbers,\u201d said former Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, now a pregame analyst<\/a> for NBC\u2019s \u201cSunday Night Baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you know what? The game is thriving and the owners have a lot of money, right? They keep paying them because they keep making money. It\u2019s really good to see in the game. Whenever anyone wants to say anything about (players) making too much money, it\u2019s not their money, so keep paying these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Some random thoughts on the rites of spring.<\/p>\n Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery was sent down to minor-league camp early last spring and didn\u2019t get much of a chance to make the team. But he managed to prove his doubters wrong after being called up on the Fourth of July<\/a> and enters 2026 as the new face of the White Sox. It\u2019s a role he does not mind playing.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a kid, that\u2019s what you always want,\u201d Montgomery told me at SoxFest<\/a>. \u201cYou want to be a guy that the fans look at and when you think of a team, they think of that person. It just shows who you are not just as a player, but as a person. So I\u2019m happy to be a part of that. I don\u2019t mind talking to people. The media is just giving insight into what the fans want to know. That\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n Craig Counsell is already in midseason form. The Cubs manager was asked by ESPN\u2019s Jesse Rogers whether Daniel Palencia would be the closer if the season were to begin tomorrow. \u201cYes,\u201d he replied, then paused and jokingly added: \u201cNice scoop, Jesse.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a legitimate question since Palencia was not used as the closer in the playoffs, pitching in the sixth inning or earlier in all six appearances after missing most of September with a right shoulder strain.<\/a> If Palencia, who will pitch for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, doesn\u2019t have a good spring, Counsell will have to answer that question again. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n The Art Institute of Chicago garnered a lot of publicity Tuesday for installing Norman Rockwell\u2019s \u201cThe Dugout,<\/a>\u201d a 1948 illustration of slumping players and manager Charlie Grimm in the Cubs dugout and heckling Boston Braves fans behind them. No offense to Rockwell or his many fans, but this would be like chef Grant Achatz adding a Big Mac to the menu at Alinea.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a kitschy piece of Americana, but not a great work of art befitting a museum with the reputation of the Art Institute. A better venue for \u201cThe Dugout\u201d would be at Wrigley Field, where Cubs fans could take selfies in front of it.<\/p>\n My annual plea to baseball: Bring back pitchers running in the outfield during spring training games. Modern spring training facilities have all but made this classic workout obsolete, in which a pitcher would leave the game and return to jog in the outfield during play.<\/p>\n Why would anyone work out on the field now when they have so many treadmills and exercise bikes in their facilities? It\u2019s the ambience, stupid. The sight of a player running in the outfield during a game is soothing to fans and reminds us the exhibition game is just a meaningless marketing tool to get everyone excited for the upcoming season. Some things never get old.<\/p>\n The addition of free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman, who signed a five-year, $175 million deal<\/a>, has made the Cubs prohibitive division favorites.<\/p>\n \u201cBregman\u2019s expectation of himself is going to elevate everyone around him,\u201d Rizzo said. \u201cHe\u2019s played a lot of meaningful baseball games and knows what it takes to win. They got the taste last year. Wrigley looked like it was absolutely electric. I\u2019d imagine coming into (Wrigley) now, the Cubs are going to have to be ready for everyone\u2019s best stuff, because Wrigley is going to be elevated and the visiting teams are going to be elevated as well.\u201d<\/p>\n PECOTA pegs the Cubs for 90 wins and a National League Central title<\/a>, while the Milwaukee Brewers sink to 80 wins and second place. This plays right into the Brewers\u2019 hands and feeds into their annual narrative of being disrespected.<\/p>\n PECOTA also projects the Sox to win 69 games and finish last again in the American League Central, with the Kansas City Royals shockingly winning the division over the Detroit Tigers. Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami has given Sox fans faith that the rebuild will be put on fast-forward.<\/p>\n New Sox starter Anthony Kay, who faced Murakami in Japan, gave a scouting report: \u201cThe numbers say he\u2019s going to hit a lot of homers,\u201d he said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have any problem with the velocity I had, and I was throwing 98 (mph) there. I don\u2019t understand why he can\u2019t have a lot of success over here.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a shame Marquee Sports Network is televising only 11 of the Cubs\u2019 Cactus League games after originally boasting of its plan to cover the team 365 days a year. \u201cOur dedicated \u2018Cubs-centric\u2019 network will carry all available Cubs games and feature uncompromising, in-depth and behind-the-scenes coverage,\u201d Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said in a 2019 press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770912388_142_CTC-L-soxfest034.jpg\")
White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery is introduced during SoxFest Live at the Ramova Theatre on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Bridgeport. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CTC-L-ENT-ROCKWELL-AIC14.jpg\")
Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, speak after the installation of the Norman Rockwell painting “The Dugout” on Feb. 10, 2026, at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Rauners gifted it to the museum after hanging it in their home for the past 19 years. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CTC-CUBS-CONVENTION-011726-35.jpg\")
New third baseman Alex Bregman attends a discussion during the Cubs Convention on Jan. 17, 2026, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ctc-l-white-sox_10dbab.jpg\")
White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami takes a swing during batting practice at spring training Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin)<\/p>\n