Poll: NL MVP Race Check-In
While days off and postponements leave clubs around the league without a uniform number of games played, one of the games in this week’s slate will represent the halfway point in the season for every team across MLB. Who are the frontrunners to claim the MVP Award this offseason? MLBTR’s look at the American League saw Aaron Judge come away with 55% of the vote, and today we’ll be checking out the National League:
The reigning NL MVP hasn’t slowed down much after his 50-50 2024 campaign. Ohtani is slashing an incredible .289/.388/.627 (174 wRC+) through 78 games this year, with 27 home runs and 11 steals during that time. His status as a DH holds him back somewhat in terms of WAR, but he’s still second in the NL among hitters according to Fangraphs. He leads the league in homers and slugging percentage and clocks in within the top five in terms of on-base percentage. Ohtani’s expected numbers are quite good as well, as his .435 xwOBA is actually better than his wOBA and trails only Juan Soto among NL hitters. Of course, the real ace in the hole for Ohtani is the fact that he’s returning to pitching this year. He’s only thrown two innings so far, but his stuff has looked good in those abbreviated outings and he figures to only ramp up the volume as the season progresses.
Ohtani’s unicorn status as the only true two-way player in the sport will likely make him a frontrunner for the MVP Award every season until he either starts facing significant decline or retires from pitching. That said, he does not currently hold sole possession of the NL lead for fWAR even when combining his pitching and hitting numbers this year. His offensive numbers have not been quite as robust as they were last year, and he notably is not stealing bases anywhere near as frequently as he did when he was the second most valuable baserunner in the NL last season. For a player who’s won an MVP award in three of the last four seasons, voter fatigue can be a consideration as well; just ask Ohtani’s former teammate Mike Trout about the 2015 season. Will those potential weak spots be enough to let another player overcome him?
The dynamic 23-year-old’s breakout has been one of the biggest stories in the entire sport this year. Despite entering the 2025 season as a career 82 wRC+ hitter across parts of two seasons in the majors, Crow-Armstrong has slashed .273/.310/.563 (140 wRC+) across 78 games. That’s a very low on-base percentage for an MVP candidate, but Crow-Armstrong makes up for that flaw by being elite in every other regard. He’s fifth in the NL with 21 home runs, his 24 stolen bases are second only to Oneil Cruz, and he’s one of the most valuable defenders in the entire sport with +10 Outs Above Average. Taken together, it’s enough to give Crow-Armstrong a 4.0 fWAR figure that leads the league among hitters, and is tied with Ohtani when the latter’s work on the mound is factored in.
For those less statistically inclined, the fact that his breakout has been key to the Cubs’ ascent from mediocrity to become one of the league’s heavyweights could hold value with voters who differentiate between the “most valuable” player in the league and the “best” player in the league. Even with all of that going for him, it’s hard to consider Crow-Armstrong the favorite. Ohtani’s star power and uniqueness as a two-way player is difficult to match, and if he’s able to pitch effectively throughout the second half, it will be very difficult for Crow-Armstrong to not fall behind on the WAR leaderboard. What’s more, advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical of his offensive performance this year, as his .356 xwOBA is 16 points lower than his actual wOBA of .372. Crow-Armstrong’s plate discipline issues go beyond his anemic walk rate; he swings more often than any qualified hitter in baseball but has a below-average contact rate both overall and more specifically on pitches within the strike zone.
He’s lagging behind both Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong at this point, but Wood has been every bit the phenom the Nationals hoped he would be when acquiring him as part of the Juan Soto trade back in 2022. He’s hitting .281/.377/.561 (158 wRC+) in 80 games to go along with nine steals and solid defense in left field. His underlying offensive metrics are also immaculate, with top of the scale expected numbers, elite bat speed, and a 99th percentile barrel rate. It’s an exciting offensive performance, particularly from a player who’s just 22 years old. Some MVP voters could also hold the fact that Wood and his Nationals are not contenders against the budding young star.
Tatis is a familiar face in the NL MVP race, as he finished fourth for the award in 2020 before coming in third the following year. Injuries, a PED suspension, and a move from shortstop to right field have all changed the way Tatis is viewed around the league in the years since. That hasn’t stopped him from remaining a force within the Padres lineup, and this year he’s been one of the better all-around players in the NL. He’s slashing .264/.352/.459 (129 wRC+) with 15 homers and 15 steals, and his defensive value is second only to Crow-Armstrong among NL outfielders. Tatis also benefits from strong underlying numbers; his .390 xwOBA is 37 points higher than his .353 wOBA, and if he can play closer to those expected numbers in the second half, he could push his way up to the top of some ballots.
Other Options
While Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong appear to be the clear frontrunners at this point, Wood and Tatis aren’t the only potential challengers. Corbin Carroll is in the midst of a sensational season and was right there in the mix with the top two until news a wrist fracture yesterday left it uncertain when he’ll take the field next. Trea Turner and Kyle Tucker have both been excellent and could find themselves more firmly in this conversation if things break right in the second half. Will Smith is one of the league’s top hitters this year with a 170 wRC+ made all the more impressive by his status as a regular catcher, but he’s only played in 63 games so far.
Juan Soto‘s first half has been somewhat disappointing by his standards (147 wRC+), but he’s on an absolute tear right now and his .458 xwOBA is right in line with last year’s monster performance. Elly De La Cruz is flirting with pace for a 40-40 season but hasn’t been nearly as rangy at shortstop this season in the eyes of defensive metrics, which has weighed him down a bit. He could still easily emerge as a candidate with a big second half. Paul Skenes, Logan Webb, and Zack Wheeler are all in the midst of dominant seasons on the mound, but it’s somewhat rare for a pitcher to win the MVP award.
Who do you think will ultimately come out on top in NL MVP voting? Will Ohtani reign supreme once again, or could another challenger like Crow-Armstrong step up to claim the trophy? Have your say in the poll below:
Who Will Be The NL MVP In 2025?
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Shohei Ohtani 57% (3,211)
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Pete Crow-Armstrong 26% (1,457)
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Other (Specify In Comments) 7% (406)
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Fernando Tatis Jr. 5% (279)
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James Wood 5% (263)
Total votes: 5,616
Latest On Cubs’ Rotation Targets
The Cubs are on the hunt for rotation upgrades — a fact that’s both been widely reported and publicly confirmed by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. It’s easy enough to see why. Ace Justin Steele was lost for the season due to elbow surgery back in April. Shota Imanaga is returning to the rotation tomorrow, his first start since a hamstring injury sent him to the 15-day IL back on May 4. Javier Assad hasn’t pitched this year due to multiple oblique strains. Young right-hander Ben Brown was optioned to Triple-A yesterday amid ongoing struggles. Swingman Colin Rea, moved into the rotation during that injury deluge, has begun to struggle after initially excelling in a starting role.
Few teams have decided on a deadline direction yet, but Chicago has already been in contact with some clubs that know they’ll operate as sellers. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Cubs have inquired on Marlins right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Cubs also have some interest in Pirates righty Mitch Keller (as well as closer David Bednar). He adds that they’ve kept tabs on A’s righty Luis Severino before quickly downplaying the possibility that the Athletics would actually trade the veteran right-hander in the first season of his three-year, $67MM contract.
There are surely other names on the Cubs’ radar, but the early connections are notable. That’s particularly true on the heels of 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reporting earlier this week that the Cubs are being aggressive and are hoping to push something across the finish line well ahead of next month’s deadline — perhaps even within the next week to ten days (audio link). Levine suggested that Alcantara was not the likeliest target and that someone a bit more under the radar was more probable.
The Marlins duo stand as obvious trade candidates. Alcantara entered the season as perhaps the most plain-as-day trade candidate in the sport. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner is in his first full season back from a Tommy John procedure that cost him all of the 2024 campaign. He’s earning $17MM this year and next, and the Marlins hold a $21MM club option for the 2027 season.
Alcantara, 29, didn’t do his trade candidacy any favors early on. He pitched to an awful 8.47 ERA through the end of May, striking out only 16.9% of opponents against a 12.2% walk rate along the way. He’s since shown signs of life. Alcantara has pitched 23 innings over his past four starts and allowed a total of seven runs (2.74 ERA) on 18 hits and five walks with 19 strikeouts (20.4 K%, 5.4 BB%). His 46.4% grounder rate in that time is comfortably better than average but a ways from its 53.4% peak. His fastball velocity hasn’t been much of a question all year, averaging better than 97 mph — 97.6 mph over his past four starts. That’s down a slight bit from his 98 mph average pre-surgery, but not by an alarming measure.
If Alcantara can continue distancing himself from that bleak two-month start and continue resembling his 2022 self, the chances of a trade will only increase. Every club with even a glimmer of postseason contention would love to add the two-time All-Star with his ability to its staff, particularly when considering the relatively affordable nature of his salary under the terms of the contract extension he signed a few years back. The asking price on Alcantara figures to be steep, however, and the Marlins may wish to hold him a bit longer to allow him to continue posting improved results and further drum up interest. If that’s the case, the timing may not align with Chicago’s more urgent push for a starting pitcher.
Cabrera, 27, isn’t as well-known as his teammate but was a highly touted pitching prospect himself prior to his big league debut. He’s shown glimpses of that potential in the past, but the 2025 campaign thus far has the makings of a possible breakout. In 59 innings, Cabrera has pitched to a 3.81 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate, a 10.2% walk rate and a 42.9% ground-ball rate. He’s averaging a career-best 96.7 mph on his four-seamer, has ramped the usage of his sinker up to a career-high 23% and is throwing more sliders than he has in the past two seasons.
Cabrera entered the 2025 season with 2.147 years of major league service. That was enough for him to reach Super Two designation, meaning he’s already gone through the arbitration process once, coming away with a modest $1.95MM salary. He’ll be owed a raise in each of the next three offseasons before hitting free agency following the 2028 season. He’s nowhere near as established as Alcantara or Keller — Cabrera has never even pitched 100 innings in a big league season — but his power arsenal, low salary and that remaining club control hold obvious appeal.
Turning to the Pirates, Keller is a sensible enough trade candidate, even though the Bucs probably aren’t in a rush to trade him. He’s only in the second season of a five-year, $77MM contract. The former second-round pick and top prospect is earning $15MM this year, and that extension (which tacked four years and $71.6MM onto his previously agreed upon arbitration salary for 2024) calls for salaries of $16.5MM, $18MM and $20MM in the three subsequent seasons.
Keller has appeared in at least 31 games in each of the past three seasons and is on pace to do so again in 2025. He’s started 16 games and totaled 94 innings with a 4.02 ERA, an 18.5% strikeout rate, a 6.1% walk rate and a 45.5% ground-ball rate. That strikeout rate is down from 23.5% he posted in 2023-24, but Keller is getting more grounders and issuing fewer walks than in those seasons. His velocity is down about a half-mile per hour from last year, with his average four-seamer clocking in at 93.9 mph and his average sinker at 92.8 mph. Keller has made some alterations to his pitch selection, throwing his sinker less and his slider at a career-high 34.9% rate. He’s also ditched his cutter and is reincorporating a changuep that he effectively shelved for 2024.
The possibility of an intradivision trade with a player of this caliber is fascinating, if only because it rarely occurs. The Pirates are deep in pitching talent, however, with Paul Skenes anchoring the rotation and Bubba Chandler — perhaps MLB’s top pitching prospect — seemingly ready to go in Triple-A. Bailey Falter is a relative veteran at this point, and the Pirates have a deep stock of additional young arms including Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco. Jared Jones underwent Tommy John surgery this summer but looked promising as a rookie last year. Johan Oviedo was a solid fourth starter in 2023 before his own Tommy John procedure. Veteran Andrew Heaney is eating innings in the rotation right now but seems like a lock to be traded before the deadline if he’s healthy.
Whether that depth would be enough to persuade the Pirates to part with Keller is an open question. This is Ben Cherington’s sixth year as Pirates general manager, and the Bucs haven’t won more than 76 games in a season during his tenure. Trading Keller would be more akin to the large-scale rebuilding moves made earlier in his tenure, but if a trade partner were to give up immediate MLB talent, it wouldn’t necessarily indicate a step back. Dealing from a position of strength and then using the money that had been earmarked for Keller to bolster other areas of the staff could make good sense. Of course, given the Pirates’ history, it can’t be assumed that owner Bob Nutting would just pump Keller’s salary right back into the payroll by way of offseason free-agent signings or trade acquisitions.
From the Cubs’ stance, Keller or Alcantara would fit nicely into the payroll (and Cabrera even more so, of course). They’re veterans on the sort of mid-range contracts Cubs ownership seems to prefer with regard to pitchers.
The Cubs only have about $123MM in guarantees on the books next year, though that number will almost certainly rise to $138MM when the team picks up a three-year club option on Imanaga. Even still, that leaves plenty of room for Keller, Alcantara or just about any other rotation target. Assuming that Imanaga option is exercised, he and Dansby Swanson will be the only players signed beyond 2026. The Cubs obviously hope to extend Pete Crow-Armstrong and re-sign Kyle Tucker, but those goals arguably only increase the importance of finding some cost-effective ways to round out the starting staff.
Genesis Cabrera Elects Free Agency
Génesis Cabrera elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Cubs over the weekend, per the MLB.com transaction tracker. The lefty reliever went unclaimed on waivers and has more than enough service time to return to the market.
Cabrera will seek his third team of the season. He made six appearances for the Mets earlier in the year, working 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball. New York waived him in late May. Cabrera cleared waivers and signed a major league contract with the Cubs. He struggled over nine appearances with Chicago, giving up nine runs through 9 1/3 frames. He struck out eight, issued three walks, and surrendered four home runs.
The 28-year-old Cabrera now carries a 6.35 ERA over 17 innings on the year. He posted a 3.59 mark over 69 appearances for the Blue Jays just last season. That came with an underwhelming strikeout and walk profile, though, leading the Jays to cut him loose at the beginning of the offseason. Cabrera still has plus velocity, averaging north of 96 MPH on his fastball from the left side. He’s an interesting depth target but seems likely to be limited to minor league offers after struggling in Chicago.
Cubs Option Ben Brown
The Cubs announced Tuesday that they’ve optioned righty Ben Brown to Triple-A Iowa. Reliever Porter Hodge was reinstated from the injured list in a corresponding move. Brown’s demotion opens a spot in the rotation for lefty Shota Imanaga, who is set to return to start Thursday’s game for Chicago.
It’s been an up-and-down season for the 25-year-old Brown, who has at times looked the part of a potential long-term member of the Cubs’ rotation. More often than not — and especially recently — he’s struggled to work deep into games, however. Brown is sitting on a 6.13 ERA at this point, a number that’s been inflated over the past five weeks. In Brown’s past seven starts, he’s had individual outings wherein he’s yielded six runs (twice) and eight runs (twice). It’s derailed a decent start to the season for the promising young righty and has at least for now cost him his spot on the big league roster.
Imanaga’s return will bolster what’s been a reeling Cubs staff. They’ve made no secret about their plans to upgrade the rotation via the trade market. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer publicly said as much just two weeks ago. Even beyond that comment, a need for help was readily apparent. Chicago has lost ace Justin Steele for the season due to elbow surgery. Young righty Javier Assad has yet to pitch this season due to multiple oblique injuries. Colin Rea was excellent upon first moving into the rotation but has struggled over the past month, just as Brown has. Imanaga was sidelined nearly two months with a hamstring injury.
The Cubs’ need for pitching is no secret, but they’re one of just several clubs looking for immediate rotation help — and doing so at a time when there are few clubs around the league willing to engage in genuine trade conversations. Be that as it may, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score said in a radio appearance on 670’s Mully & Haugh this week (audio link) that the Cubs are being extremely aggressive and working on multiple fronts. Levine suggested a deal could come together well ahead of next month’s trade deadline and possibly even within the next week to ten days.
Levine downplayed the possibility of the Cubs acquiring former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, who’s slowly turning his season around after an awful start to the year in his return from Tommy John surgery. (Alcantara has a 2.74 ERA and 19-to-5 K/BB ratio in 23 innings across his past four starts.) Rather, he suggests that the Cubs have been looking at some less-obvious trade candidates around the league.
The Marlins themselves have other, less-heralded trade candidates than Alcantara (e.g. Edward Cabrera). The Mets appeared to have some arms available before injuries to Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill thinned their depth. Clubs like the Orioles, Twins and D-backs could ultimately end up with starters on the market, but none of them seem ready to move in a sell direction with five-plus weeks before the deadline. The Rays can never be discounted as a possible trade partner at any juncture, and they’re again rich in pitching (at a time when Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour are thriving in Triple-A). Zack Littell is almost certain to be available as a rental, but an aggressive team could try to make a more substantial offer for someone like Drew Rasmussen.
Those are all speculative possibilities, of course. The Cubs have kept their rotation search generally close to the vest. With Brown and Rea struggling recently and Matthew Boyd a bit banged up — he exited his most recent start after a rough landing on his shoulder when spearing a J.P. Crawford comeback liner (video link) — the need has become more noticeable. Boyd is on track to start tomorrow’s game for the Cubs, and the team called the issue “minor,” but it’ll still be worth tracking how he gets through tomorrow’s outing.
As for Brown, he’ll head back to Triple-A and look to get back on track. Injuries to any pitching staff are an inevitability, so even if the Cubs wind up adding a starter sooner than later, as Levine suggests, additional opportunities for Brown to start games could present themselves as the summer wears on. This is his second of three option years for the right-hander, so even if he stays down longer than 20 days and formally burns a minor league option, he’ll retain one more option year and remain a flexible piece for the Cubs moving forward. If Brown spends more than two weeks in Triple-A, it’d push his path to free agency back by a year.
Cubs Select Michael Fulmer
The Cubs announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Michael Fulmer. Fellow right-hander Nate Pearson has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa as the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full.
Fulmer pitched briefly with the Red Sox earlier this year but was cut loose after yielding three runs in just 2 2/3 innings. That marked the end of what was a relatively long match between the two parties. The 2016 American League Rookie of the Year (as a starter with the Tigers) had signed a two-year minor league contract with Boston and spent the entire 2024 season and early 2025 season rehabbing with Boston’s staff. He signed with the Cubs on a minor league pact in late April.
That looks to have been a potentially nice pickup for the Cubs, who are no stranger to Fulmer after he spent the 2023 season in Chicago’s bullpen. So far in his second stint with the Cubs, Fulmer has pitched 24 1/3 Triple-A frames with a tidy 2.96 ERA. He’s fanned a gaudy 32% of his opponents but also issued walks at an inflated 11% clip. Fulmer’s heater isn’t close to the 95.5 mph it averaged at peak, but he saw a modest bump from 92.4 mph during his time with the Red Sox to 92.9 mph with the Cubs’ affiliate in Iowa.
As tends to be the case, the Cubs are patching their bullpen together on the fly this year. Porter Hodge, who had a nice rookie showing in 2024, has missed more than a month due to an oblique strain. Ryan Pressly, the Cubs’ primary offseason acquisition in the bullpen, was shaky early before being absolute torpedoed for eight earned runs without recording an out in a May 6 drubbing at the hands of the Giants. He’s still working to recover from that damage, but Pressly rattled off 15 straight scoreless innings with a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio thereafter. He served up two earned runs in his most recent appearance — his first runs allowed since that calamitous Giants appearance.
The rest of the bullpen consists of journeymen and reclamation projects. Chicago currently has Drew Pomeranz, Chris Flexen, Brad Keller, Ryan Brasier and Caleb Thielbar in the bullpen — all 30-something veterans on one-year deals. (Keller will turn 30 next month.) The lone exception is young Daniel Palencia, who’s been handling save situations recently and looks to be handling the job well. He’s picked up seven saves while posting a 1.93 ERA in 28 frames this year. That includes a 1.46 ERA and 14-to-3 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings since being moved into the ninth inning.
Fulmer will join that cast of 30-something veterans and hope he can find similar success to Keller, Pomeranz, Thielbar, Flexen and Brasier — all of whom improbably sport ERAs of 2.20 or better.
Rotation Notes: Scherzer, Stroman, Imanaga, Eovaldi
The Blue Jays will activate Max Scherzer from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday to start Toronto’s game against the Guardians, the team announced. Scherzer has thrown two Triple-A rehab outings and then tossed 30-40 pitches in a bullpen session today in what seems like the final checkpoint in an extended recovery process from a thumb problem that has plagued the future Hall-of-Famer for over a year. “My stuff is fine. I’m trying everything I can to manage this (thumb) and make sure I can recover. There’s no knowing, just have to get out there,” Scherzer told Sportnet’s Hazel Mae and Shi Davidi.
Scherzer signed a one-year, $15.5MM deal with the Jays this past offseason, but he lasted just three innings before thumb soreness forced him out of his Toronto debut on March 29. As Scherzer acknowledged, it is anyone’s guess as to whether or not this thumb problem could resurface, and it stands to reason that the Blue Jays will limit Scherzer’s pitch count. Since the 50-pitch threshold has generally been the tipping point for Scherzer’s thumb, it is a good sign that he threw beyond 50 pitches in both of his rehab starts, topping out at 74 pitches. Toronto seems likely to explore piggyback or long relief options behind Scherzer on Wednesday and for the foreseeable future, until Scherzer feels comfortable enough to test throwing deeper into games.
Here’s the latest on some other prominent pitchers nearing a return to a big league mound…
- Marcus Stroman will throw his third and possibly final minor league rehab start on Tuesday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters. Assuming Stroman gets through that outing (set for roughly 70 pitches) feeling good, Boone said Stroman might then “be in the mix” to be activated from the 60-day IL. The right-hander made three starts before knee inflammation sent Stroman to the IL in April, and a setback resulted in Stroman being shifted to the 60-day IL as he continued his recovery process. With Ryan Yarbrough hitting the 15-day IL today, there’s a ready-made opening for Stroman within New York’s rotation.
- A left hamstring strain has kept Shota Imanaga out of action since the first week of May, but after making three minor league rehab starts, Imanaga will return to the Cubs‘ rotation this week. Manager Craig Counsell shared the news with reporters (including Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times), but stopped short of confirming that Imanaga would indeed pitch during the four-game series with the Cardinals that begins on Monday. The Cubs are still monitoring Matthew Boyd after the southpaw suffered a bruised shoulder in his last start, so there’s a bit of flux in the rotation order until Boyd’s status is confirmed. Regardless, Imanaga’s return is obviously great news for a Chicago team is leading the NL Central despite operating without Imanaga and Justin Steele for the majority of the season. Following his spectacular 2024 rookie year, Imanaga has kept it going in 2025 with a 2.82 ERA in 44 2/3 innings and eight starts this season.
- Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t pitched since May 27 due to right posterior elbow inflammation, but it seems as though he’ll return to the Rangers without a minor league rehab assignment. Manager Bruce Bochy indicated (to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News and other reporters) that Eovaldi will be activated from the 15-day IL to start during the Rangers’ upcoming series with the Mariners that begins on Friday. Though Eovaldi won’t need any rehab starts, he did ramp up in the form of a live batting practice session of over 50 pitches on Saturday. With Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford all still on the Texas IL, getting staff ace Eovaldi back is an enormous help, as the righty had a sterling 1.56 ERA in his first 69 1/3 innings of the season.
Cubs DFA Génesis Cabrera, Promote Nate Pearson
The Cubs have recalled right-hander Nate Pearson from Triple-A Iowa. To free up a space on the 26-man roster, the team designated left-hander Génesis Cabrera for assignment.
Cabrera, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Mets last offseason and was added to New York’s roster at the beginning of May. He ultimately made just six appearances in Queens, however, and was designated for assignment after posting a 3.52 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work. The southpaw cleared waives and elected free agency but didn’t stay on the market for long, as he was signed by the Cubs to a big league deal almost immediately afterwards.
Cabrera’s time in Chicago did not go especially well. He made nine appearances in total but was shelled to the tune of an 8.68 ERA with a 7.90 FIP. He struck out a respectable 20.5% of his opponents and walked just 7.7%, but he was a very frequent victim of the long ball as he surrendered four homers during his brief stint in Chicago. While a 26.7% home run to fly ball ratio and a paltry 54.1% strand rate both are clear signals that positive regression is likely on the way, it seems as though Cabrera’s results were just too weak for the Cubs to justify keeping him on the roster.
Chicago will now have one week to trade Cabrera or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes through waivers unclaimed, the lefty will have the opportunity to either accept an outright assignment to Triple-A or return to the open market in search of a change of scenery. Given his status a veteran of seven MLB seasons with a career 4.03 ERA in the majors, it wouldn’t be a shock to see rival clubs have interest in Cabrera as a lefty depth piece for their bullpen. That interest may be limited to minor league offers at this point given his recent struggles, however.
In the meantime, Cabrera be replaced on the roster by Pearson. The 28-year-old was once a top pitching prospect with the Blue Jays but was derailed by injuries and traded to the Cubs as a reliever last summer. He pitched quite well for Chicago down the stretch but has allowed ten runs on 13 hits and more walks (7) than strikeouts (5) across 8 2/3 innings of work in the majors this year. Since being demoted to Triple-A, however, he’s posted a sterling 2.22 ERA with a 27.1% strikeout rate in 24 1/3 innings of work. That performance was enough to earn him another shot in the majors, although it could be a brief one given that right-hander Porter Hodge is expected back from the injured list in the near future.
Poll: Should The Cubs Extend Jed Hoyer?
Many organizations around the game tend to keep the contract status of their front office executives under wraps, but some clubs opt not to do this. One such organization is the Cubs, who have been run by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer since he took over for Theo Epstein in November 2020. Hoyer’s contract is up after the 2025 season, a fact he himself acknowledged during Spring Training. While club chairman Tom Ricketts has previously spoken positively of Hoyer’s work at the helm, he’s stopped short in the past of offering a full vote of confidence and did not sign him to an extension prior to his lame duck season.
That could be a simple acknowledgement of the disappointment associated with the last several years of Cubs baseball. Chicago hasn’t made the playoffs under Hoyer’s guidance and last won a playoff game back in 2017. Some of those losing seasons were somewhat inevitable, as ownership cut payroll prior to the 2021 season and that lack of resources in conjunction with an early-season losing streak led to a massive trade deadline sell-off during Hoyer’s first season leading the front office. That kicked off a short rebuilding period where the team did not expect to win in 2022, but by 2023 the spending (and expectations) had ramped back up. That resulted in back-to-back 83-win seasons where Chicago missed the playoffs by a few games.
Entering 2025, the Cubs actually lowered payroll relative to 2024 after falling short in pursuits of top free agents like Alex Bregman and Tanner Scott. That didn’t stop them from being aggressive in other ways, though, as they surrendered a massive package to bring star outfielder Kyle Tucker into the fold for his final season before reaching free agency. The addition of Tucker, in conjunction with lower-level additions like Matthew Boyd, have so far allowed Chicago to weather the losses of front-of-the-rotation starters Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga and put themselves firmly in playoff position. The team has a 45-29 record entering play today, good for a 5.5-game lead in the division and the best record in National League.
Much of that success is due to young players Hoyer brought into the organization finding success. Pete Crow-Armstrong has developed into one of the game’s most exciting young stars after Hoyer acquired him from the Mets in exchange for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams at the 2021 trade deadline and Michael Busch has blossomed into one of the league’s better first basemen after being acquired from the Dodgers during the 2023-24 offseason. While less established than Crow-Armstrong and Busch, recent first-round picks Cade Horton and Matt Shaw have made their big league debuts and appear to be entrenched as long-term assets in the rotation and on the infield at this point.
While those positives are all exciting, the Cubs’ farm system has taken a bit of a hit after the trades that brought in Busch and Tucker. Hoyer surrendered Cam Smith, Jackson Ferris, and Zyhir Hope in those deals, each of whom have blossomed into exciting young talents with their new organizations. The team’s track record in free agency under Hoyer has been somewhat spotty as well. Deals struck with international free agents like Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki have proved to be relative bargains, and other large deals like those given to Dansby Swanson and Jameson Taillon have more or less returned the value expected from them. On the other hand, the Cubs were forced to eat some of Cody Bellinger‘s contract just to get him off the books. Some mid-level additions in recent years like Drew Smyly, Hector Neris, and Trey Mancini offered minimal value while eating up considerable dollars in the team’s budget, as well.
No front office executive has a spotless track record. Hoyer is no exception to that, but his errors don’t stand out as particularly egregious compared to other execs around the league. With that being said, there aren’t many front office leaders around the game who have the same payroll capacity at their disposal without at least some playoff games to show for it. Big market teams like the Giants, Mets and Red Sox have made changes at the front office level due to lack of playoff success in recent years despite those teams having made the postseason more recently than the Cubs.
Ricketts hasn’t shown himself to have an itchy trigger finger during his time as chairman of the organization; Epstein was hired in 2011 and he remained with the organization until voluntarily walking away in 2020, at which point Ricketts handed the reins to Hoyer after years as Epstein’s GM. Perhaps that means a return to the playoffs will be enough to convince Ricketts to keep Hoyer in the fold. The Cubs seem well positioned to do that at this point in the calendar, and while things can certainly change over the next few months, it wouldn’t be a shock if this team made a deep run into the postseason.
How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs organization should proceed? Has Hoyer’s work developing the team’s farm system and delivering a legitimate contender in 2025 earned him a longer stay in Chicago, or should the organization move in another direction when his contract expires? Have your say in the poll below:
Should The Cubs Extend Jed Hoyer?
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Yes, regardless of the outcome of the season. 33% (1,033)
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Yes, but only if the Cubs make the playoffs. 25% (781)
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No, regardless of the outcome of the season. 25% (777)
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Yes, but only if the Cubs make it deep into the playoffs. 17% (530)
Total votes: 3,121
Cubs Outright Tyson Miller
Right-hander Tyson Miller has been outrighted by the Cubs to Triple-A Iowa, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he will exercise that right.
It’s a bit of a surprise to see no one take a flier on Miller as he’s coming off a strong season. He logged 62 innings for the Mariners and Cubs last year, allowing just 2.32 earned runs per nine. His 23% strikeout rate was around league average for a reliever while he only gave out walks to 4.7% of batters faced.
He hasn’t yet had a chance to build on that showing here in 2025. He went to Japan with the Cubs for the Tokyo Series but didn’t pitch in the official big league games. He landed on the injured list due to a left hip impingement prior to domestic Opening Day. He had been rehabbing in recent weeks, with a 2.77 ERA in 13 Triple-A innings, but the Cubs didn’t want to plug him back onto the active roster. Since he’s out of options, that meant bumping him from the 40-man.
It’s possible that major league clubs don’t have much faith in Miller being able to replicate last year’s results. There was likely some luck in his numbers, as his .203 batting average on balls in play and 81.9% strand rate were both to the fortunate side. He also averaged less than 90 miles per hour on both of his fastballs last year, a level where it’s tough to succeed in the modern game.
During his recent rehab outings, though his 2.77 ERA was good, his 19% strikeout rate and 15.5% walk rate were both subpar figures. He managed to keep runs off the board by not allowing any home runs, a feat that would not be sustainable over a larger sample.
It now seems that Miller is destined for more minor league work, since no club is currently willing to give him a big league job. That could be for Iowa if he accepts his assignment or he could head to free agency and look for opportunities elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Jed Hoyer: Cubs Planning To Look For Pitching At Deadline
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer joined the New York Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman for an interview on the latest edition of The Show podcast (YouTube link), and discussed a number of topics about both his team and baseball at large. Though we’re still several weeks away from the July 31 trade deadline, Hoyer did address his first-place team’s likeliest need.
“I think we’re going to be looking for pitching, both rotation and in the bullpen,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think that’s a secret. That’s not a knock on the guys we have. But I think in today’s game, you’ve got to keep building depth.”
Justin Steele pitched in just four games before his season was prematurely ended by a UCL revision surgery, thus robbing Wrigleyville of one of its top arms for almost the entirety of the 2025 campaign. Javier Assad hasn’t pitched at all this season due to a pair of oblique injuries, and since he only started playing catch a couple of weeks ago, it would seem that a return prior to the All-Star break might not be in the cards. Shota Imanaga hasn’t pitched since May 4 due to a hamstring strain, and Hoyer said “the hope is” Imanaga will be able to return to the rotation before the end of June.
Without their two top pitchers and another hurler in Assad that expected to at least compete for a back-end rotation job, Chicago has done well to hold its own on the rotation front even with such a depleted set of starters. Hoyer made a point of praising his in-house starters and his team’s defense for helping the run-prevention efforts, yet bringing at least one starting pitcher into the fold seems like a logical way to reinforce the roster heading into the pennant drive.
As one might expect, Hoyer didn’t share any hints about how big of a splash the Cubs are looking to make at the deadline, and still couched his comments within the framework of “if” the front office chose to make any additions by July 31. It could be that Hoyer may not know the answer to such questions himself at the moment, as the Cubs’ trade pursuits may hinge on Imanaga’s assumed healthy status by July 31, Assad’s progress, or any other injuries or pitchers who are under- or overachieving in the coming weeks.
Hoyer also said that Porter Hodge is expected to return from his own oblique injury before June is out, which will bring another high-leverage candidate back to help the relief corps. As Hoyer put it, however, bullpens are “always a work in progress…I don’t think you ever get to a point of feeling comfortable or feeling like it’s a set thing.” With this in mind, the pen will be a focus both on July 31, and “we’ll keep on making small transactions [before the deadline] as well to get marginally better.”
On the flip side of the equation, Hoyer doesn’t see the Cubs doing much to alter its impressive core of position players on the trade front. The Cubs have been one of baseball’s best hitting teams, with the powerful offense helping make up for any of the pitching staff’s shortcomings.
“Barring injury, there are probably some small things [we’ll consider] on the offensive side, but really I think that our position-playing group has been really good….The depth we have, top to bottom, I think we’re getting production both offensively and defensively from all our spots. That’s made a huge difference. As I think about it, pitching is the likely direction we would take if we were adding [at the deadline],” Hoyer said.
In terms of other topics, Hoyer said he wouldn’t comment publicly on either the existence of any extensions talks between the Cubs and Kyle Tucker, or even any talks between himself and the team on a new deal, as Hoyer’s current contract is up after the 2025 season. Hoyer repeated past comments about how he hoped Tucker would stay in Chicago over the long term, and how much he has enjoyed his own 14-season tenure in the organization as first a general manager and then the head of the baseball operations department.
Hoyer did go into a little more detail about what might now be the most impactful trade of his five-year run as PBO — the July 2021 deadline deal that brought Pete Crow-Armstrong to the then-rebuilding Cubs from the Mets for Javier Baez, Trevor Williams, and some cash considerations. New York took Crow-Armstrong 19th overall in the 2020 draft so it wasn’t as if PCA was an unknown quantity, yet a shoulder surgery limited the outfielder to only six games in his first pro season.
The Mets weren’t willing to discuss moving more highly-touted prospects at the time, as Hoyer said such players as Francisco Alvarez, Matt Allan, and Brett Baty were “off the table” in trade talks. Mark Vientos “was a guy that was kind of discussed a little bit but it was clear they didn’t want to part with him,” Hoyer noted, so discussions turned towards elsewhere on New York’s minor league depth chart.
Crow-Armstrong “was sort of out of sight, out of mind, I believe,” Hoyer said. “Looking back, I think his injury didn’t allow him to perform, and therefore I think he became a guy [the Mets] were willing to trade in that deal. So I think it was good fortune for us that they did take some really good players off the table, and most of those guys are helping the Mets right now, but Pete’s injury allowed that to happen and it worked out really well for us.”
While Hoyer felt Crow-Armstrong was going to improve as a hitter during his second full Major League season, even the executive admitted to being a little surprised at the extent of the breakout. PCA has been one of the very best all-around players in the sport, delivering 17 homers, 21 stolen bases, and a .277/.313/.559 slash line over 275 plate appearances while also playing Gold Glove-level defense in center field.