The Cubs’ trade deadline shopping list is starting to look bigger than just a frontline starter.
Yes, Jed Hoyer is still chasing rotation help, and the bar there is high. Chicago wants a pitcher who can realistically slot into one of the top two spots in the staff, and Hoyer may be willing to move just about any young player not named Josiah Hartshorn to make it happen. A controllable arm like Reid Detmers or Jose Soriano would fit best, but the Cubs have played well enough that even a Tarik Skubal blockbuster has not been ruled out.
But the bullpen is very much in play too, and not just as a depth add. The Cubs have reasons to be cautious there even with Hunter Harvey, Daniel Palencia, Hoby Milner, and maybe Shelby Miller all potentially back in time for October, plus Justin Steele and Ben Brown expected to help in shorter stints once they return. That group would join a bullpen that already includes Jacob Webb, Caleb Thielbar, and Ryan Rolison, but the missing ingredient is clear: more strikeouts, more high-leverage reliability, and more certainty.
That matters because the returnees are not automatic fixes. Steele and Harvey have missed most of the season, and there is no guarantee they come back in top form.
There is also no waiver deadline to lean on anymore, which makes August 3 the final real shot to add meaningful relief help. Entering Saturday, the Cubs’ bullpen owned a middle-of-the-pack 3.96 ERA, but its 4.62 FIP ranked in the bottom five and its 21.4% strikeout rate sat in the bottom ten.
According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the Cubs are eyeing relievers who can serve as insurance against more injuries, and Craig Counsell said both he and Hoyer "love" strikeouts and would like more arms that can provide them. The priority, though, is still consistency. If Chicago does push for bigger names, the list would include Padres lefty Adrian Morejon and righties Luke Weaver and Jeff Hoffman from the Mets and Blue Jays.
Morejon is the kind of arm Cubs fans know well. He was one of the toughest parts of San Diego’s bullpen in last year’s Wild Card matchup, and while his 3.14 ERA this season is not quite as shiny, the underlying numbers are strong: a 2.49 FIP and a 27% strikeout rate. He also brings one of the most appealing traits for this Cubs roster, with a 99th-percentile groundball rate of 61.3%.
The price on Morejon should still be significant, but because he is headed for free agency after the season, he would not cost the sort of prospect haul that a true blockbuster arm like Mason Miller would require. Rental relievers rarely bring back multiple Top-100 prospects, outside of outliers like Aroldis Chapman in 2016. The bigger issue is whether San Diego would even move him.
Weaver and Hoffman are a different kind of discussion. Both are under control through next year at $11 million, which makes them more expensive in both trade cost and salary than Hoyer typically likes.
But both would give the Cubs the swing-and-miss they are missing late in games. Weaver, who was linked to Chicago in the offseason, has posted a career-best 1.88 ERA with a 2.87 FIP and is coming off two strong seasons with the Yankees.
Hoffman’s 4.11 ERA looks ordinary on the surface, but his 2.54 FIP and 34.8% strikeout rate tell a much louder story after a rough first stint in Toronto.
That kind of pursuit would be a notable shift for Hoyer. At last year’s deadline, the Cubs went with multiple mid-to-lower-market relievers such as Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers, even as bigger names like David Bednar, Jhoan Duran, and Louis Varland changed teams and kept producing. This time, the front office appears to be admitting that the current leverage mix is not enough.
Chicago has the kind of trade chips to make a bullpen deal without shutting the door on a rotation upgrade, with enough depth in the minors and among young major leaguers like Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez. The Cubs could even address both needs at once by pairing Weaver with a starter such as Freddy Peralta or Clay Holmes. However it plays out, the message is the same: Hoyer is casting a wider net than he has in years, and the Cubs’ performance has earned that kind of aggressive approach.
In Other News...
Cubs Just Got Pulled Into Torontos Deadline Rotation Shakeup
Torontos deadline-day rotation shuffle has already sent ripple effects through the league, and the Cubs were pulled into the middle of it before the dust could settle. The Blue Jays moved quickly ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline, adding Jose Soriano from the Angels while also reshaping the staff with veteran arms, a sign they were prioritizing immediate stability as they mapped out the rest of 2026 and even looked ahead to 2027.
For Chicago, the bigger story is how this kind of deal changes the market around it. A club in deadline mode can turn one trade into a broader reset, and the Cubs now sit in the orbit of a Blue Jays rotation plan that could still keep evolving as Toronto weighs future moves involving its veteran pitchers. Even after the first wave of action, the way Toronto sorts out its staff may decide whether this becomes a one-off adjustment or the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Just Paid A Real Prospect Price For An October Push
The Cubs made a clear win-now move, parting with one of their better infield prospects to shore up the roster for the stretch run. Jefferson Rojas was sent to the Mets in a deal that brought back Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor, a transaction that signals Chicago is treating October as more than a distant goal and more like a window worth pushing through right now.
Holmes gives the Cubs a right-handed arm who is still on the injured list but getting close to a return, while Taylor adds experienced outfield depth for the final months of the season. It is the kind of trade that usually comes with an uncomfortable cost, and Chicago paid it by moving a player it had reason to value, betting the short-term upgrade will matter more than the long-term regret. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Just Got A Surprising Deadline Opening They Still Needed
The Cubs still have not made a trade move, but they do have one of the more intriguing deadline paths to monitor as they poke around with Texas. The Rangers have shifted their approach enough to at least listen on some pitching, which has put Chicago in the mix for arms such as Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore and Jacob Latz. For a club looking for help without blowing up its deadline, that kind of opening is worth watching closely.
Texas, though, has also sent a mixed message to rival front offices, which is part of what makes this whole thing feel so unsettled. Trade talks can turn quickly at this time of year, and the Cubs are weighing options in a market where the other side may not be nearly as available as it first seemed. [Read more 🡒]