CHICAGO ¨C The Cubs still need pitching depth for the rotation and bullpen, leading the club to a reunion with right-hander Colin Rea.

On Friday, Rea and the Cubs agreed on a one-year deal with an option for 2026, pending the completion of a physical, a source told MLB.com. The team has not confirmed the deal, which MLB Trade Rumors reported is valued at $5 million.

Rea brings an experienced arm with the potential to work as either a starter or reliever under Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who had the pitcher on his staff in 2023 with the Brewers. Rea is also familiar with the Cubs, given that he pitched for the club during the ¡¯20 campaign.

Chicago¡¯s 40-man roster is at capacity, so a subsequent move will be required to add Rea to the fold.

The North Siders¡¯ rotation projects to include Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd, with Javier Assad serving as the front-runner for the fifth spot. Behind that group, Chicago has Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, Cody Poteet and Caleb Kilian as options on the roster.

Chicago has worked to build volume for its bullpen this winter, but there is an opportunity for a pitcher like Rea to seize an Opening Day job on that front, too.

Rea, 34, enjoyed his best season as a big leaguer last year, and it was a little better than his final numbers indicate. He went 12-6 for the Brewers with a 4.29 ERA across 32 appearances (27 starts) and a career-high 167 2/3 innings. But that ERA got inflated by Rea¡¯s poor finish to the season. Through his first 24 appearances, he owned a 3.52 ERA.

Rea broke into the Majors with the Padres in 2015, four years after they selected him in the 12th round of the MLB Draft. After pitching to a 4.98 ERA over 99 1/3 frames for San Diego in 2016, he was traded to the Marlins that July. Rea then existed on the fringes of the Major Leagues for the next several years.

He missed the entire 2017 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery and then logged only 10 MLB appearances from 2018-21 while spending time in the Padres, Cubs and Brewers systems. He also pitched in a handful of games for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan¡¯s Nippon Professional Baseball in 2021.

Japan was Rea¡¯s pro baseball home for all of 2022, and he registered a 3.96 ERA in 100 innings for the Hawks. But more importantly, it was during this time when Rea began developing a sweeper. That pitch has been a real weapon for him since he returned to the United States -- and to the Brewers -- before the 2023 season. Opposing hitters went just 6-for-84 with an .083 slugging percentage against Rea¡¯s sweeper through his first 24 outings this past year.

Rea doesn¡¯t miss many bats; his 18.9% strikeout rate last year was well below the league average of 22.6%. But on the bright side, he also doesn¡¯t offer many walks. He produced a career-best 6.0% walk rate in 2024 when the league average was 8.2%.