The Cubs’ 2026 season ended with a September stumble and a flat-looking sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres, so nobody is pretending this year was a success. But buried inside the disappointment were a few performances that still matter, not just for what they meant in 2026, but for what they say about 2027 and beyond.
Start with the obvious one: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 40-40 season. That’s the headliner, and it should be.
Crow-Armstrong is going to be the MVP this season, and his year stands as the best individual performance the Cubs had. The bigger point is what the Cubs already did back in April, when they signed him to a pre-arbitration extension.
He’s now under contract through 2032, which gives the club a superstar at an extremely affordable price.
Then there’s Alex Bregman, who spent a long stretch of the first half looking like a serious problem. At one point, it would have been easy to wonder whether the Cubs had tied themselves to a massive headache for the next four years.
Instead, Bregman flipped the script after the All-Star break. Outside of Crow-Armstrong, he was arguably the best hitter in baseball in the second half, and he finished with numbers that stack up with the best seasons of his career.
With Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki both gone, the Cubs are hoping the version of Bregman they got after the break is the one they’ll see throughout 2027.
Seiya Suzuki’s season deserves its own mention, even if it didn’t always get the same attention. With Crow-Armstrong putting together an MVP run and Bregman catching fire, Suzuki’s year could have slipped through the cracks.
It shouldn’t. He hit 26 home runs, fewer than before, but he also bumped his batting average up by 25 points and his on-base percentage by nearly 40 points.
He finished with a 132 wRC+ and was a Gold Glove finalist. If the Cubs don’t bring him back, their offense almost certainly takes a hit in 2027.
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Cubs Get Another Shot At A Starter They Couldn't Land Before
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Chicago is viewed as a potential fit, and this time the Cubs will get a cleaner shot at a pitcher who checks a lot of boxes for a team trying to keep pace in a crowded National League race. Analysts are projecting his next deal could land around four years and $118 million, which would put the conversation squarely in the range of how aggressive the Cubs want to be this winter. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Face A Massive Pitching Question Heading Into The Offseason
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Clay Holmes and Matthew Boyd have declined their player options for 2027, putting them on track for free agency, while Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman and David Peterson have also elected free agency. For a team that needs clarity as much as depth, the next few weeks figure to shape just how aggressive the Cubs have to be in rebuilding the rotation and bullpen picture. [Read more 🡒]