The Cubs are making a clear push to fortify their rotation, and their latest move brings in a veteran with October mileage.
Chicago has agreed to acquire Kevin Gausman from the Toronto Blue Jays, according to team and league sources. Toronto will get two prospects in the deal: outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene.
Gausman, 35, hasn’t put together his sharpest season, but the Cubs are betting on the broader track record. Since he joined the Blue Jays in 2022, only Dylan Cease and Zack Wheeler have struck out more batters. Before 2026, he had posted an ERA under 3.90 in five straight seasons and made at least 31 starts in each of those years.
The appeal is pretty easy to see. Gausman works with a fastball-splitter mix, adds a slider at times, and has long combined swing-and-miss stuff with a willingness to attack the zone. That profile carried over in Toronto’s 2025 postseason run, when he logged a 2.93 ERA across six appearances and got the ball in some of the biggest games of the Blue Jays’ October.
This season, though, the numbers have been more ordinary. Gausman has a 4.38 ERA for a Toronto team that has fallen short of expectations after entering the year with plenty of optimism. Still, the Cubs are looking beyond the surface.
They believe the underlying indicators point to a pitcher who is closer to his recent form than the ERA suggests. Gausman is not the same arm that posted a 29.8 percent strikeout rate from 2020 to 2023, and that reality helped keep the price at Bateman and Southisene rather than a heavier prospect haul. Chicago has the position-player depth to make that kind of deal, and it used it to land a starter it views as a useful addition for a playoff chase.
The Cubs also see continuity in what Gausman has done over the last two seasons. In 2024 and 2025 combined, he threw 371 innings with a 3.71 ERA, a 22.9 percent strikeout rate and a 6.9 percent walk rate. This year, he’s sitting at a 23.5 percent strikeout rate and a 6.7 percent walk rate while sticking with the same three-pitch mix - four-seam fastball, gyro slider and splitter - that has defined him.
There’s also confidence that the stuff is still there. His velocity hasn’t fallen off much, and the batted-ball data doesn’t raise alarms. He also handled the postseason stage well last October, something the Cubs value as they try to deepen a staff that has already started to trend in the right direction.
Chicago’s rotation has a 4.25 ERA on the season, but the recent stretch has been stronger. Since June 1, the Cubs rank fifth in baseball with a 3.71 ERA, and since July 1, their 3.38 mark is second.
Their current group includes Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Javier Assad and Colin Rea, and once Gausman arrives, Rea or Assad is expected to shift to the bullpen. Edward Cabrera, who is set for his second rehab start this week, should be back by mid-August.
Even with Gausman on the way, Chicago doesn’t sound finished. The Cubs were hoping to come out of the deadline window with multiple arms, and they still view another starter as a priority. A pitcher under control beyond 2026 would be the ideal outcome, but the work, according to the sources, is not done yet.
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