The MLB Winter Meetings again are a place where the Chicago Cubs will try to add depth to a team that won 90-plus games for the first time since 2018.

The marketplace is open to the Cubs’ front office in three different areas — free agency, trades with the other 29 clubs and international players — with pitching being Chicago’s top priority.

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Let’s examine each market and what the Cubs might do starting this week in Orlando, Fla.:

Free agents

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer hasn’t complained about having enough payroll flexibility to add players to his team’s already-solid roster. Per league sources, the Cubs will have between $45 million and $50 million in payroll flexibility entering the 2026 season. Right now, the Cubs’ payroll commitment is $190 million.

Dominant pitchers available include 27-year-old Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai, who follows Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a projected power arm from the Pacific Rim. Adding another foreign pitcher after Shota Imanaga’s success seems like a layup for Cubs brass. A side trap is the posting fee can cost 15 percent to 40 percent of the contract being signed. Imai must sign with a major league team by Jan. 2 or be forced to return to Japan next season.

Dylan Cease came off the board last week, when he landed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, and the best of the rest begins with Zac Gallen, Framber Valdez, Michael King and Ranger Suarez.

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Per sources, Gallen and the Cubs have held several serious meetings on a long-term deal. The 30-year-old righty was a durable top-of-the-rotation presence for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and though not the big swing-and-miss pitcher Cease is, Gallen still has averaged six strikeouts per game during his seven-year MLB career, and his Ks-to-walks ratio is 3-to-1 ratio of K’s to walks. Gallen, who has averaged 28 starts the last four seasons, would be No. 1 or 2 in the Cubs’ rotation if signed.

Third baseman Alex Bregman, whom the Cubs made a run at last winter, again is a free agent. Bregman took the Boston Red Sox’s three-year, $120 million offer with two opt-outs over the Cubs’ four-year, $115 million deal last offseason, and league sources say Cubs brass has connected with agent Scott Boras on the viability of his client coming to Chicago. The contract length will matter as much as the $30 million-plus per season that Bregman will seek.

Bregman is a dirty-uniform type who played on two World Series championship teams in Houston. He missed 48 games last season with a leg injury, but he’s completely healed, and brings an All-Star bat and Gold Glove. Known as a team leader and a workaholic, Bregman would add bench strength and versatility to the Cubs’ roster and lineup.

Should Bregman choose the Cubs, incumbent Matt Shaw‘s development would continue as the backup at both third and second base. That would allow Cubs manager Craig Counsell to rest both shortstop Dansby Swanson and second baseman Nico Hoerner on a more regular basis.

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The Cubs also will look for veterans to fill out the backend of their bullpen. Re-visiting deals with Brad Keller and Caleb Thielbar is expected to be a part of the Hoyer-Carter Hawkins due diligence at these meetings. Big arms again will be looked at, however, as the recent Phil Maton signing shows the Cubs’ front office is paying close attention to spin rate and velocity.

Trade market

The Cubs again will kick the tires on pitchers such as Washington’s MacKenzie Gore, Minnesota’s Joe Ryan and Miami’s Edward Cabrera. All three are strikeout pitchers who have service time left before they hit free agency (Gore and Ryan have two years of contract control left; Cabrera has three).

The Cubs have tried to acquire all three pitchers as recently as last summer, but the other teams’ asking price included top prospects Cade Horton, Owen Caissie and Moisés Ballesteros. Horton had a breakout 2025 season and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, while the Cubs appear ready to use Caisse and Kevin Alcántara in an outfield mix with veterans Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ. Ballesteros likely will have plenty of at-bats as a catcher and designated hitter.

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International players

While Imai is the jewel of this year’s foreign player class, Japanese third baseman Munetaka Murakami is a power hitter whom the Cubs could consider if Bregman talks stall.

The sluggling left-handed hitter has 30-plus-homer power, but some clubs are concerned about the 25-year-old’s drop in overall extra-base hits, from a high of 78 in 2022 to just 34 last season. Defense isn’t Murkami’s strength, nor does he possess top-flight speed. Left-handed power hitters must adjust at Wrigley Field and use the gap-to-gap power alleys to succeed.

Kazuma Okamoto, who’s older than Murakami at 29, is a Japanese right-handed power hitter whose homer total dropped from 27 in 2024 to 15 last season, though he missed time with an elbow injury.

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The Cubs’ international scouts have taken a deep dive into all three players. Hoyer also has become an expert in the Japanese leagues, having spent many offseasons getting to know the Far East’s baseball culture.

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