October speculation has already kicked in for the Cubs, and Randy Arozarena has entered the conversation.
After the Tarik Skubal buzz earlier in the week, a new report from Seattle has Chicago among the teams expected to have interest in Arozarena, one of the top bats projected to reach free agency this offseason alongside Seiya Suzuki. The Mariners are expected to extend a qualifying offer to Arozarena, but Seattle Times beat writer Ryan Divish reported that he likely won’t be the one they keep. Divish also said Arozarena prefers the East Coast and pointed to the Cubs, Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, and Phillies as clubs with a "known need for a right-handed hitter".
Arozarena’s 2026 season was the kind that puts him squarely on the radar. He hit .281/.381/.484 with 26 home runs and a 151 wRC+.
For comparison, Pete Crow-Armstrong posted a 157 wRC+. Either way, the production was strong enough to make Arozarena a real prize on the market.
But for the Cubs, the fit is not so simple.
Everything Jed Hoyer has said in the early part of the offseason has pointed in one direction: pitching first. That’s why the Arozarena link feels a little sideways, especially with the idea floating around that Chicago could even open the 2027 season with both Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez as starting outfielders. If the Cubs are serious about rebuilding the pitching staff, the dollars needed there could make a run at Arozarena tough to square.
There’s also some ambiguity in how to read the report. Maybe Divish is simply looking at the Cubs losing Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly, and to a much lesser extent Ian Happ, then naturally connecting that to a need for right-handed offense.
Or maybe he’s hearing something more direct about Chicago’s plans for this winter. For now, it’s hard to know.
What is clear is that the Cubs can’t simply brush off the offensive side of the roster. Shaw and Ramirez have shown enough at different points over the last two years to make them intriguing, but asking them to slide into full-time outfield work and leave the offense untouched would be a real step back for a team still in its contention window.
Even then, Arozarena may not be the cleanest answer. Suzuki is the more obvious name to circle if the Cubs do decide the offense needs more attention, and he remains the player they’d be missing if he were elsewhere next season. If Chicago shifts from pitching-only thinking, that’s probably the bat to keep front and center.
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