The Chicago Cubs are heading into the offseason with a clear message from Jed Hoyer: the pitching staff needs real work.
Hoyer said as much at his season-ending press conference, and the shape of the roster makes the assignment obvious. Most of the starting rotation is expected to look different next season, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
Will Justin Steele and Cade Horton come back and make an immediate impact? Will the Cubs bring back Shota Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, and Clay Holmes?
What can they expect from Edward Cabrera?
Even if those answers break the Cubs’ way, they still may not have the one thing every contender wants at the top of the rotation. Horton has the chance to grow into that role, but the expectation is that he’ll ease back toward the high level he showed before the injury rather than instantly become a finished product. That is why Tarik Skubal has to be part of the conversation.
Skubal was rumored to be available at the deadline, and he was dealt to the Dodgers. He’s been described as arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and he would instantly change the ceiling of this team.
The Cubs have plenty of cap space, which makes the idea at least plausible if they’re willing to enter a serious bidding war. A year after the Cubs signed Alex Bregman and saw that move pay off, landing Skubal would push them into immediate World Series contention.
A rotation built around Skubal and Horton, with Steele, Gausman, and Holmes behind them, is the kind of scenario Cubs fans can dream on.
The other glaring issue was the bullpen, where the Cubs never found much stability. Hoyer took his usual approach, throwing a lot of darts at the board, but the results were uneven at best. Holby Milner, Phil Maton, Jacob Webb, Hunter Harvey, Shelby Miller, and others either spent most of the season on the injured list or couldn’t deliver when it counted.
Hoyer acknowledged that the bullpen problems were on him, but the bigger question is whether he’ll actually take a different path this winter. If the Cubs want the relief corps to be a strength, they need more than reclamation projects and short-term bets.
Names like Raisel Iglesias of the Atlanta Braves, Pete Fairbanks of the Miami Marlins, and A.J. Minter of the Minnesota Twins fit the type of impact addition the Cubs should be chasing.
Catching also deserves attention, and the Cubs may need to decide whether to keep Carson Kelly in the fold. Kelly has a mutual option, but it’s unclear whether the team will pay what it takes to retain him. The position works best when a club has multiple trustworthy options, and the 2016 Cubs are the model here: Miguel Montero as the veteran left-handed bat, Willson Contreras as the rising talent, and David Ross as the steady leader.
That kind of balance is what Chicago should try to recreate. Re-signing Kelly and bringing up top prospect Owen Ayers would give the Cubs a group that includes Kelly, Ayers, and Amaya, and that would add the depth they need. If Kelly doesn’t return, the Cubs could look elsewhere for an upgrade, with Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson and Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers mentioned as possibilities.
In Other News...
Brewers Hold On After Wild Ninth Inning Call Sparks Padres Fury
A bizarre ninth-inning moment at American Family Field became the defining flashpoint of Game 1 of the National League Division Series, when Ty France sent a fly ball high enough to strike a cable on the roof before Jackson Chourio made the catch for the Brewers. The umpires ruled it an out under the ballparks ground rules, deciding the ball had hit over fair territory, and the call immediately turned a tense postseason game into the kind of replay-worthy controversy that tends to linger long after the final pitch.
For Milwaukee, the ruling helped preserve a hard-fought win, but it also left the Padres simmering over how the final inning unfolded. Craig Stammen and Pat Murphy both addressed the play afterward, along with players involved, as the odd sequence became less about the mechanics of a ruling and more about the pressure-cooker reality of October baseball, where a single strange bounce can reshape a whole series opener. [Read more 🡒]
Jacob Misiorowski's Wild NLDS Start Left Brewers Fans With One Concern
Jacob Misiorowskis NLDS debut gave Brewers fans exactly the kind of electricity they have come to expect from the rookie right-hander, and then some. In Game 1 against the Padres, he reached a new velocity peak with a 104.8 mph pitch and kept the fastball coming, piling up 52 pitches at 100 mph or harder while working four innings and striking out six.
For Milwaukee, the appeal is obvious. Misiorowskis stuff can change a series in a hurry, and he left the opener having allowed two runs on four hits and a walk before the Brewers turned to the bullpen with the game still hanging in the balance. The only real question now is how that kind of effort shapes what comes next, because outings like that can be a weapon and a warning at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Willson Contreras Just Changed An Early Brewers Playoff Storyline
The Brewers opened their NL Division Series with a tight 3-2 win over the Padres, and the biggest swing came from a familiar face who had been at the center of a late-season flashpoint. Willson Contreras delivered the go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning after Jackson Chourio had already dragged Milwaukee back into the game with a tying two-run shot earlier, giving the Brewers the kind of timely power they have been chasing as October pressure ramps up.
Contreras performance carries extra weight because manager Pat Murphy benched him late in the regular season over a lack of hustle, a decision that had left his role under the microscope going into the postseason. Instead of letting that become the headline, Contreras answered in the first game that mattered most, giving Milwaukee an early playoff storyline built around response, not resentment, even if the full impact of that turnaround is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]