The Rundown Ultralite: Football Weather, Cubs Quiet, Cutch Feuding with Bucs

Hoo buddy, the snow is coming down. Streets are merely a suggestion in my little burg, which I found out while taking my son to work this morning. You basically just have to drive in the middle while using street signs and parked cars as landmarks. I’m tired from shoveling all that snow off the driveway, and the biggest Cubs-adjacent news story is Pete Crow-Armstrong and Caleb Williams attending Bulls and Blackhawks games. Still, I figured I could push a little something out.

• Football will dominate the afternoon and evening, and I’m actually very much looking forward to watching games with no dog in the fight. As disappointed as I am that the Bears aren’t playing, seeing the Hoosiers win the whole damn thing will keep my sails full for quite a while.
• Unless Jed Hoyer has something wild up his sleeve, it appears as though the Cubs are done with significant additions. They should continue to pick up minor league deals here and there, but it looks like they’ve already secured a few guys with shots at making the roster.
• Chas McCormick probably has the best chance at breaking camp with the Cubs as a backup outfielder due to his experience at all three spots. Of course, that would mean leaving one of their presumed bench bats in Iowa.
• Kevin Alcántara looks the most likely casualty in that case, putting him at risk of falling into the same black hole that has already swallowed Nelson Velázquez and Alexander Canario.
• It’s not that the Cubs can’t develop players; it’s that they have issues with the inflection point when prospects need to take that next step in the majors. Trading Owen Caissie was necessary to acquire Edward Cabrera, but I had my concerns about how they would be able to manage his playing time. But hey, maybe they’ll figure it out and the uber-cool Alcántara will turn into a Cubs version of Andrew McCutchen
• Cutch recently went public on X to voice his frustration over not being signed and brought to PiratesFest this weekend. The 39-year-old remains a free agent in the wake of his worst season to date, and he has owned that poor performance. Despite the falloff, he wants to keep playing. While the Pirates remain open to a reunion, GM Ben Cherington was very transparent about the fact that bringing the venerable vet back for another year is not a priority.
• “Everybody with the Pirates, it’s our desire to maintain a really good relationship with Andrew well into the future,” Cherington told Jason Mackey of the soon-to-be defunct Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Then we come back to our team. What is the job? The job is to build a team that gives us the best chance to win games when you’re at the ballpark in June and July….Our approach this offseason has been laser-focused on what gives us the best chance to win more baseball games in Pittsburgh than we have in the past seasons. That’s gonna continue to guide our decisions.”

That’s all, folks. Please stay safe out there with all the winter weather, as it can come and get you even if you’re doing everything right.