Can the power of friendship really outweigh several other factors, including you know, money? That seems to be the basis of USA Today's Bob Nightengale's jaw-dropping prediction because I believe he's the first MLB insider who has this year's top free agent pitcher signing with the Cubs.
For a second, let's completely forget that Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma, the Cubs beat writers for The Athletic, have already reported that the Cubs will not pursue top free agents Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes. Instead, how about we enter Nightengale's world that sees Burnes reuniting with his former Milwaukee Brewers manager in Chicago with the Cubs.
Nightengale, along with four other USA Today writers, shared their predictions for the top MLB free agents this winter and Nightengale certainly made the wildest guess of them all.
Via USA Today.
Corbin Burnes - Chicago Cubs
Hey, his former boss fled the Brewers for the Cubs, so why can’t he join Craig Counsell and come along too, and really be hated in Milwaukee? Living at home in Phoenix during spring training simply may be too good to pass up.
Burnes, who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2024 season, pitched for the Brewers from 2018-23, all with Counsell as his manager in Milwaukee.
The 30-year-old is the top-rated free agent starting pitcher this offseason ahead of Blake Snell and Max Fried. Early projections have Burnes ultimately signing a contract worth more than $200 million. As mentioned above, the Cubs are reportedly not going to dive into that deep end of free agency, but who am I to kill your optimism.
I mean, Burnes has spoken highly of Counsell and has publicly said he remained in close contact with his former manager even after he was hired by the Cubs last offseason.
Meanwhile, three of the four other USA Today writers, Gabe Lacques, Steve Gardner, Scott Boeck, predicted that the Mets will end up signing Burnes, while Jesse Yomtov has the right-handed pitcher also going to New York, but with the Yankees instead.
While the Cubs have a bit of history signing veteran pitchers in their 30s to big deals, both of those contracts came when Theo Epstein was in charge. Jon Lester agreed to a six-year, $155 million deal during the 2014-15 offseason and then Yu Darvish signed a six-year, $120 million contract in Feb. 2018.
Under Jed Hoyer's watch the Cubs have signed a handful of free agent starting pitchers, but none of them would be considered top-tier options of their class. Marcus Stroman originally signed a $71 million contract over three years. Jameson Taillon inked a four-year, $68 million contract and most recently Japanese free agent Shōta Imanaga signed a somewhat complicated deal that has a base value of $53 million over four years and as much as $80 million over five years.
Again, the Cubs have stayed away from the very top-end of free agency with Hoyer as the decision-maker. Does something change this offseason now that Counsell may have more input?
I don't know, just seems like a whacky prediction from Bob.
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