The Rundown: Darvish Mulling Retirement, Cubs Sign Carlson, Alcántara Gets Love from Law, Bregman’s Batted Balls

This might be the worst stretch of the year for sports fans, particularly those dealing with sub-zero temperatures and snow up to their knees. College football is done, the NFL is on a two-week hiatus, and we’ve still got a little longer than that before pitchers and catchers report. With all due respect to college basketball, things are terribly slow right now.

That has to feel doubly true for a number of big-name pitchers who are still lurking as free agents, with Framber Valdez standing out as the top remaining target. Zac Gallen remains unsigned despite reports of interest from the Cubs, though I maintain those were more about trying to juice his market. Future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander have indicated that they’d like to keep playing, and both will probably bide their time waiting for the right opportunity.

Other viable starters include Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt, José Quintana, Aaron Civale, and Nick Martinez, all of whom might have to end up settling for pillow deals of some sort. We’ve mentioned several of these pitchers as possible Cubs targets, though the rotation depth Jed Hoyer has already built makes it hard to see a match making sense for both sides. Maybe if someone gets desperate after camps open, or inevitable injuries have the Cubs and other teams seeking replacements.

The Padres may need to add an arm if Yu Darvish indeed decides to walk away from the final three years of the six-year, $108 extension he signed in 2023. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported over the weekend that Darvish was “set to retire,” though the longtime ace provided clarification on Saturday.

“Since there are reports about my retirement, I’ll explain briefly,” read a translation of Darvish’s tweet. “I’ve been discussing with the Padres since last year about terminating the contract, but I haven’t decided to retire yet. My own intention has been consistent since the start of the offseason, but at this point, discussions with the Padres, the players’ association, and my agent haven’t been finalized.

“As for me, if I can thoroughly complete my rehab and feel confident that I can pitch in games both mentally and physically, I’d like to start over and compete from scratch again. As for this year, I plan to go to Petco Park for rehab as well, and also attend a bit of spring training.”

Cubs Sign Carlson

As first noted by Greg Zumach, the Cubs have signed former Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. That might seem a little redundant after claiming Justin Dean off waivers and inking a minors deal with Chas McCormick, but Carlson has more experience than either despite being at least two years younger.

Dean is already on the 40-man and has three minor league options, so he figures to be stashed at Iowa as a speed guy and emergency replacement. McCormick has put up the best individual season, but that was three years ago and he’ll turn 31 in April. He’s really struggled over the last two seasons, which is the same for Carlson. Once a top-10 prospect, the former No. 33 overall pick has been slowed by a series of injuries.

This could shape up to be a battle between McCormick and Carlson for the bench spot currently occupied by Kevin Alcántara. Both veterans can play all three outfield positions, and we know how the Cubs value versatility. Craig Counsell also tends to prefer a little seasoning on his role-players, so it could be a matter of wanting to make sure Alcántara keeps getting everyday at-bats in Triple-A.

I don’t really like that just on principle, as it could lead to a stagnation of Alcántara’s development. That would be less than ideal for a number of different reasons, not the least of which is the potential to lose both corner outfielders to free agency after this season. With this being Alcantara’s last option year, the Cubs are quickly burning what little runway they’ve got left to see whether he’s part of the future.

Law Loves Him Some Jaguar

Though the club’s decision to keep Alcántara prowling the outfield in Des Moines for the vast majority of the past two seasons has taken the shine off him in many evaluators’ eyes, Keith Law of The Athletic is still very impressed. So much so that he ranked El Jaguar No. 41 on his top 100 prospects list. That’s the highest of any Cub, with Moisés Ballesteros (47) and Jefferson Rojas (79) also earning spots. No Jaxon Wiggins, eh, Keith?

Law noted the “enormous power upside” while acknowledging that Alcántara carries more risk than those ranked above him. As I mentioned above, the fact that he’s entering his final option year means he’ll have to step up or risk meeting the same fate as other young Cubs outfielders who burned out before getting a chance to fade away.

More News and Notes

• ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle named the Cubs one of five breakout teams for 2026, which is interesting since they just won 92 games. The other teams — Braves, Orioles, Pirates, and White Sox — were all quite disappointing and/or just bad last year.
• Seiya Suzuki will be playing for Samurai Japan in the WBC, giving the Cubs eight players or prospects in the event. Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Matthew Byd are on Team USA; Jameson Taillon is playing for Canada; Miguel Amaya will represent Panama; Daniel Palencis is pitching for Venezuela; and Jonathon Long is expected to suit up for Chinese Taipei.
• Former Cubs great Trey Mancini has signed a minor league deal with the Angels, where he will reunite with former Baltimore front office advisor and new Anaheim hitting coach Brady Anderson.
• Alex Bregman noted during his introductory presser that his tendency to pull the ball in the air should play well, and Sahadev Sharma lays out why that is true.
• Following a report that the Washington Post will not have a presence at the Winter Olympics, it has now come out that both of their Nationals beat writers were told not to book travel to cover spring training.

Trailer Time

With the Milano Cortina games opening in less than two weeks, it’s only fitting to share the trailer for Miracle: The Boys of ’80. Releasing January 30 on Netflix, this documentary features never-before-seen 16mm footage and reflections from the members of the Miracle on Ice team that defeated the USSR in 1980.