The Los Angeles Dodgers may not be done being the Dodgers, but this offseason could still bring a real reset.
Milwaukee’s run may have knocked them off course, and with a payroll that has ballooned plus the possibility of a new CBA bringing a salary cap into the picture, Los Angeles could look for ways to clear money. If that happens, the Chicago Cubs could be one of the teams ready to step in. The two clubs have crossed paths in trades before, and there may be room for another deal before everything tightens up in December.
Even with that in mind, the Dodgers’ stretch of dominance is not automatically over. If Shohei Ohtani is healthy, and with the rest of the talent still on the roster, they could be right back in the World Series next year.
Still, change feels likely in some form, and a few names stand out as possible Cubs targets.
Teoscar Hernandez is the most obvious one. He has been trending toward trade territory for the past year, especially with the Dodgers holding a cluster of top outfield prospects.
His salary is also climbing, with more than $22 million due in 2027. Josue De Paula’s arrival at the end of this past season could speed up any decision to move him.
Injuries limited Hernandez to 125 games last year, but he still produced 16 home runs and a 110 wRC+. He also carries a $15 club option for 2028, though Chicago might not need that kind of long-term commitment with Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley expected to be ready by then.
Alex Call makes sense for similar reasons. The Dodgers leaving him off their playoff roster may say plenty about where he fits in their plans. He wouldn’t line up as a direct platoon answer for Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez because he hits right-handed, but he could still give the Cubs veteran depth off the bench.
Emmet Sheehan is a different kind of possibility. There are a couple of ifs involved here: if Tarik Skubal is back with the Dodgers next year, and if Ohtani is healthy and pitching full-time, then Sheehan could become expendable.
He’s controlled through the 2029 season, so this would not be a simple move for Chicago. But it would fit the kind of creative swing that brought Michael Busch to the Cubs before the 2024 season.
Hyeseong Kim is another name to watch. The Cubs were linked to him before he signed with Los Angeles in 2025, and the Dodgers never really seemed eager to give him a real run.
He appeared in 71 games in 2025 and just 46 in 2026, which makes him look like a trade candidate. Kim brings the kind of versatility the Cubs like to have, and as a left-handed hitter, he would also work well as a platoon partner with Shaw and Ramirez.
In Other News...
Cubs Can't Afford Another Jed Hoyer Pitching Gamble To Be The Answer
The Cubs are already staring at another winter defined by pitching uncertainty, and Dustin May has emerged as one more possible name in the mix. After spending the 2026 season with the Cardinals and Brewers, he is available as a free agent, and the appeal is easy to understand: there is still enough talent in his arm to make evaluators believe there is upside to tap into if the right environment is there.
But Chicago cannot treat him like the entire answer, not with the rotation picture looking so unsettled for 2027. Mays recent struggles make him sound more like a developmental project than a safe fix, which only works if the Cubs have already addressed the bigger-ticket items on the market. The front office can take on a reclamation arm, but only if it has first done the harder work of building a staff that does not depend on another gamble paying off. [Read more 🡒]
Kris Bryant Just Got Another Brutal Sign About His Baseball Future
Kris Bryants career arc has turned into one of the tougher cautionary tales in recent baseball memory, especially for Cubs fans who still remember the peak years when he was an MVP and a centerpiece in Chicago. After injuries and a trade to San Francisco, his path took another turn with a seven-year deal in Colorado, but health problems have continued to pile up, most notably degenerative disc disease that kept him out for the entire 2026 season.
Now the Rockies are operating as if Bryant will not be part of their roster plans moving forward, a stark sign of how far things have shifted. President Paul DePodesta said the club is making moves with Bryant unavailable, and there has been no update on any contract restructuring, leaving his baseball future hanging in the same uncertain space that has defined so much of the last few years. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs May Have No Choice But To Chase Pitching Another Way
The Cubs are heading into an offseason where standing pat is not really an option. After another year of trying to keep pace, the front office knows it needs meaningful additions to stay in the mix, and the market does not offer much comfort. The free-agent pool looks thin, especially on the position-player side, which leaves Chicago sorting through a lot of uncertainty while trying to find impact where it can.
Pitching may be the area that offers the cleanest path forward, but even there the choices are complicated. Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta are among the names that could shape the market if the Cubs choose to pursue help on the mound, yet Jed Hoyer may have to lean on trades and creative maneuvering instead of simply shopping in free agency. With collective bargaining talks still hanging over the sport and a possible lockout in the background, the timing only adds another layer to a winter that already looks tricky. [Read more 🡒]