The Cubs’ season ended unceremoniously on Wednesday. Chicago was easily eliminated from the Wild Card Series by San Diego. They lost by a combined margin of 12-1 over both competitions.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer met with reporters (including ESPN’s Jesse Rogers and Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times) as the team enters offseason mode. It is not surprising that priority is given to the modernization of the launch personnel.
“We rely too much on our defense and the overall pitching quality needs to improve. … When I think about our offseason, when I think about the seasons to come, that has to be the goal, to bring our pitching infrastructure and our pitching quality up to the level of our position player group,” Hoyer said. “It’s safe to say that the majority of our focus this offseason will be on pitching. Whether it’s 100 to 0, what that ratio will be has yet to be determined. But certainly, the vast majority of our focus will be on acquiring pitchers.”
This year’s Cubs were one of the most unbalanced teams in history. As Mike Petriello of MLB.com explored in mid-September, the Cubs had arguably the best offense and team defense in MLB while missing one of the worst pitching staffs. Chicago found itself middle of the pack in overall run prevention despite having Gold Glove-caliber defenders around much of the diamond. Their pitchers were 23rd in strikeout rate and allowed the most home runs in the National League. Only the A’s returned more long balls than Chicago’s 231.
The Cubs attempted to remedy the pitching problem in midsummer. They exchanged for David Peterson end of June and added Clay Holmes, Kevin Gausman and reliever Ryan Zeferjahn on the deadline. The starters are all impending free agents, assuming Holmes declines his $12 million player option. Shota Imanaga And Matthew Boyd (mutual option) will also return to the market.
Justin Steele I hope he has a typical offseason, but hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since April 2025 due to elbow surgery. Ben Brown is coming off a season-ending neck injury. Cade Horton underwent Tommy John surgery in April and is eyeing a second-half return in the best-case scenario.
The Cubs are expected to be linked to almost every departing free agent and are expected to be involved in top potential trade targets (e.g. Reid Detmers, MacKenzie Gore, Drew Rasmussen). There will surely be calls from some fans to Tarik Skubalbut that would likely require more than doubling the largest contract in team history: the eight-year, $184 million deal they gave out. Jason Heyward ten years ago.
They will also have significant turnover in the bullpen. Aaron Civale, Caleb Thielbar, Trent Thornton And Hunter Harvey are free agents. They will have limit club option calls Colin Réa And Jacob Webbthe latter having melted at the end of the season. Chicago didn’t get much out of his two-year contract with Phil Maton. Zeferjahn was inconsistent after trade as season opener draws closer Daniel Palencia struggled to miss bats due to an elbow injury.
The Cubs have generally avoided huge investments in the bullpen under Hoyer. Their current leverage group is one of the weakest in the league, even with Maton and Shelby Miller I hope to come back from injury. Even if a race Adrien Morejón Or David Bednar would be out of character for this front office, there is an argument in favor of going in that direction. They would have been finalists with a four-year offer for Tanner Scott there are two offseasons, so it’s not like they’re dead set against spending on the right reliever.
While the focus is on the pitching staff, the Cubs also have a few key players on the market. Seiya Suzuki is set to reject a qualifying offer and could opt out of Chicago for a four-year deal with a club that chases offense more aggressively. Ian Happ is a less likely QO candidate after a mediocre last four months. If the Cubs let both players go, they will need at least one outfielder from outside the organization.
Carson Kelly expected to reach another multi-year contract, although the Cubs could settle for signing a rookie Owen Ayers alongside Miguel Amaya. Fourth outfielder Tyrone Taylor and bench bat Michael Conforto also played a solid role and is expected to hit the market. There will naturally be a lot of turnover with so many players in the final seasons of their contracts.
“We’re not going to be able to bring them all back. That’s clear,” Hoyer said of the team’s free agent class. “We can’t keep everyone. The team is going to be different next year. … We have a lot of good players who will become free agents and we’ll be in touch.”
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