Thanks for stopping by here at BCB After Dark: the hippest afterparty for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s always good to see you. Come in out of the cold. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you 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.

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Last night I asked you if the Cubs should be interested in NPB corner infielder Kazuma Okomoto. The vote came out that 42 percent of you were against it, 30 percent of you were in favor of it and 28 percent of you were just “meh” about the whole thing.

Here’s the part where we talk about movies and listen to jazz. You’re free to skip that if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Tonight we’re continuing our tribute to native Chicagoan and jazz drumming great Jack DeJohnette, who passed away last week at 83.

As I noted yesterday, DeJohnette was better known for playing with other people’s combos than being a band leader himself. Despite that, he still had a reputation as one of the best drummers in the world.

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Here DeJohnette is part of the Dave Holland Trio, his old buddy from their days as the rhythm section for Miles Davis in the early-seventies. DeJohnette’s skill as a drummer comest through on this track from the 1988 album Triplicate. Holland is on bass, of course, and Steve Coleman is on alto saxophone.

I don’t normally write about movies on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but I wanted to remind you that you still have time to vote in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic first-round matchup between number-four seed Forbidden Planet and number-five seed The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Up next is three-seed Godzilla (1954) and six-seed Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). A quick reminder that the film in the contest is the Japanese-language original and not the American-version with Raymond Burr that we’re now legally required to call Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Now I would encourage you to watch the English-language version because, frankly, it’s a ton of fun, but it’s also clearly an inferior version to the Japanese original. It’s great if you like to see Raymond Burr staring at Japanese people the same way James Stewart and Grace Kelly stared at him in Rear Window.

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I also wanted to take a moment to recognize the death of Diane Ladd, who passed away at the age of 89 on Monday. Although Ladd is best-known today for being Laura Dern’s mother, she was a three-time Academy Award-nominated actress who was in such films as Chinatown, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. In that last film, Ladd originated the part of Flo, which was played by Polly Holliday in the long-running TV show Alice. However, when Holliday left that program, Ladd joined the cast of Alice as a different waitress.

Anyway, I’m getting tired of all the sad “In Memoriam” videos between the films on Turner Classic Movies lately. Rest in Peace, Ms. Ladd, and thanks for all the memories.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs declined the option on Shōta Imanaga’s contract today. That would make a good question for tonight, but I think we’ve all discussed that topic out in the article linked there.

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So tonight I’m going to ask you about the option on another Cubs pitcher, Colin Rea. Rea has a one-year, $6 million team option for 2026. There’s a $750,000 buyout on that option, so the deal for this upcoming season is more like $5.25 million.

To be clear, Colin Rea is nobody’s idea of a top-flight starter. The Cubs brought him in as rotation depth and he was almost immediately needed after Justin Steele went down with an elbow injury. Rea was solid this past year, at least by the standards of number-five starter. Rea went 11-7 with a 3.95 ERA last year. However, his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) was 4.11 and his expected ERA was a mediocre 4.66. Rea is also 35 going into this season and he’s an “old” 35. His birthday is July 1 and a player’s “age” for a year is the the age a player is on June 30.

Still, I don’t know how much stock to put into those numbers. The Cubs made some changes in Rea’s arsenal, having him use his four-seam fastball which still averages a respectable 93.8 miles per hour. He’s also an innings-eater, throwing 159 1/3 innings this past season and 167 2/3 innings for the Brewers the year before.

So would you pick up Rea’s option? The argument for it is that he’s a solid innings-eater and a good depth piece for either the starting rotation or as a long man out of the bullpen. The argument against is that he’s aging and that the Cubs could probably find someone else to fill that role cheaper and maybe even better.

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Thank you for stopping by this evening. We always enjoy having you around. Please get home safely. If you checked anything, let us get that for you now. Recycle any cans and bottles. Stay warm. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.