With the World Series in the rearview, Jed Hoyer has a clear to-do list, and the Cubs’ bullpen still sits near the top of it.
Chicago enters the offseason with some real structure already in place. Daniel Palencia and Ryan Zeferjahn are coming back, Jacob Webb’s option is expected to be exercised, Phil Maton is returning from knee surgery, and Ryan Rolison is fresh off a breakout 2026 season.
That gives the Cubs a better starting point than they had a year ago. But after a season in which they finished 13th in relief ERA at 3.90 and landed in the bottom five with a 4.53 FIP, more stability is still needed.
That’s where Adrian Morejon comes in.
The Padres left-hander looks like one of the cleanest fits on the relief market for Chicago. He posted a 2.83 ERA and 2.37 FIP this past season, paired with an average fastball velocity of 99 mph and a 58.1% groundball rate. That combination checks a lot of boxes for a Cubs team that needs more swing-and-miss and could benefit from a defense that’s about to win the team Gold Glove.
The Athletic’s recent ranking of the top 40 free agents put Morejon 11th overall, making him the highest-rated reliever on the board. Their contract projection lands at three years and $42 million. That’s a hefty price for a bullpen arm, but Morejon’s profile makes the number easier to swallow.
He wasn’t just good in a narrow sense. He was dominant across the board.
While Mason Miller drew plenty of the attention in San Diego, Morejon put together a season worthy of a ninth-inning role or a high-end relief job somewhere else. His 30.8% strikeout rate was the best of his career over a full season, and so was his groundball rate.
He also ranked in the 90th percentile or better in expected ERA, expected batting average, chase percentage, whiff rate, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and more, all while keeping his walk rate at 8%.
Age is on his side too. Morejon was 27 during the 2026 season, which gives teams more comfort about a longer deal than they’d usually hand to a reliever.
There is some caution built into the picture, though. Manager Craig Stammen said Morejon dealt with some “stickiness” in his shoulder during the postseason, and his 86 regular-season innings were a heavy workload.
Even so, he has been mostly durable since his breakout in 2024, and any team that pursues him will want to dig into the medicals carefully.
The market may not make this easy. Comparisons range from Tanner Scott’s four-year, $76 million deal with the Dodgers to Robert Suarez’s three-year, $45 million contract in Atlanta, and it would not be a shock if a contender pushed past The Athletic’s projection for a top-tier arm. A reunion with San Diego also makes sense, since there is reportedly mutual interest and the Padres know his medical situation better than anyone.
Still, if Morejon lands anywhere near that three-year, $42 million range, the Cubs should be ready to jump. They have roughly $68 million in space under the threshold for luxury purposes, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be back near 2026 spending levels unless the CBA changes dramatically. If Hoyer wants to give this bullpen more certainty, Morejon is the kind of move that would do it.
In Other News...
Cubs Face A Risky Offseason Debate They Cannot Afford To Botch
The Cubs are heading into an offseason where the usual free-agent shopping list may not offer much help, which is why the front office is likely to spend as much time weighing trades as it does scanning the market. That makes the prospect pool even more important. Chicago has spent years trying to build and preserve enough young talent to support the next winning core, and names like Josiah Hartshorn, Owen Ayers and Brooks Caple are the kind of pieces that can make a deal tempting and dangerous at the same time.
For a club that has already lived through the pain of trades that did not age well, the lesson is pretty clear: if the Cubs are going to move a top prospect, the return has to fit both the present and the future. Pitching depth is especially valuable with more arms moving toward free agency, and the organization cannot afford to strip away too much of it while trying to patch holes elsewhere. The challenge now is finding improvement without giving up the kind of young talent that could matter just as much a year or two from now. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Offseason Just Became A Real Test For Jed Hoyer
The Cubs offseason is shaping up as more than a routine tune-up after they finished well behind the Brewers in 2026 and entered the winter with an early 2027 projection that leaves them lower in the league hierarchy. What makes this stretch especially tricky for Jed Hoyer is how much of the current roster is about to change, with several key players from last season now on the open market and the club facing a real chance to rebuild around a much less proven core.
ESPNs early outlook underscores the challenge ahead, with the projected lineup and rotation leaning heavily on players who have not yet established themselves at the big-league level. For a front office that has talked for years about keeping Chicago in the race, this is the kind of winter that can define whether the Cubs simply patch holes or make the kind of moves that change the direction of the next season. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs May Be Signaling A Bigger Bullpen Plan Overseas
The Cubs appear to be looking beyond the usual winter bullpen market, with reports tying them to Tseng Jyun-Yue, a 24-year-old closer from the Fubon Guardians in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Chicago has been active in searching for relief help, and this kind of overseas interest suggests the front office is keeping an open mind as it tries to deepen a group that can never really have too much depth.
Tseng has built a strong track record in Taiwan, posting a career 2.36 ERA while handling the ninth inning for the Guardians, but he has not yet thrown a pitch in the major leagues. If the Cubs move forward, the expected structure is straightforward enough: a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, giving the organization a low-risk look at a pitcher who could become more than a flyer if the stuff translates. [Read more 🡒]