In which I go out on the proverbial limb to forecast the year to come.
Usually, I post an article toward the end of the year revisiting my bold predictions for the Cubs for that season.
Why didn’t I do that in 2024? Because not one of my five bold predictions came true. Not even close. I give you the link here because in hindsight, several of them were just laughable.
Nevertheless, I persist. Here are five bold predictions for the Chicago Cubs for 2025. Clearly, I’ve given away one of these by the photo at the top of this post.
The Cubs will sign Roki Sasaki
I don’t have any inside information or anything to go on besides just a hunch.
We do know this about Sasaki (click here for the Bluesky link if you are reading this article on Apple News):
Breslow reiterates his hope that Sox will be granted a meeting with Sasaki, but haven’t gotten one yet.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier.bsky.social) 2024-12-30T18:10:31.899Z
This could mean — and I emphasize “could,” I don’t have any further info — that Sasaki has already narrowed his list and the Red Sox aren’t on it. We do know that the Cubs had a meeting with Sasaki Dec. 20 in Los Angeles.
So why am I saying this? Because these are bold predictions!
Kyle Tucker will hit .290/.400/.500 with 35 home runs and the Cubs will sign him to an eight-year, $340 million contract
Obviously, that’s nearly double the number of dollars in the Cubs’ largest-ever free-agent deal ($184 million to Jason Heyward), but Tucker’s 7 bWAR season will convince Tom Ricketts that he’s worth keeping around.
Tucker will also sell tons of jerseys and shirseys with his name on them, thus further proving to management that signing him will make them more money.
Shōta Imanaga will win 18 games, have an ERA around 2.50 and win the NL Cy Young Award
Based on Shōta’s 2024 numbers (15 wins, 2.91 ERA, fifth-place Cy Young finish), maybe this isn’t so bold. But the Japanese lefthander not only produced a 3 bWAR season for the Cubs in 2024 in 29 starts, he became a fan favorite at Wrigley Field.
I’ll also say right here that Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki being Cubs, along with the Cubs’ history of being a destination for Japanese players, help bring Sasaki to Chicago. Yes, the Dodgers also have two big Japanese stars, but the presence of Suzuki, who shares an agent with Sasaki, helps put the Cubs over the top.
Matt Shaw will win the third-base job, bat .260/.350/.460 with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, and win the NL Rookie of the Year award
Thus proving that you don’t necessarily have to spend big money to put a star in your lineup, and sometimes the Cubs farm system does produce a very good player. Shaw will be the first player this good to graduate from the Cubs system since Ian Happ.
The Cubs will be NL Central champions with 92 wins
They’ll win a wild-card series but lose in the division series round. Still, it will be considered a step forward and successful season.