The Rundown: Hoerner Third-Ranked 2B, Cubs Sign Klobosits, Bader to Giants, Trailer Double Feature

It’s probably a good thing I’ll be traveling tomorrow and may not have time for a Rundown, because the news cycle lately has been nothing but minor league deals. We’re still going to talk about some of them, mainly because we’d have so little to discuss otherwise, but I don’t think skipping a day will leave anyone with a news void that won’t be easily filled. For the Cubs in particular, it feels like we’ve reached the point of coasting into camp.

Their Sloan Park facility is already abuzz with young players putting in work on new positions and/or basic fundamentals ahead of official workouts. That’s become more and more common since Sloan opened up, and many players have homes in the Phoenix area anyway. Those who live in cooler offseason climates relish the opportunity to get outside on the grass with just shorts and t-shirts. I’d say they enjoy the sunshine too, but it’s actually been very clear and bright here lately.

The cold, though…yikes. I’m seeing some college teams with games scheduled for February 21 here in Central Indiana, and that does not sound fun. We’ve got about two months before the start of high school baseball season here, which coincides with spring break and the end of spring training. So I guess I should relish the current quiet period before things really take off.

Then again, I just got really excited thinking about Sloan and baseball outside in warm weather. That jones will last until June, when I will want nothing more than shade and another application of sunscreen. But even that is better than the interminable winter of working out indoors and jockeying for space among all the other teams and athletes at our facility. The pitching program there has grown to where there might be 20 high school players working out and throwing on a given evening.

Oh, and we can’t forget the Friday morning bullpens for high school pitchers and catchers starting this week. But you know what? I actually love all that stuff. Seeing those young men grinding away and getting better when it’s not easy or convenient gives me a lot of joy. The payoff won’t be there right away for all of them, and it may not be there at all from a baseball standpoint, but I believe it will help them in life.

There are times when you just need to trust the work and set aside some of the surface-level stuff that doesn’t have as much bearing.

Hoerner Ranked Third

Not long after leaving him off the list of MLB’s top 100 players, MLB Network’s Shredder ranked Nico Hoerner third among all second basemen. I have no idea how exactly those rankings were determined or why they vary so wildly from the top 100, but I can only assume they’re created to drive social media engagement. Ketel Marte (19 overall) was first among the keystones, then Jazz Chisholm Jr. (61) was second. Then you’ve got Brice Turang (62) as the 10th-best at his position, with Jose Altuve (81) ranked sixth.

Fan voting had Hoerner behind only Marte, with Turang and Altuve following and Ernie Clement rounding out the top five. Even though we all know this stuff is all way too subjective to be taken seriously, I often end up shaking my fist in manufactured anger every once in a while. I mean, is it too much to ask that a network dedicated to the sport be a little better?

Cubs Sign Klobosits

As first reported by Ari Alexander of 7News Boston, the Cubs have signed 30-year-old righty reliever Gabe Klobosits to a minor league deal. A 36th-round draft pick out of Auburn by the Nationals in 2017, Klobosits got a $2,500 signing bonus and spent parts of three seasons bouncing around the lower levels of the minors. After missing 2020 due to MiLB’s shutdown, Klobosits made it to the bigs in 2021. He hasn’t pitched in MLB since and had brief Triple-A stints with Oakland and Toronto in ’22 and ’23.

At 6-foot-8 and over 250 pounds, you’d think this dude would have been a hard thrower. But with a fastball that sat around 95, there was room for improvement. It appears as though Klobosits has done just that, with Alexander reporting that the fastball is up to 98 in offseason workouts. If nothing else, this is yet another intriguing flyer for the Cubs’ pitching department.

Klobosits doesn’t get elite extension (6.5 feet, 65th percentile, but his high arm slot (51 degrees) means he can create a unique approach angle by literally throwing down at hitters. He can generate good ride on the fastball, with both his splitter and slider landing higher than most. That data is all from a few years ago, though, so it’s possible he’s made changes to his mechanics and repertoire since then.

The Cubs have been actively targeting different arm slots with outlier qualities this winter, and Klobosits certainly fits that mold.

More News and Notes

• Kiley McDaniel of ESPN published his list of the top 100 prospects, and the Cubs have just two names on it. Moises Ballesteros (51) and Jaxon Wiggins (83) made the cut, but Kevin Alcántara was absent after appearing at No. 41 on Keith Law’s rankings.
• Harrison Bader signed a two-year, $20.5 millin deal.
• The Cardinals signed former Cubs great Nelson Velázquez to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. The 27-year-old outfielder hasn’t played in the majors since 2024 with the Royals, when he posted -0.5 fWAR over 230 plate appearances.
• Former Cubs great Hector Neris has agreed to a minor league deal with the Royals that includes a camp invite.
• A day after putting out a fake press release saying there would not be a cover athlete for MLB The Show 26, the game announced Aaron Judge as its face.
• My son’s travel team is raising money to purchase an alternate uniform to go with the two primaries that are included in their standard fees. They’re doing so by raffling off five “booze baskets” that have assorted spirits, mixers, and other trinkets (one set of parents works for a distributor). I’m happy to deliver within a reasonable distance, but a lot of folks have just made donations. If you’re interested, my PayPal is @CubsInsider and Venmo is @EvanAltman36.

Trailer(s) Time

We’ve got a double feature for you today, with a documentary and a mockumentary for your viewing pleasure. First up is Secret Mall Apartment, which tells the tale of a group of artists who built a hidden apartment inside Providence Place Mall in 2003. I have heard great things and will try to check it out soon, as it’s available on Netflix now.

Next up is Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, a Canandian time-travel adventure based on both the web series and TV series of the same name…just without “the Movie.” It stars Matt Johnson, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Jay McCarrol as fictionalised versions of themselves in a band called “Nirvanna the Band.” They attempt to book a gig at the Rivoli, a bar and restaurant in Toronto, despite having never played a single song. Their scheme backfires, leaving them stranded in 2008 and searching for a way to get back to the future.

This looks completely batshit and I am quite intrigued, though I’ll probably wait until it hits streamers following its February 14 theatrical release.