It’s a new week here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. Come on in out of the cold. We’ll waive the cover charge for you. Let us take your coat. The hostess can take you to your table now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last week, I asked you which Cubs corner outfielder should the team sign to an extension. Your choice was Seiya Suzuki with 49 percent of the vote. Ian Happ only got 21 percent, which affirms my belief that Happ is the most underrated Cub of the 21st Century. Nineteen percent of you did want to sign both players to an extension.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You’re free to skip that if you’d like. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias in New York in 2011 playing “Samba Triste.” Joining her are Marc Johnson on bass and Satoshi Takeishi on drums.
You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic and like most things that decide to go up against Godzilla, The Day the Earth Stood Still got crushed. I would have thought Gort would have been able to put up a better fight with all his alien technology, but that’s what people thought about Mechagodzilla as well.
Today we’ve got another third round matchup to decide which film will face off against Godzilla in the semifinals. It’s director Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey and the film with one of the most famous endings of all time, Planet of the Apes (1968).
2001: A Space Odyssey.(1968) Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.
Here’s what I wrote about 2001 earlier.
Here’s the docking scene to the tune of Johann Strauss’s “Blue Danube.”
Planet of the Apes (1968). Starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans.
Here’s what I wrote about Planet of the Apes earlier.
Here’s the “hunt” scene where Taylor (Heston) and his crew are captured by the Apes.
Reading back what I wrote about these two films, I don’t really have a lot more to say. Both of them kind of defy criticism anyways, but in very different ways. I also assume that all of you who have been following along have already seen both of these movies, so I don’t need to tell you a lot.
So you might as well vote.
You have until Wednesday to vote. Up next, Alien takes on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I’m wondering if we won’t get Alien versus Godzilla in the final, which would no doubt give some producer an idea for a new film series.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The Boston media and Red Sox fans have been going nuts since the Cubs signed Alex Bregman. Even the few Boston fans who didn’t think the Red Sox should re-sign Bregman are upset because the team has too many outfielders and not enough infielders. Marcelo Mayer is pencilled in for third base and while he was a highly-regarded prospect coming into last season, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first go at the major leagues. He also struggled badly against left-handed pitching, so he probably needs a platoon partner. That’s no reason to give up on Mayer, but it is a risky spot to be in for a team that has title aspirations.
The situation for the Red Sox at second base is even worse. Romy Gonzalez did very well at the plate last season—..305/.343/.483 in 96 games, but most of that damage was done against left-handers. Basically, he’s a good platoon partner for Mayer at third base and he can’t play second and third base against left-handed pitching at the same time.
Another option the Red Sox have at second base is Kristian Campbell, who was poor in his rookie season, hitting .223/.319/.345 over 67 games. There’s also David Hamilton, who was even worse.
The situation is so desperate that the team is apparently kicking around is moving center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela to second base. Rafaela was a good defensive infielder before the Red Sox moved him to center field and he could probably handle the position well should they move him back. The problem is that Rafaela is an elite center fielder who may be the only outfielder in Pete Crow-Armstrong’s class as a defender. So that might solve the Red Sox problem of too many outfielders and not enough infielders, but it comes with a big cost.
So that leaves adding another infielder before the season starts. Two just went off the board as the Reds signed third baseman Eugenio Suárez and the Mariners got second baseman Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals. So Boston’s options are running thin. They may be desperate.
One thing that has been suggested a lot by Red Sox fans is to trade for one of the Cubs infielders, in particular Nico Hoerner or Matt Shaw. The idea is behind Hoerner is that the Cubs have one too many infielders and Hoerner is a free agent at the end of the season. If the Cubs aren’t planning to sign him to an extension, they might be better off getting something for him in trade.
Honestly, I don’t see the Cubs trading Hoerner. The Cubs also consider themselves playoff contenders and Hoerner is one of the best all-around players on the team. For the Cubs to trade Hoerner, they would have to get something back that would give them equal or better production this year. If the Red Sox had that to trade, they wouldn’t need Nico Hoerner.
Matt Shaw is a more interesting question. Shaw got off to a poor start to his rookie season last year, but he really turned it on in the second half. He also was surprisingly good at third base, but with Alex Bregman under contract, he doesn’t have a full-time job. The Cubs have made it clear that they’d like to use Shaw as a “supersub” all around the diamond, but for 2026 at least, Shaw is a luxury rather than a necessity. It’s also escaped no one’s attention that Shaw is from Massachusetts and grew up a Red Sox fan.
Most of the trade offers I’ve seen out of Boston for Shaw is along the lines of “here’s a bunch of players we don’t want for a Cub we very much do want.” Sorry, but trades don’t work that way. The Cubs have no reason that they have to trade Shaw. The Cubs need a strong bench and he’s the backup plan for 2027 should Hoerner leave as a free agent. On top of that, I believe that even though Hoerner is the better player, Shaw has more trade value than Hoerner. He was the 35th-ranked prospect according to Baseball America coming into last year. Keith Law of The Athletic ranked him as the 14th-best prospect. While he didn’t set the world on fire his rookie season, he’s still young and promising. On top of that, he has five years of team control left instead of just one for Nico.
So sorry Red Sox fans. If you want Matt Shaw, it’s gonna hurt. Boston will definitely have to give up something they don’t want to give up if they want Shaw.
Fortunately for them, they do have two prospects the Cubs might covet. The Red Sox have two young (23 years old) starting pitchers who are major-league ready this season: left-handers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early. Baseball America ranked Tolle as the 17th-best prospect in the game. They ranked Early 52nd. Law ranked Tolle 40th and Early 64th. Both have already made their major league debuts. Early and was very good (2.33 ERA) over four starts. Tolle wasn’t nearly as effective out of the gate with a 6.06 ERA over three starts and four relief spots. But the important thing is that both pitchers are ready to pitch in the majors this season.
Here’s a little of what Baseball America said about Tolle
He . . . averaged 96.6 mph in his big league cameo and hit triple digits for the first time in his life on a pitch that averaged 16.7 inches of ride and 6.7 inches of armside run. Tolle reshaped his secondary mix throughout the season, most notably with the introduction of an 88-90 mph cutter in August that immediately surpassed his gyro slider,
And here’s a little of what they said about Early.
He paired the [93-94 mph] fastball with an excellent mid-80s changeup with sink and fade to his arm side as well as a slider and curveball against righties, while crushing lefties by mixing his four- and two-seamer with a low-80s sweeper that produced a 100% whiff rate—not a typo—on 10 regular-season swings.
To be clear, while all the rankings I’ve seen have Tolle ranked higher, presumably because of his greater velocity, I have read some people saying they think Early is the better prospect and will be the better pro. He was certainly better in his cup of coffee last year than Tolle was. In any case, this isn’t a situation where one pitcher is obviously superior to the other. There’s a general consensus that Tolle is better, but reasonable teams could think otherwise.
The Red Sox would have to give up one of those two to get Matt Shaw and probably another lesser prospect as well. As I said, it’s going to have to hurt if they want Matt Shaw. I’m not going to speculate on who that might be (I don’t know the lower reaches of the Red Sox system at all) and maybe if the Cubs took Early they’d get a slightly better second prospect than with Tolle.
I’m not saying that the Red Sox would make this deal. They may not want to part with either pitcher. But what I am saying is that this is the type of offer they would have to make for the Cubs to consider dealing Shaw.
To be clear, such a trade would be risky for the Cubs as well. Shaw is pencilled in for a major bench role in 2026 and if someone gets hurt, he’s likely going to have to play a lot. On top of that, if the Cubs were to trade Matt Shaw, they’d be operating without a safety net with Nico Hoerner. If Hoerner leaves at the end of the year, then the Cubs would be without a second baseman if they trade Shaw. Maybe another minor league infielder like Jefferson Rojas, Pedro Ramirez or James Triantos will establish themselves this year as an alternate heir apparent to Hoerner. But there’s no guarantee of that.
So with the understanding that the Red Sox may not be willing to make the offer, would you be willing to part with Matt Shaw for either of these packages?
Thanks for stopping by tonight. It’s always good to start the week with friends. Please get home safely. Stay warm and dry out there. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next time for more BCB After Dark.
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