The Rundown: Hot Stove Season Edging Ever Closer, Hoerner & Horton Herding Hardware, World Series Starts Tonight

“Wait in line ’til your time. Ticking clock, everyone stop.” – In the Waiting Line by Zero 7 ft. Sophie Barker

The World Series starts tonight, but for Cubs fans, it’s merely an impediment between this chilly Midwest morning and the official start of hot stove season. Most of us would love a sweep, though few outside of Los Angeles will root for the Dodgers as a prohibitive favorite. I can’t help but dream of the time that Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were linked to the Cubs in trade rumors. Oh, what might have been!

I believe Los Angeles will sweep, and I promise I don’t have any inside dope (wait, checks text messages and my DraftKings app) from Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who I playfully call Bo Duke within my inner circle. Knowing that, please keep Kash Patel from digging into my social activities. I do have a few skeletons I’d rather keep safely within the deep recesses of my proverbial closet.

In the meantime,  the Cubs have already grabbed a good share of hardware as awards season gets underway. Second baseman Nico Hoerner won the 2025 Fielding Bible award, though centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong lost out to Ceddanne Rafaela. Still, the Cubs were named the Defensive Team of the Year, which makes sense for a team that led the majors with six Gold Glove nominations.

Nico Hoerner goes SOARING 🤯 pic.twitter.com/cGFampHfM6

— MLB (@MLB) September 27, 2025

No disrespect to Fielding Bible, but that’s like winning a BAFTA when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar. Crow-Armstrong is easily the best defensive player in baseball and could win the prestigious Platinum Glove for his 2025 performance. Likewise, the Rangers were a tad better than the North Siders by the defensive metric (DRS) the Fielding Bible is known for. Rafaela saved six more runs than PCA this season, in case you’re wondering.

Cade Horton was given the proud honor of the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award. He’s the first Cub to grab that trophy since Kris Bryant, who also won the National League version in 2015. Horton was Chicago’s most dominant pitcher in the second half, though his rib injury kept him out of the playoffs and scuttled any chance the Cubs might have had to get slaughtered by the Dodgers in the NLCS.

A sweep by the Dodgers this week means closing the books on the 2025 season by November 2, though that would be pushed back to November 6 if the series goes a full seven games. An upcoming roster purge will allow Jed Hoyer to do some serious damage once baseball’s open market commences. The potential for a 2027 work stoppage could mean a more frenzied pace to winter shenanigans than we’ve been accustomed to. That dark cloud may also play a part in the possible departure of Shōta Imanaga. Regardless, I’m ready to get the winter started.

I only wish that trades and free agent signings arrived in my inbox with a similar velocity to the NFL, NHL, and NBA during their shopping seasons. If only Rob Manfred could quicken the pace of each winter’s marketplace in similar fashion to the games themselves. Perhaps that will be his next project once the automated balls and strikes system is implemented and after two cities have been chosen for expansion.

Cubs News & Notes

• Hoyer continues to champion Chicago’s offense despite its second-half struggles.
• Thanks in part to Horton’s outstanding inaugural season, the belief within the organization ($) is that its pitching infrastructure is strong, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
• Jim Bowden didn’t link any of his players most likely to be traded this winter ($) to the Cubs. I’d bet Hoyer will be more than mildly interested in Tarik Skubal, MacKenzie Gore, and Sandy Alcántara. That said, I’ll predict Chicago’s heaviest pursuits will be Dylan Cease, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, and Alex Bregman. The player we may be overlooking is Eugenio Suárez, who cannot be saddled with a qualifying offer because he was acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline.
• Mark Feinsand of MLB.com identified Kyle Tucker, Shane Bieber, Ryan Helsley, and Kazuma Okamoto as potential fits with the Cubs.
• Bieber might be a perfect fit for Chicago’s rotation.
• Padres fans would feel snubbed if Cease abandoned San Diego to pitch for the Cubs. I suppose that means they’d be okay if Hoyer signed Michael King instead.
• Like Cease, King’s expected contract is well within Hoyer’s comfort range.

Ball Four

“I’m Tony Vitello, new manager of the San Francisco Giants, and this is my TED Talk.”

Take 44 seconds out of your day to listen to Tony Vitello talk about how he approaches each new opportunity given to him. He’s truly an impressive human being.

Feels like Buster Posey really did find his guy. pic.twitter.com/LJx8S8P19W

— alex (@bantheshift) October 23, 2025

Central Intelligence

• Milwaukee: The Brewers announced they are promoting GM Matt Arnold to president of baseball operations. Arnold has guided Milwaukee to a three-peat of NL Central crowns since replacing David Stearns.
• Chicago: Some food for thought, if I may. The Cubs have the best defense in baseball and one of the game’s best offenses. They also have an elite bullpen and a much-better-than-average rotation. Additionally, Chicago won one less regular season game than the Dodgers. If Hoyer can replace Tucker, add better depth, and with a healthy Horton and Justin Steele, they’re on the cusp of competing for a championship next season.
• Cincinnati: Hunter Greene is the key player in trade rumors that refuse to die. That’s because he’s the one player guaranteed to return a Godfather haul to the Reds.
• St. Louis: The Braves and Orioles could provide the greatest return to the Cardinals for Sonny Gray.
• Pittsburgh: The Pirates hope to make a splash this winter and could trade for Angels outfielder Jo Adell.

World Series News & Notes

Baseball’s 121st World Series begins tonight in Toronto.

Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage will cap his meteoric rise with a Game 1 start against the Dodgers.

For Toronto, the key to stopping the Dodgers is minimizing the impact of two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

Los Angeles reliever Alex Vesia may miss the entire series due to a “deeply personal family matter.”

The Fielding Bible awarded Mookie Betts with its trophy as the game’s best shortstop.

MLB announced its umpiring crew for the Dodgers-Blue Jays series.

Friday Stove

The Brewers may trade Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff, but they’re maintaining hope that they can be World Series contenders in 2026 without either or both.

The Dodgers may dangle Rōki Sasaki in an attempt to acquire Skubal from the Tigers.

The Mariners are expected to prioritize slugging first baseman Josh Naylor in free agency.

The Giants plan to divide playing time at first base in 2026 with Rafael Devers and top prospect Bryce Eldridge.

Former Mets first-round pick Anthony Kay will attempt to return to MLB after two years of pitching in Japan.

New York also announced the signing of reliever Richard Lovelady to a one-year contract.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor had surgery to clean up his elbow and is expected to be ready by Opening Day.

Phillies exec Dave Dombrowski walked back some of the statements he made last week about Bryce Harper.

It’s been 20 years since the White Sox won the World Series, and they’re buried more deeply in the Cubs’ shadow than ever.

Extra Innings

You never pass up on the opportunity to promote Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, and Rich Harden.

The starting rotation for the 2008 Chicago Cubs is peak baseball. They should’ve been the team to break the curse.

Ryan Dempster – 6.9 bWAR, 2.96 ERA
Ted Lilly – 4.0 bWAR, 4.09 ERA
Carlos Zambrano – 4.2 bWAR, 3.91 ERA
Jason Marquis – 2.4 bWAR, 4.53 ERA
Rich Harden – 3.4 bWAR,… pic.twitter.com/GAX7VUcr72

— MLB Hall of Pretty Good (@hallofgoodpod) October 24, 2025

Apropos of Nothing

Speaking of past Cub greats, it’s time we gave Dexter Fowler the love he deserves. He retired with a much more impressive résumé than you may have remembered. Here are a handful of his accomplishments:

• He batted .319/.390/.582 (.972 OPS) with 91 RBI in 91 AB with the bases loaded.
• Though he was primarily a leadoff hitter, Fowler slashed .340/.444/.500 (.944 OPS) in 45 starts (197 PA) in the cleanup spot.
• He also batted .392/.436/.490 (.927 OPS) against future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
• Fowler is the only batter to lead off a Game 7 of the World Series with a home run.
• He is just one of four centerfielders in the divisional era with at least 80 triples, 140 stolen bases, and a 100 OPS+ or better. The others are Brett Butler, Steve Finley, and Kenny Lofton.

As I said the other day, no ex-Cub who played two seasons or less with the organization is as beloved as Fowler.

Son of Apropos

The Alan Parsons Project is rarely afforded the love it deserves. Some of the band’s more obscure stuff is pure bliss.

Truckin’ Like the Do-Dah Man

Once I move next week, I should be able to churn out even more content for Cubs Insider. My new place has a private office that will have multiple laptops so I can multitask throughout the day. I have some great ideas for a couple of series of articles to keep the winter fun and entertaining.

Roundball Rock

The game of basketball hasn’t fielded this much controversy since Joe Hacken and the CCNY Beavers ruled the NCAA.

Two massive gambling busts are ripping through the NBA just as its regular season begins this week: The FBI arrested Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former player and coach Damon Jones, and Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups yesterday for allegedly participating in two illegal gambling operations. Yes, the mafia was involved, which means a whole new slew of mob movies will greet us at the theater in the next few years. Paging Mr. Scorsese!

They Said It

• “If you look at the totality, we had a really excellent offensive team. We did have some struggles in the second half —  we had a collection of players in the first half at the same time who were playing exceptionally well, and then some of those same players struggled in the second half.” – Hoyer
• “We have a number of players that we’d love to keep long-term and we’ll have those conversations.” – Hoyer

Friday Walk Up Song

The Dodgers will repeat as champs unless the Blue Jays can summon some of that Brewers voodoo magic.