The Rundown Ultralite: Gallen Rumors Persist, McGuire to Brewers, Lord of the Flies Trailer

When it rains, it pours. Sometimes, that rain comes into your basement and destroys it. Then you foolishly think your insurance company has covered everything when they’ve actually left you several thousand dollars short. Fun times. Between dealing with that and just getting back to town, I don’t have time for more than a hit-and-run on today’s column.

Here goes just a little more than nothing…

• Righty Zac Gallen remains unsigned and the Cubs are still being named as an interested party. Jon Heyman listed them alongside the Orioles, Diamondbacks, Angels, and Padres as being in the mix for the former Cy Young contender. As I’ve noted before, I just don’t see a great fit in Chicago. Maybe if they can get him at an extreme discount, but there’s more to it than just salary.
• First, I don’t see how Gallen provides the Cubs with anything other than redundant depth. Even with the decidedly non-zero chance that they suffer an injury or three to their current starting group, they aren’t going with a six-man rotation that would expand to seven once Justin Steele returns.
• Steele appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from elbow and forearm surgery last year, and he says he’s planning to face live batters in spring training. Even if the Cubs take a conservative approach with his timeline, he could be back by May.
• The Cubs would probably need to sell low on either Jameson Taillon or Shōta Imanaga in order to accommodate Gallen, whose cost will be significant.
• That brings its own problems, as it’s just shuffling around the same timing issues. Both Imanaga and Taillon will be free agents after this season, with Matthew Boyd holding a mutual option, something that is rarely exercised by both parties.
• So Gallen either creates a logjam or provides no alleviation beyond this season, and it’s entirely possible his performance will be a step down from either of the two pitchers mentioned.
• We’ve also got to note that he rejected a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks, which means the Cubs will lose a draft pick and international pool money to sign him. Even though they’ve shown a willingness to spend more on payroll than in recent seasons, those QO penalties are steep. That’s particularly true when the player in question might have to take a shorter deal following the worst performance of his career in 2025.
• If Jed Hoyer is looking to purchase an insurance policy for the rotation, I have to imagine there are much cheaper options with the same amount of upside. Unless they’re convinced Gallen will return to at least No. 3-level performance, I can’t see how pursuing him makes any sense.
• To that end, the Cubs are still on the lookout for pitching and hitting. I tend to think their remaining deals will be low-risk flyers on non-guaranteed contracts, but I’m open to the possibility that Hoyer has a trick or two up his sleeve.
• In other news, former Cubs great Reese McGuire has agreed to a minors deal with the Brewers that includes an invite to spring training.
• If there’s anything the Cubs love as much as dudes named Tyler, it’s dudes with the last name of Alcántara. Kevin Alcántara is a top prospect who could finally spend significant time in the bigs, Arismendy Alcántara was in the organization from 2009-16, and Sergio Alcántara served as a utility infielder for them in 2021 and played for the I-Cubs in ’23. Though the latter Alcantara has gotten only four MLB plate appearances since 2022, he just signed a minors deal with the Nationals that includes a camp invite.

Trailer Time

I read Lord of the Flies in sixth grade — by choice, not because it was assigned — and remember feeling a true connection with the subjects of the novel. The 1990 movie adaptation did a number on me as well. The devolution of those isolated boys isn’t confined to literature, and I’d argue that their tale is even more applicable today as we’re being drawn into various virtual echo chambers based on beliefs or preferences. Far too many adults aren’t really setting a very good example for kids these days, and it shows.

“We did everything that grown-ups do,” Ralph says in the book. “What went wrong?”

William Golding’s 1954 classic is now getting new life in the form of a BBC series that will debut on February 8 in the UK and Australia. I assume it’ll be available to those of us across the pond at some point in the near future.