Top 5 Cubs Who Won’t Be Back In 2026

Top 5 Cubs Who Won’t Be Back In 2026

[Music] Welcome into North Side Territory presented by Fox One File Territory Network’s Cubs podcast. I’m Sahade Chararma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick, it is officially the off season. Uh well, the World Series is about to start, so off season for everyone but two teams. So, uh we have our World Series matchup. uh Dodgers and Blue Jays. Uh you know, not the two- one seeds. I my my son corrected me. I said, “It’s the two- one seeds.” Because I just assumed the Dodgers were the one seed, completely forgetting that they were not. And uh and they’re not, but they’re playing like the one seed. So, uh yeah. Yeah. Should be a a hopefully it’s an entertaining matchup and not a complete Dodgers beatdown, but I have a bad feeling that it may be a Dodgers beatdown. But, uh, let’s let’s get to the Cubs talk and and we’re going to touch on some Cubs who won’t be back or probably won’t be back. I think we’re going to just stake it out and say these these are Cubs that we don’t expect coming back uh, in 2026. Uh, and we’re going to start with the one that we’ve been saying we didn’t expect. You know, it was a long shot for him coming back from the moment they traded for him. Uh Kyle Tucker, I don’t think he’s getting the, you know, Vlad Guerrero Jr. deal. I don’t think he’s uh maybe not 400 million, but there are teams that are going to be coming after him. And it just doesn’t look like the Cubs, our feeling has been all along that, you know, long shot here for the Cubs to bring him back. And and I don’t think that’s changed much over the past six, seven months. Yeah, it did not take long for potential suitors to emerge. I think the latest one that caught uh people’s attention was in the New York Post and the idea that the Dodgers could be in play for Tucker and you know beyond the obvious their money and they seem to get every good player anyways is uh you know uh a relative hole in their outfield that they’d have uh a spot to incorporate him. They’re always kicking the tires on the top free agents, whether it’s, you know, Juan Stoodto. Uh, it’s how they get Freddy Freeman. Um, they’re just in that deal flow. And like, if the Dodgers want you to play for their budding dynasty, that probably means there are other teams that are going to have interest in you. And look, I don’t I don’t know if Kyle Tucker’s an LA guy or not. Uh I don’t know how if the Dodgers will follow through with this to the extent that they actually land the player, but we’ve been over some of these other teams before. Uh it it just feels like in the moment when he’s getting booed and benched at Wrigley Field and when his playoff performance is a little eh and the injuries pile up, you start to question, wait, what is the market really going to be like for him? And and I’m with you. I don’t think it’s going to get to 400 million, but I think it’s going to get to a place that makes the Cubs very uncomfortable. And like you said, from the moment they traded for him, we thought he’d be playing somewhere else in 2026. And I think a lot of different factors has only reinforced have only reinforced that belief. Yeah. I mean, Dodgers sound like they’ll be in it. Uh I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees are in it. Mets are probably more focused on spending on pitching would be my guess. Uh, and then Red Sox are another big team, big spending team that could be in on him. And, you know, does Tampa Bay with new ownership, his hometown, uh, try and make a splash? Uh, it’ll be interesting to see the teams that are involved. And I think what I’m most curious about with regards to the Cubs is so the Cubs, is this purely going to be one of those situations that we’ve seen over the years where if he lingers on the market, the Cubs are interested? Uh are the Cubs even going to be in it from, you know, early on? Are they going to be engaged or is this a like, hey, let’s keep tabs on things, but we’re not making aggressive offers? Uh, I think that’s where I kind of assume it’ll go, but sometimes the Cubs, I mean, I think we were a little uh little bit surprised that they were trying to be aggressive with Showi Otani. Um, obviously that’s show Otani and that’s the, you know, someone who’s starting to look like the greatest of all time to play the game. But, uh, you know, they they haven’t really been in on those top uh, whether it’s pitchers or position players, Juan Stoodto, uh, when Yamamoto, they weren’t even in the, you know, they weren’t even making legitimate offers for Yamamoto. uh you know they were never in on Corbin Burns or Max Freed. Uh obviously some of these guys don’t work out but it’s just like where are the Cubs? Are are they going to be willing to spend on on top tier free agents are feel like what I’ve come away from the past few offseasons is the feeling that no they they don’t they they look for things to fall through the tra uh cracks when it comes to the top. Look, they look for players to fall through the cracks when it comes to the top of the market. And then maybe they’ll sign Cody Bellinger if he doesn’t get what he’s looking for. Maybe they’ll be in on Alex Bregman if he’s not getting what he’s looking for. Uh those types of uh those types of deals. And and I’m talking about the past, not even this winter. I I But you know, I I wouldn’t I wouldn’t put them at the top for those guys. They should be interested in anyone and they need a bat. Obviously, they’re losing Kyle Tucker if if if our assumption is correct. Uh so, you know, it’ll be interesting to see if they if they are doing that. And I think that’s probably the most frustrating things for fans. I think there’s going to be fans that are fine with Kyle Tucker walking. I think the way his season ended, the final few months were very frustrating for fans, both the production and the injuries. Uh, but the lack of the Cubs being like shopping at the top of the market, I think, is is justified. Those frustrations are justified, but this is the way it seems like the Cubs are going about business. Like Matthew Boyd, great signing, but that’s just, you know, that’s that’s a mid-market deal. That’s not that’s that’s being aggressive in one sense where it’s going and getting, you know, targeting a player and going and getting them, but it’s not it’s not shopping at the top of the market. And and it just seems so uh it’s like the antithesis of what these teams should be, the Chicago, the LA, the New York teams should be. And the Cubs are the kind of one of the few that aren’t really playing with the big boys when they should be. Uh so it like the Kyle Tucker stuff, it’s it’s should be coming to an end in the next couple months, but uh kind of the story of the Chicago Cubs and and I and I think it’s also, you know, they they took their one shot at that big trade, the guy with the one year. I’m not sure when we’ll see that again. Yeah, that seemed like their sort of reckless in their minds an outof character move. I I don’t see them like doubling down on that amount of risk after seeing everything that unfold this year. I mean, look, we’ll see what we hear at the GM meetings and how things emerge. I think they’re on the one hand this labor deal that’s about to expire after 2026 and the possibility of a long lockout. I do think that could uh tamp down uh some of the spending or some of the the wild um you know overzealous uh investments that we’ve seen in the past. But at the same time too, like certain teams kind of emerge or an owner could just wake up one day and want something done or a player like Corbin Burns to your point of wanting to be in Arizona um and have that security and ability to do spring training near his home. Like like stuff like that happens like there there’s always a couple deals that just kind of come out of nowhere we didn’t see coming. And that I think plays to Kyle Tucker’s advantage that he has a really long track record of being a great hitter. He’s at the the right kind of age for this. And you know, the type of deals that the Cubs are comfortable with are going to be sound appealing to a lot more teams than just the Cubs. Yeah. Uh before we hit a break and talk about uh other other things that the Cubs typically do when it comes to letting players go, uh it this off season it I’ve been thinking about this and and it kind of reminds me of the offseason after 2020 in the sense that teams may be reluctant to spend and spend big, but there’s going to be one or two teams like the Padres’s were that off season that that are like this is our opportunity. Nobody’s spending big. we’re going to be the aggressors and and go and get these players. Uh so yeah, I completely agree that I I think there’s some unpredictability due to the CBA uh almost being done and this is a big one. This is one that it sounds like there’s going to be a big battle and and there’s a lot of talk about a cap and all these things and and fighting for a cap. So we don’t know what spending will be like post 2026. Uh I just feel like there’s going to be one or two teams that try and take advantage of that. And the Cubs just haven’t been that team. They they they won’t be that team. Not in that fashion. No. Uh so uh let’s let’s take a break and talk about uh some other players that we don’t expect to be back. October baseball is here. The pressure’s on. The lights are brighter. And with DraftKing Sportsbook, you’re right there in the middle of every moonshot moment. DraftKing Sportsbook delivers the intensity of October with player props, live in-game betting, and odds that can change as fast as a ball flying over the fence. New customers, bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get paid out. $300 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code file. That’s code file to turn five bucks into $300 in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem? Call 1800 gambler. In New York, call 8778 or text hope 467369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. Pass through of per wager tax may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in 7 days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkg.co/audio. Limited time offer. Welcome back to North Side Territory presented by Fox One. Patrick, when we talk about the way the Cubs behave and what’s typical for the Cubs, uh, one kind of obvious area where we can expect some players to not return is the bullpen. And, and look, this bullpen was really good. They they really figured things out. Uh, and and it didn’t take that long for for Craig Council to find his guys. uh there, you know, the numbers of the bullpen I don’t think represent how good the key contributors were. Uh I think some openers leading to other guys coming in and and being relievers at times skews some numbers for the bullpen. Uh but there were five really good relievers. Uh this was a group that started with Ryan Presley as a closer and and he was uh DFA middle of the season and and they still had this core of five. Daniel Palencia, uh Brad Keller, Caleb Theelbar, Drew Pomerance, and eventually Andrew Kitridge who was acquired at the deadline. Uh one of those guys is guaranteed to be back unless he’s part of some trade or something like that and that’s Daniel Palencia. And then those other four, I like I’m not sure if any of them are coming back. Uh I would be surprised if any of them coming back. I think the only one that you have a chance uh is is Keller and then the rest of them it would be like late off season deals because they don’t get the deal they’re looking for from others. That that’s kind of how I look at it. Well, yeah. I I was going to ask you of those four and if you’re saying all four out we got our you know five Cubs that you know like the kind of prominent ones and I’m with you. I thought maybe there’s a chance one or two come back like under that circumstance of hey it’s almost a Super Bowl like do you have a job yet? Yeah. Yeah. Um, but otherwise I think Kitridge is sort of an easy decline for them that it’s a 9 million option. I believe a $1 million buyout. Yeah, that’s just a lot I think in their minds to commit in terms of not just the money but also like the roster spot, the opportunity cost. like it just seems like he was very good for them. He did, you know, what they hoped for when they acquired him. It just seems like very much out of their character uh to to lock themselves in that early. Uh like basically, you know, before or around the GM meetings to say like, “Oh yeah, he’s one of our guys.” I think they would look at that roughly $8 million and say, “Well, what if we’re able to sign, I don’t know, six guys to minor league deals.” Yeah. And maybe two of those guys pop. Like, I just This is how they how they look at kind of the volume game and the bullpen. I think Brad Keller had such a good experience and the Cubs were so on top of his evolution as a pitcher that I think they have to stay in touch and that the Cubs might be willing to overextend themselves a little bit and Keller might be willing to be a little more open-minded to hear what they have to say. But I still think he was so good last year and you were writing about Keller from the start of spring training like he was opening eyes in the Cactus League before he had a great regular season and an eyeopening postseason as well that like teams were already on him at that point. That was just like seeing his stuff and his numbers in meaningless uh exhibition games in Arizona. So if when you stack on a legit impactful major league season on top of that, it just seems like I don’t know the Dodgers go sign him like just something like along those lines. Um and then the Pomeran’s again you very you know they’re not old in real life but in baseball terms they’re pretty old and they were looked like their career had stalled out at different points uh before this. So maybe there’s a way, but I’m with you. I think kind of new blood, new opportunity is how they’re going to look at. I think the Cubs are probably excited that they have like all these spots left. Almost have to entirely rebuild a bullpen over the course of an off season. Yeah, I I think it’s it’s incredibly risky and and you when you do this and and you’re constantly turning over a bullpen, you just you’re leaving so much up to chance because uh bullpen arms you can you can nail the picks and then those guys get injured or they just have an off season where with a ton of bad luck and and things and they end up with a five RA instead of a two RA because a couple a few blow up outings. Um you just don’t know how these guys are going to look. Jeff Hoffman and Luke Weaver are guys that kind of remind me of Brad Keller in a sense and and they they had they were they’re good relievers, but their eras weren’t, you know, as dominant as they were last year or 2024 compared to 25. Uh I, you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brad Keller ends up with one of those aggressive spending teams that are kind of mid to lower tier. Uh maybe that’s not fair. Like what in my head I’m thinking like Texas or uh that that’s not fair for Texas to call them mid or lower tier. They recently won a World Series, but like the Angels uh they love to spend and then they just don’t do anything in the regular season as far as production and and I I could see him wanting to kind of come back to the Cubs just talking to him and know like yeah, listening to what he’s had to say over the course of season. uh he’s not with some tiny agency that pushes uh pushes their or that kind of lets their players kind of dictate those things as much and and that’s you know these bigger agencies are going to say look you got to take the most money like if it’s if it’s like barely a difference then maybe maybe we’re you know you can talk about it but like there’s my guess is those types of teams are going to offer a bigger deal. I mean maybe the Phillies the Phillies kind of make sense as a aggressive team that need bullpen help. Uh the I’m just kind of throwing out that like that kind that’s kind of where my mind goes with Brad Keller. Uh if the Cubs somehow and Keller decide like hey let’s try you as a starter and and kind of do the Klay Holmes idea. Uh I guess it would be different than Klay Holmes because Brad Keller was recently very recently a starter. Uh and I know he he’s he’s wondered it. he’s wondered, you know, could I could I be a starter again? Uh I I think that would be an interesting thing to discuss. Uh it’s just the price. Like eventually I think we’re going to get to a price that doesn’t make sense. Uh as far as the Cubs think, uh the lefties would be my concern. It’s so hard to get good lefties. They had two really good ones that they kind of uh you know, just found randomly. Especially Pomeran’s Theelbar wasn’t random, but I mean, nobody was clamoring to pick up Caleb Theelbar. It’s just hard to do this over and over again. And I agree with your point is like they they look at it as like this could be a good thing almost. And I agree. Like I think in some instances they kind of look at that like look we can go get 10 guys in the off seasonason have them compete and look at their stuff over the spring training be like and then like there are teams like the Dodgers that couldn’t have had Brad Keller make their team because they signed too many guys contracts and they have spots. Uh the Cubs almost like that flexibility. Uh it and it’s you know it it doesn’t guarantee them anything by them resigning those guys too. Like I I don’t want to say like this is the bad path. You can’t like it it that gives you no certainty either. It’s not like just because those guys did it last year. I would like half of these guys are going to struggle if not all four of them, you know, in 2026. It’s just how relievers are. So I am not against this idea. It’s just so hard to do it over and over again. And it’s just like always the concern about a bullpen for me is I just don’t know what it’s going to be year to year, sometimes monthtomonth. Uh so it’s it’s a risk. I I it’s it’s unsettling to always have to, you know, wonder what a bullpen is going to be and it’s pointless for us to try and predict it. Uh where we’re kind of making guesses. Uh you know, am I glad that I was right about Brad Keller? Sure. Like that that feels good. It was luck. like uh people told me that he looked good and and it turned out that he stayed healthy and and did all that stuff and and was really good. It’s it’s a random guessing game half the time. Um you know, I for them it’s a little bit more of a science. I would hope they’re not guessing as much. Uh and they have the right hopefully the right pieces in place as far as talent evaluators and and whatever their model is is picking up and and all those things. So, we’ll we’ll see what what direction the the bullpen goes, but I think that’s a big area where it’s just we’re going to see a ton of turnover and we’re going to have a lot of questions and and and wonder like how how good can that area be next year and is it going to hold him back? Uh let’s talk about some, you know, players that we’re just unsure about or or you know, that would be surprises in our eyes if they’re not back. Uh and take a quick break. For all you parents out there like me with teenagers trying to already keep a million things under control, Cash App is here to help us make sure your teens money and their spending isn’t adding up to craziness. With the Cash App card available to teens 13 to 17 with sponsorship by an eligible parent or guardian, every transaction triggers a real-time notification for you to see, empowering your teen to practice independence while giving you peace of mind by keeping track of their spending. 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Patrick, I feel like uh there are names that, you know, we’ve heard bandied about about maybe being traded. Uh, and when I say heard, I I mean like just like people throwing their names out there, whether it’s, you know, on social media or hearing it on sports radio or or just casual conversations, uh, not within like not not our sourced conversations as much. Uh, one name that, you know, I think we always hear wondered, could the Cubs trade him, open up a spot for Owen Casey or or Kevin Alcantra? is is Ian Hap. Uh look, Ian Hap has one more year left on his deal. He has a no trade clause. Ian Hap loves Chicago. He has said this multiple times to both both of us and other members of the media how veterans that come to Chicago used to tell him when he was younger and first came up, the grass isn’t always greener. You know, this is a great place to play. The fans love you. they treat you well in this organization. Um, you know, it generally there’s a decent amount of winning. Um, and like it’s just it’s where he wants to be and and his wife is from Chicago. He wants to start he wants to be here. This is where he wants to be. If anything, he’s going to be looking to get years added on to that one year. I don’t think there’s a scenario where if the Cubs approach him, he’s going to accept uh a trade. Like it would have to be a really bad situation where they’re essentially, you know, like they’re souring a relationship. And I just don’t envision them doing that. And I can’t I just don’t see a scenario where he would agree to any of that. No, it’s funny. I was just going over some of the audio from Milwaukee after that game five loss and you know it was Hap talking about when he first broke in with the Cubs and his quote here I fell in love with this city and this fan base and being a Cub because my first year we went all the way to the NLCS. I saw that atmosphere. I saw what those guys got to see in those playoff games at Wrigley. I knew how special it was and I had veteran guys that told me how special it was. They said, “Hey, the grass isn’t always greener. This is a pretty special place.” He continues, “This is Hap. It never ceases to amaze me when veteran players who’ve been all over the place come here and have a full season here or parts of a season here.” At the end of a season, they’re saying, “Hey, this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball or this is the most special place I’ve ever played baseball.” Like, so keep that in the back of your mind the next time you hear an Ian Hap trade rumor or an Ian Hap fantasy baseball trade scenario. Like, I don’t know. I guess never say never. Weird stuff happens in the offseason, but there’s absolutely no inkling to where this makes sense to where he would wave it. And also like if you’re the Cubs, having a solid, reliable player on a reasonable salary on a one-year deal is not the end of the world. like you this is kind of like how this team is built in terms of uh flexibility, dependability, and yeah, I wouldn’t waste too much time uh thinking about Ian App trade scenarios when he’s almost certainly your opening day left fielder in 2026. I here’s a player that I am not as a like convinced is coming back, but I I think I’m leaning coming back. uh just because pitching depth is so important. Starting pitching depth is so important, but it like that I and I and I think we’ve discussed this already and and and you kind of pointed out how like we shouldn’t let the last month month plus kind of color our opinion too much and I think I am I’m letting it color my opinion way too much. But Shod Managa just I I and it’s it really has to do with this front office the way they uh look at salaries and the the way like it’s a model oriented group. What does the model say about Sha’s three uh three-year option? Um and if he doesn’t get that picked up uh he’s not, you know, he’s not coming back for that what is it? $15 million. He could opt in for 15 15 plus. Uh I that’s the only thing that I hesitate with like the pitching depth, all that stuff. His his track record of you know basically a year and four months of of great pitching. I know he was injured in there a little bit but it was basically the final month and a half and then what uh he made two he had two outings in the postseason and one was dreadful. Uh, so yeah, it like I I think I’m letting recency bias impact me here too much is essentially what I’m saying, but I just don’t know. Like I don’t feel strongly about him definitely coming back. Uh, but I’m not convinced that they they’d let him go. Well, you you feel that way because you know how they think that they’re going to be very skeptical and wary of a three-year commitment to a pitcher in his early to mid 30s. And I still think there’s a scenario in which he comes back because of the qualifying offer. Like without the qualifying offer, I would probably lean heavily towards he’s gone. Again, that’s not necessarily what I would recommend if I was a special assistant in the room because I’m with you. I think pitching good pitching is hard to find and very difficult to maintain. And it seems like both sides have invested a lot in this. And it’s just hard for me to totally ignore all the great things they said about Shota for like almost two years. Yeah. But knowing how they operate, they’re going to be very skeptical uh of that type of long-term commitment at this stage. So, if they decline a three-year option, um he will almost certainly decline his player option, which given the complicated nature of this is essentially two years and 30 and a half million because he would have two player options stagger. So, that would be the baseline guarantee. I think in that scenario, he would uh seriously consider the qualifying offer uh worth one year slightly north of $22 million and then that way he could go out and try to have another Sai Young Ward caliber season. But I just think, you know, the Cubs can’t take show for granted of like, oh well, he’s had a good experience here. Like we can sort of do whatever we want. like he’s going to have leverage and I think teams that didn’t maybe make it to October uh will look at that and be like this is kind of an interesting attractive player and honestly if he wasn’t on the Cubs the Cubs would be looking at that of like wow maybe we could get a discount here maybe he’s on the rebound so uh that’s g it that will be resolved I’d imagine relatively early in the offseason but it is a very important piece on the front end of this off seasonason that I think will illuminate made a lot. Yeah, it I mean it’ll tell us a lot as far as you know what if they h how much money they have available. I guess we won’t it’s not super clear what what their budget will be this this winter, but we’ll start to get a better idea as we uh get closer to the GM meetings and into and and get to the GM meetings. Uh there there are some obvious names that won’t be coming back, I think, that we didn’t really touch on. Justin Turner, probably seen the last of him with the Cubs. Uh Willie Castro, uh Taylor Rogers, uh Michael Sarroa. Yeah, Michael Soka. Uh you know, a lot of those trade deadline deals or or smaller deals or veteran additions. Uh you know, they they didn’t tear the cover off the ball or or deliver on the mound as as hoped. But, uh, I think Justin Turner’s value, we maybe we’ll end up talking about that in the long run because I think players will still mention him years down the line, guys like Pete or Armstrong. Uh, but yeah, those are some obvious ones. Uh, you know, is there a surprise trade coming? Uh, do they start acting um like the Brewers or the Guardians or the Rays and start getting rid of five plus guys? Uh, everybody’s already Nico you I mean look it like I’d be shocked by that one like and and frankly like we we talked about that last offseason and it and it I can’t believe like we even thought it was like now I look back and I’m just like what you would trade Nicoer like I hey I I can’t put anything past him because if that’s the way they need to behave do they start doing stuff like this uh say Suzuki has a no trade uh but I think he’d be more willing to wave leave it if if push comes to shove then than then Ian Hap I doubt they like that’s such a step back on offense like you’re it’s just a like you know you just have a lot of questions but if this is the direction they want to go do they start doing the you know the Brewers are already t like it’s already rumors about Freddy Peraltto right is this the direction they go do they kind of lean into that type of stuff we haven’t really seen it from them but are these the type of unpopular decisions that they they decide to make uh to try and make sure that uh hey, we’re not spending 260 million, but this is how you build a sustainable organization. I don’t love that. You know, I don’t think I think fans would hate it. Uh obviously, but uh I just can’t rule it out because I don’t know what direction they’re going yet. We’ll we’ll have more information soon. You know, we’re we’re we’ll be heading to Vegas in gez, what is it, two weeks? Uh three weeks. So, we’ll be out there soon enough. uh we’ll get more information as that approaches uh and have a better idea. But that’s just th those are some, you know, ideas to throw around uh to to kind of consider as the off season approaches and and free agency starts up. Oh man, it’s it’s starting all over again. Uh the hot stove will eventually be upon us. It’s a good time. Uh thanks so much for listening. This is North Side Territory presented by Fox One Foul Territory Network’s Cubs podcast. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic, where Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for listening everyone. Take care. 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After winning a playoff round and then losing to a small-market rival, the Cubs are trying to build a team for the next level, which would mean finishing ahead of the Brewers in the division and seriously competing for a World Series trophy. Changes to the roster are inevitable. The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney give you their best guesses on who won’t be back, and how the front office is looking at this offseason opportunity.

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