Good morning and welcome to Houston North, where the Cubs are accumulating Astros castoffs at the rate of about one per month. Is Alex Bregman next? That depends on whether Jed Hoyer will exceed the $241 million payroll tax threshold, surrender his second and fifth-round picks this year, and lose $1 million in IFA bonus pool allocation next year. Phew. Would you trade all that for Bregman if he was currently under contract? I would because flags fly forever.
That’s making the assumption that the addition of Bregman puts the Cubs on the same playing field as the Dodgers, which it does not.