The Rundown: Cubs Showing ‘Renewed Interest in Bregman, Zombro Takes on Bigger Role, MLB Could Limit OF Positioning

Among a number of different candidates, I’d have to say the worst part about getting older is that you don’t heal very quickly. Even superficial injuries like bruises or muscle strains become prolonged encumbrances that can last for weeks on end. As I type this, I’m moderately hampered by a jammed left pinky finger that has me looking like an undersized ex-offensive lineman for the last three weeks. All because I caught a football awkwardly.

What makes it even worse is that our bodies become an actual version of the ubiquitous gag where someone tries to plug a leak in a dam, which only leads to more leaks. You wait two months for your hamstring to heal, then your elbow gets wonky. Unwonk the elbow and your foot gets jacked up. Foot feels better, then you make an awkward grab and you look like Discount Mark Schlereth.

I will now turn this into a crude analogy for the Cubs’ offseason endeavors, an annual tradition of leading us to believe things could be better before revealing that they are indeed still the same. Just in a slightly different way because the names change each winter. Except for this winter, as one name has popped up again.

Bregman Could Be Targeted Again

The Cubs engaged in a meaningful pursuit of third baseman Alex Bregman last season, offering him a four-year deal for $115 million that included opt-outs after the second and third years. He spurned that in favor of a three-year deal with Boston that could have earned him $120 million with lots of deferrals, but it was the opt-out after the first year that really tipped the scales. Now he’s back on the market, and a report from Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney says the Cubs “have shown renewed interest” in him.

We had theorized back in mid-October that the Cubs might prioritize Bregman as the best option to help replace Kyle Tucker‘s production, and a report from Jeff Passan last month said they were expected to “rejoin the fray” for his services. While I still believe this is more a matter of them treading water as they wait to see if Bregman’s price sinks once again, there’s clearly some credence to the idea that they still like him quite a bit.

Signing Bregman would give the Cubs a very solid everyday third baseman, allowing Matt Shaw to play more of a super-utility role a la Ben Zobrist. That might only last one season, though, as Nico Hoerner is currently set to become a free agent after this season. Bregman would be a very expensive insurance policy, but he would effectively buy the Cubs more time to decide what to do with Shaw and Hoerner.

I’ve been a staunch advocate for keeping the latter in town with another extension, but the front office might not see fit to pay him as much as he can command in free agency. That would allow either Shaw or Bregman to slide into the vacated keystone spot, assuming Shaw proves that his bat can keep him in the lineup. The question is whether Jed Hoyer is willing to commit 5-6 years at $150-160 million to a 32-year-old whose power over the last five seasons hasn’t come close to matching the previous five.

Bregman’s .184 ISO over his last 2,909 plate appearances is 24 points above the league average since the start of the 2021 season, but it’s 55 points lower than he put up across his first 2,418 PAs. Injuries hampered him a bit in that latter sample, which ties back to my opening anecdote, and I am personally concerned about how his performance will age over the course of another half-decade. Then there’s the defense, which is merely fine despite winning a Gold Glove in 2024 with the Astros.

Even though Hoerner brings more to the table holistically, Bregman offers more power and better on-base skills with a similar contact profile. So as I see it, this would be more of a way to cover second base rather than third into the future. That is, if Bregman would be willing to make the move.

I’d personally prefer to see the Cubs sign Kyle Schwarber for an estimated one year and $30 million less than Bregman, then use the surplus as part of a Hoerner extension. And though I think the Bregman talk is more a matter of keeping as many lines in the water as possible for right now, the fact that he’s not attached to a qualifying offer adds to his attractiveness. Of course, the same goes for how the Tigers and other teams view him.

Zombro Takes Over MiLB Pitching

Tyler Zombro has been a revelation in the Cubs’ front office, aiding in the identification and development of several pitchers across the organization. He’s an excellent communicator who’s able to distil complex concepts into digestible explanations and actionable cues. Zombro is also upwardly mobile, which is why we speculated several weeks ago that the Cubs would need to elevate his role in order to keep him around.

That’s exactly what they’ve done, per a report from Maddie Lee of the Sun-Times, giving him a larger scope of responsibility that includes overseeing the minor-league pitching department in the wake of pitcher director Ryan Otero’s defection to Boston. Otero rejoins former Cubs pitching director Craig Breslow, who left last year to become chief baseball officer for the Red Sox.

Zombro will now be tasked with strengthening a development pipeline that, despite some recent successes, still isn’t on par with the best in the game. Through his expertise as a former player and Tread Athletics guru, Zombro understands the process on multiple levels. He’s also just a really good dude who loves to nerd out on pitching, which I like.

Cubs Acquire IFA Pool Money

As first reported by Bruce Levine, the Cubs have traded righty Nico Zeglin to the Astros for $250,000 in international pool money. They only had $33,000 of IFA money left for the current period that ends on December 15, so this gives them a bit more to finish if they have their eyes on any other prospects. The 25-year-old Zeglin was signed out of the independent Pioneer League in 2024 and pitched at the two A-ball levels that year.

Though he was at least a year older than his average competition in South Bend and nearly 2.5 years older than his opponents at Myrtle Beach, he dominated to the tune of a 0.95 ERA across 25 appearances (four starts). Zeglin then missed all of 2025 due to injury, which explains why you probably haven’t heard of him. My first thought was that this could signal the Cubs’ intent to sign a player who’s turned down a qualifying offer, so I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Other News and Notes

• The Pirates and Red Sox swapped five players, highlighted by Johan Oviedo going to Boston and Jhostynxon Garcia heading to Pittsburgh. Seems like the Pirates could have just kept Alexander Canario, but whatever.
• Pittsburgh reportedly remains interested in trading starters not named Paul Skenes, which is kind of a funny way to build around their ace. Mitch Keller has been heavily involved in previous trade talks, including with the Cubs, and remains the most obvious candidate to be moved. Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows are other options, though both are still very early in their service time and make more sense as cheap options with high ceilings. Moving Keller and replacing him with Ascraft seems like the clear choice.
• A rotation of Skenes, Ashcraft, Burrows, Jared Jones, and Bubba Chandler could be lethal. With an average fastball of 95.5 mph, Burrows would be the slowest-throwing starter in the group by almost two ticks. Yowza.
• As if they don’t have enough already, the Dodgers have reportedly shown interest in elite closer Robert Suárez. It would probably only happen if the righty ends up settling for a shorter deal, but the Dodgers do have room in the bullpen after losing Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech to free agency. For what it’s worth, and I would say not much, Jim Bowden would like to see Suárez to LA.
• Ol’ Ralph would also like to see Schwarber to the Reds (5/$160M), Cody Bellinger to the Pirates (6/$168M), and both Bregman (6/$182M) Tatsuya Imai to the Tigers (7/$154M). Some members of Cubdom would come unglued if that all came to pass, which it won’t.
• Per Jayson Stark, MLB is considering measures to limit outfield positioning similar to how the shift was limited three years ago. Doubles and triples are dying as advanced information tells teams exactly where to place their outfielders based on weather conditions and hitters’ tendencies. It’s not coming in 2026, but the game could see changes if the trend continues.
• Derek Bender, the former Twins catching prospect who was released in September of 2024 and suspended for all of 2025 after allegedly telling opposing hitters what pitchers were coming, has been reinstated.

Trailer Time

I have really enjoyed the capers of the Four Horsemen in the first two installments of the Now You See Me franchise, so I’m looking forward to Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. I’m a sucker for magic and anything starring Woody Harrelson, so this is very much my jam. Should be a fun little romp.