Cubs looking for ways to bolster rotation for '25

SAN ANTONIO -- It has been a decade since the Cubs landed Jon Lester in free agency during the Winter Meetings in San Diego. That move added an established ace to the top of Chicago’s rotation and helped ignite the string of postseason runs that included ending the club’s World Series drought.

This offseason, the Cubs are on the hunt for rotation help in their effort to turn the page on two straight 83-win seasons and push the ballclub back onto the October stage. There are a couple aces available, but the North Siders may follow a more recent blueprint in their search for a starter.

“Our starting pitching’s been good,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week at the General Managers’ Meetings at the JW Marriott in San Antonio. “But, you can always add another guy.”

Two winters ago, the Cubs reeled in right-hander Jameson Taillon via a four-year free-agent contract worth $68 million. He is coming off a strong campaign and has become a respected veteran voice for the ballclub. Last offseason, Chicago added lefty Shota Imanaga on a four-year, $53 million deal. He was outstanding in 2024 and could earn some down-ballot votes for both the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.

Beyond Taillon and Imanaga, the Cubs’ rotation right now includes lefty Justin Steele (a Cy Young contender in 2023 who backed that up with a strong ‘24) and righty Javier Assad. A trio of younger arms (Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Hayden Wesneski) are next on the depth chart, though they each were hindered by injuries in ‘24.

Veteran Kyle Hendricks -- part of the 2016 World Series team and coming off his 11th season with the Cubs -- reached free agency and agreed to a deal with the Angels on Wednesday (per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand).

Hoyer noted that both Brown and top pitching prospect Cade Horton (Pipeline’s No. 3 Cubs prospect and No. 42 on the Top 100 list) are scheduled for checkups later this month. If both are cleared following injury-marred campaigns last season, they should have a normal ramp-up leading to Spring Training and be in line to help in 2025.

Hoyer could look to the trade market -- especially given the depth of position player prospects in hand -- where the White Sox have the top arm potentially available in Garrett Crochet. In free agency, the list of available arms is topped by ace Corbin Burnes, but his asking price (potentially north of $200 million) likely takes the Cubs out of the running.

Lefty Max Fried is another front-line starter on the free-agent market, but he and Burnes are among the group of players who received a one-year qualifying offer from their former teams for 2025. Sean Manaea and Nick Martinez are also on that list, creating a complicating factor for a team like the Cubs.

Given that the Cubs exceeded the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold in 2024, they would be in line to lose their second- and fifth-highest picks in the ‘25 Draft, plus $1 million from their international bonus pool for the upcoming signing period, if they signed a player who declined a qualifying offer.

Pitchers Walker Buehler (limited to 16 starts in the regular season) and Shane Bieber (recovering from Tommy John surgery) did not receive a QO from the Dodgers or Guardians, respectively. Blake Snell, Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi and Yusei Kikuchi are among the free agents who were ineligible for a QO this offseason.

“You're just always kind of weighing it into the equation,” Hoyer said. “It's just part of the cost, I guess. We can quantify what those picks are worth, and you have to kind of weigh, ‘Is the contract and that worth it?’ And there's also plenty of good players that don't have those attached.”

• All of the 2024-2025 free agents, position by position

The Cubs’ rotation was strong overall last season, turning in the second-lowest ERA (3.77) in the National League and the lowest mark at home (3.07). That said, Wrigley Field had the second-lowest Park Factor (91) in the Majors, making things woeful for the offense at times, while benefiting the pitchers.

“Certainly, you can’t look at the Wrigley factor on only one side,” Hoyer said. “It affects everybody.”

Hoyer praised the Cubs’ rotation for how the group performed amid a rash of injuries, but that -- along with relying on an offense-suppressing environment -- is not likely a sustainable combination. The North Siders need to add another impact arm or two this offseason to make the rotation even more formidable.

“Like everyone here, I think we’re looking for as many good, quality arms as possible,” Hoyer said. “And hopefully, we can keep as many healthy as possible.”