What a wild night it was for Chicago sports, with the Alex Bregman news breaking just before the Bears rallied for 25 fourth-quarter points to beat the Packers in the playoffs. I had a very difficult time processing it all, and it was not easy to fall asleep. A year after losing out on Bregman, who reportedly had strong interest in joining the Cubs, Jed Hoyer got his man with a five-year, $175 million contract that proves to everyone how serious this team is about winning in 2026 and beyond.
Frequent CI readers might not have been as shocked as others, since we had written about how splurging on arb salaries indicated a potential willingness to spend on a bat.