The Chicago Cubs’ priority this offseason is starting pitching, but The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma writes that it is unlikely that the Cubs will enter a bidding war for two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Cubs were aggressive in adding third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal last offseason, but they have shied away from the very top of the free-agent market in recent offseasons. Chicago has “shown no interest” in spending like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, and it will not be an exception this winter, when labor negotiations will muddy the waters for teams and their finances. The Cubs will, however, check in on other pitches, as they have just one pitcher with legitimate starting experience on their roster who is set to enter 2027 healthy. The goal for the Cubs is likely to bring in three starting pitchers. After their starters allowed the third-most home runs (142) in 2026, the Cubs will target pitchers with high ground-ball rates and/or a high strikeout rate. This means they will most likely attempt to bring back right-hander Clay Holmes, who led baseball with a 60.7% ground-ball rate. Two other potential free-agent fits could be Freddy Peralta and Michael King. For Skubal, it is going to take a large sum of money to secure his services long-term, and the Dodgers and Mets will be the front-runners.–Keith Hernandez
Source: The Athletic – Sahadev Sharma
