As one of the most popular teams in the sport and playing in one of the game’s biggest markets, the Chicago Cubs will always be included in plenty of rumors throughout MLB’s offseason.

Whether it’s related to free agents or potential trade targets, it’s common to see the Cubs as a team mentioned as a possible suitor.

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Jed Hoyer said his front office will be focused on adding pitching this winter.

“The largest focus will be on pitching,” Hoyer told media Tuesday from the GM Meetings in Las Vegas. “I think that’s obvious — look at our depth chart. We’re in pretty good position on the position player side. On the pitching side, we’re thinner.”

That makes sense.

The bullpen lost four of its top arms this offseason — three to free agency (Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar) and one in a trade (Andrew Kittredge). And the starting rotation may be without Shota Imanaga next year (he can still accept the qualifying offer before next week), but could use an upgrade either way.

However, there is one name floated around as a potential trade target for the Cubs — and it’s a position player.

“There’s a lot of opportunities out there,” Marquee Sports Network contributor Bruce Levine said on “Cubs 360” Tuesday. “There are a lot of teams that like the minor-league system of the Chicago Cubs. One of them is the Los Angeles Angels, who might be dangling Jo Adell, who is a right fielder. He was considered their top prospect for a long time. He came through last year with the power numbers. He’s still a really young guy.

“The Angels are interested in young pitchers. Some of the Cubs’ younger pitchers — the guys like [Ben] Brown, the guys like [Jordan] Wicks — people like that would be of interest to the Los Angeles Angels.”

That is certainly curious on multiple levels.

For starters, it might be hard to see the Cubs getting rid of young pitching. That is not an area where they have a surplus in the organization at the moment.

[Cubs 2026 roster projection: Where things stand as offseason kicks off]

Brown and Wicks are both 26 and have multiple years left of team control. And if the Cubs’ top priority this winter is pitching, why would they trade young, controllable pitching on affordable deals?

Both Brown and Wicks have had their struggles — including in 2025 — but they have also flashed their potential and could serve as rotation depth and bullpen options next season.

With regards to Adell, he’s a good player, but he plays outfield. That’s one area where the Cubs are pretty well set right now.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is under team control for multiple seasons and veterans Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are signed through 2026. The Cubs also have top outfield prospects Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcántara knocking at the door of the big-league roster.

Where would Adell fit in on that group unless the Cubs traded away one — or multiple — of those other options? (And clearly Crow-Armstrong isn’t a candidate to be dealt.)

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Adell is an intriguing player, no question. He won’t turn 27 until April and was a consensus Top-10 prospect in baseball multiple times in his minor-league career. But that was also more than a half-decade ago — the slugger spent five years bouncing between the majors and minors and in and out of the Angels’ starting lineup before enjoying a breakout 2025 campaign.

He mashed 37 homers and drove in 98 runs with a .778 OPS but posted only a .236 batting average and .293 on-base percentage. And despite the strong power year at the plate, he notched just 1.2 WAR in 152 games.

Adell will be a free agent after the 2027 season, so he doesn’t represent much more of a long-term solution in the outfield than Happ or Suzuki.

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