CHICAGO -- The Cubs had hoped to win the National League Central this past season and position themselves for a deep October run with a first-round bye in the playoffs. The North Siders fell short of those goals and watched the rival Brewers capture the division crown and run all the way to the franchise’s first World Series title.
A few weeks before Milwaukee’s triumph on Wednesday night, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was asked why the Cubs have seen the gap continue to widen between themselves and the Brewers. Hoyer pointed to an area Chicago will prioritize this offseason: pitching.
“From a Major League standpoint, their pitching has been exceptionally good,” Hoyer said at his season-ending press conference. “I think that’s the area that we have to double down and really focus on. Obviously, the position-playing group this year was exceptional, and I think [pitching] is the biggest area that we have to focus on.”
That process officially started on Thursday, when players around the Majors became free agents. One look at the initial list of nine players hitting the open market for the Cubs and it is easy to see why pitching needs to be at the top of Hoyer’s list in the coming months. Chicago could lose all five starters who finished 2026 in the rotation.
Shota Imanaga, along with two in-season trade acquisitions, righty Kevin Gausman and lefty David Peterson, are among the Cubs’ free agents. Veterans Matthew Boyd ($15 million mutual option or $2 million buyout) and Clay Holmes ($12 million player option) will likely join them on Chicago’s list within the next few days.
Other free agents for the Cubs include outfielders Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki -- two of the top bats available in this offseason’s class -- along with outfielders Michael Conforto and Tyrone Taylor, plus pitchers Aaron Civale and Trent Thornton.
The Cubs also have potential free agents in catcher Carson Kelly ($7.5 million mutual option of $1.5 million buyout), righty Colin Rea ($7.5 million team option or $1 million buyout), lefty Caleb Thielbar ($6 million mutual option or $500,000 buyout), righty Jacob Webb ($2.5 million team option) and righty Hunter Harvey ($8 million mutual option or $1 million buyout).
Teams have until Monday (five days after the end of the World Series) to make decisions on 2027 options, and/or whether to offer a one-year qualifying offer ($23.15 million) to eligible free agents. Boyd, Happ and Suzuki are all possibilities for receiving a QO.
Like Gausman and Peterson, Holmes was an in-season pick-up via trade to help a rotation that was riddled with injuries and other issues throughout 2026. Peterson and Holmes, in particular, were great fits for a Cubs team that excelled defensively. It would not be surprising if the North Siders try to bring them back for ‘27.
The same could be said for the veteran Boyd, who grew into a leader behind the scenes and was a consistent performer en route to an All-Star nod in 2025 and the Opening Day starter assignment in ‘26. Injuries limited Boyd to 126 2/3 innings last year, but the lefty still posted a 3.91 ERA and was strong down the stretch (3.28 ERA over his final six outings).
Imanaga returned to the Cubs last offseason via a qualifying offer and turned in a solid bounceback campaign, posting a 3.77 ERA with 174 strikeouts and 37 walks in 32 starts (174 1/3 innings). That said, the lefty struggled with allowing home runs -- his 35 homers allowed were tied for the second-most in baseball.
As things stand, Chicago’s group of returning starting pitchers includes Edward Cabrera, Ben Brown, Justin Steele, Javier Assad and Braxton Garrett, with Cade Horton on the comeback trail after right elbow surgery in April. The Cubs need to strengthen the depth chart around that cast going into next season.
“The overall quality of the pitching has to improve,” Hoyer said. “When I think about our offseason, and when I think about seasons to come, that has to be the goal -- to get our pitching infrastructure and pitching quality to the level of our position-player group.”