The Rundown: Welcome to a Possibly Busy but Short Hot Stove Season, Brewers Win World Series

Michael CanterOctober 29, 2026

“Slip me a little crimson, Jimson. Give me the lowdown, Brown. What’s the scoop, Betty Boop? I’m on my way into town.” — Opening Intro/Emotional Weather Report by Tom Waits

Welcome to Hot Stove Season, though this year’s annual holiday shopping extravaganza will probably be short and busy. This time of year is full of all the hopes of the upcoming Christmas season, with dreams of Tarik Skubal and Michael King dancing in our heads. Sadly, Jed “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” Hoyer controls the shopping list and the checkbook, so those pitchers will probably get a cursory call at best. Ol’ Jed is the ultimate lot lizard: a Lookie-Lou, be-back tire kicker waiting for prices to drop and players to fall into his lap, turning over discarded pennies in hopes of finding a Cam Booser, a Nick Martinez, or another Michael Conforto.

Has anybody seen Hunter Harvey, Braxton Garrett, or Vince Velasquez? I’m asking for a friend, of course. It’s kind of funny, but whenever Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy refers to his roster as a bunch of unknown players, I rhetorically ask myself (in my Chandler Bing voice), “Have you seen Chicago’s bullpen?”

Speaking of the Brewers, they’re the world champions, something for Hoyer and Craig Counsell to ponder while they’re sitting on their padded toilet seat risers, doom-scrolling Cubs comments on social media. You know, high fiber, good scotch, and whatever else Kevin Costner mentions in his “I believe” monologue from Bull Durham. Yes, the Brewers are the best team in baseball, an unsavory wad of chew that somehow slipped past our collective cheeks and gums to trickle down our throats at the most inopportune time.

That’ll purge Chicago’s disappointing 2026 season from you, I promise. If it doesn’t, just finish off your bottle of Macallan 25-year-old single barrel. Murphy’s listening to Stan Getz this morning while Chicagoans get Dick and Tommy Smothers. Murphy, who’s been baseball’s version of the elder Smothers since taking over for Counsell, fooled us all. He’s a Kasparovian genius, and an evil one at that. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. Murphy is straight out of that Verbal Kint-Keyser Söze playbook.

I hope those pop references are targeting the correct audience, as I am assuming most of you are from the same g-g-g-generation that I am.

Brewers players woke up this morning reeking of champagne and Miller Lite, the official “clinch can” of locker room celebrations, and Cubs fans woke up smelling of desperation, life’s most humiliating fragrance. Yup, I spent all of yesterday keeping track of baseball’s strategic product placements. When Jacob Misiorowski left last night’s game with the same hammy cramp I get in bed two of every three nights, I saw him drinking a Powerade while surrounded by Gatorade coolers. Be like Jake. Dare to be different, and you too may win a Cy Young award someday. It will also help if you can throw 105 mph and keep the baseball relatively close to home plate. Oh yeah…eat more bananas.

For those of us counting down the days to spring training, the flea market is getting prepared for next week’s grand opening. Winners talk, losers walk. Let’s go get us some pitchers and see if we can’t derail Milwaukee’s quest to repeat. If we truly do experience a season-long work stoppage, the Cubs will just have to be better on paper, I suppose. That meatball is right in Hoyer’s wheelhouse.

Cubs News & Notes

Starters Clay Holmes and Matthew Boyd are free agents after declining their player options.
King also opted out of his contract with the Padres. That kind of symmetry will cause a trading halt on Polymarket and Novig.
Hoyer could jump the market to sign one of the top relievers, like Adrian Morejón. Go for King. I triple-dog dare ya.
Both Chicago baseball front offices may wage a free agent war for starter Foster Griffin.
The Cubs reportedly reworked the contract of assistant hitting coach John Mallee to keep him from leaving for the Mets.
Several Cubs players are up for end-of-season awards.
Chicago’s official scorer is a champion among his peers.
The Brewers may be world champions, but Milwaukee doesn’t have its own TikTok rom-com series.
How would you like to sit in Hoyer’s chair this winter?
PSA: Hug a Cubs fan today. A lot of them are down hard because the Brewers are champs.

Ball Four

That’s an odd thing for Trevor Megill to say after beating (checks notes) the Rays.

"Have fun talking shit to Chicago next year. We have a ring." -Milwaukee's closer Trevor Megill to Brewers fans pic.twitter.com/PwR1qoG0wl

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 29, 2026

Central Intelligence

Milwaukee: A combination of young stars, elite pitching, and a best-in-class farm system will keep the Brewers in contention for years to come. Many Cubs fans want Murphy instead of Counsell. Give me Matt Arnold and his staff over Hoyer’s and his.
Chicago: FOX Sports dropped its Top 50 Free Agents list, and seven Cubs players are included.
Pittsburgh: The Pirates are already predicted to miss the playoffs in 2027. Come on, that can’t be real. The Cubs are predicted to be the No. 5 seed in the National League.
St. Louis: Former Cardinals catcher John Brock is a St. Louis legend, but not necessarily for his baseball exploits. It’s also not because Brock denied Earl Howard at his only chance for a major league at-bat.
Cincinnati: The outlook for the 2027 Reds is much more dire than the prediction about the Pirates.

Thursday Stove

The GM Meetings will begin November 9 in Las Vegas. This is normally the unofficial start of the offseason, but also a prelude to more work getting done in December at the Winter Meetings. A work stoppage starting December 1 would cancel that, so expect a decent amount of player movement before Chicago’s first snowfall.

Hold the phone, however. The Rangers stated that they’re waiting until a new agreement is in place ($) before addressing their roster. That could be a dangerous precedent, or it might be a signal that other front offices will follow suit.

Evan Drelich of The Athletic has answers to the many questions ($) fans may have regarding the expiration of the current CBA.

The MLBPA is unlikely to agree to any wording in the next CBA that suggests the owners share revenues with the players.

The stove is lit and we have a trade! The Athletics are reportedly acquiring outfielder Nate Eaton from the Red Sox.

A total of 144 players have officially been declared free agents as of lunchtime today. King, Holmes, and Boyd are not listed, so we can assume that total is much bigger.

This might be the worst take in the history of the sport.

Extra Innings

The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

Cubs have so much work ahead.

– Losing 6 WAR projection from Happ/Seiya
– Cabrera step back, Horton lost, Brown and Steele uncertainty
– Entire rotation needs to be renovated
– Front office proof-of-concept (ie, pitching & IFA)
– No CBA, meaning no idea what to expect

— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) October 25, 2026