The Cubs may be out of the playoff picture after that deflating Wild Card exit against the San Diego Padres, but the offseason machine is already moving. One of the latest boxes checked: a new wave of international free-agent signings.
Late last week, the Cubs announced deals with Luis Zapata, Elvin Cepeda, Rodelvis Santiesteban, Manuel Cordero, Sebastian Zorrilla, and Maykoll Jaspe. All six were signed to minor-league contracts.
Most of these moves had been floating around as rumors through the summer before becoming official later in the year. And for a club that has not gotten much out of its international free-agent pipeline over the past decade, the hope is simple enough: get better at finding talent in that space. With Jed Hoyer looking for different ways to reshape how the front office operates, strengthening international scouting feels like a necessary investment.
On the field, Pete Crow-Armstrong keeps stacking honors on top of a season that already belongs in a different category. He was previously named a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award and remains the presumptive National League MVP. Now he’s also Baseball America’s Player of the Year for the 2026 season.
Crow-Armstrong became the seventh player ever to join the 40 HR / 40 SB club this year, and he led MLB in home runs with 45, runs with 119 and OPS at 1.065.
There’s not much left to say about a season that already sits among the greatest in baseball history. For the Cubs, it may have been the best individual year the franchise has ever seen.
Pitching, though, is where the real pressure point sits this winter, and Edward Cabrera is part of that conversation. The Cubs are expected to be in the market for pitching, but Cabrera - arbitration-eligible this offseason - will be tendered a contract. The organization is not ready to label the trade a failure.
Still, 2026 was the worst major-league season of Cabrera’s career by most measures. The Cubs believe the biggest issue was a string of blister problems, which they think affected his grip and led to repeated concerns with his arm angle. They also saw what they described as “bad habits” develop over the course of the year.
If the Cubs can’t straighten out Cabrera, the ripple effects could be serious. With questions already hanging over Justin Steele and Ben Brown, and Cade Horton likely missing most of the season, the rotation has the potential to become a liability fast.
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For a few of the young names who matter now, that kind of planning creates pressure as well as opportunity. Matt Shaw, Pedro Ramirez, Kevin Alcantara and Jordan Wicks are among the players viewed as possible trade candidates if Chicago decides it needs to reshape the group around a different core, which means every step they take from here matters a little more. The Cubs do not need to decide everything today, but the list of youngsters who can safely assume they are part of the long-term picture is not very long. [Read more 🡒]
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Cubs Facing Some Uncomfortable 2027 Bullpen Decisions Already
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Thielbar has slipped from the kind of reliable late-inning arm the Cubs hoped for, Harveys value was undercut by another injury-hit season in 2026, Thorntons run prevention has not come with the strikeout punch teams want from a bullpen piece, and Austin has not offered much since his surgery. Put together, it leaves Chicago with an uncomfortable but familiar front-office task: deciding which relievers are worth another chance and which ones are better left off the 2027 plan. [Read more 🡒]