The Chicago Cubs in 2025 made the playoffs for the first time in a while and advanced a round, but coming in second place in the NL Central to the Milwaukee Brewers and then losing the NLDS to that same Brewers team should be filed under “not good enough.” In light of that, this is a big offseason for club president Jed Hoyer.
On Wednesday, the Cubs finally struck a big blow, landing potential frontline starter Edward Cabrera from the Marlins.
That’s a good move. It could even be a big move. Is it good enough? Let’s examine where things stand with the North Siders.
Edward Cabrera trade: Cubs acquire Marlins frontline starter for top outfield prospect
Dayn Perry
The rotation
This should be set.
There are three potential frontline starters in Cabrera, Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton. Cabrera has ace-caliber stuff at times and finally made a career-high 26 starts last season in 137 ⅔ innings, striking out 150. Boyd ran out of gas late last season — his first full season since returning from Tommy John surgery — but had a 2.34 ERA through his first 22 starts. Horton was 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 118 innings as a rookie.
This isn’t a stable of 200-inning guys, at least not yet, so the Cubs need depth. They’ve got it. Shota Imanaga returns and he’s flashed frontline upside at times. Veteran righty Jameson Taillon is back as well. Colin Rea can serve as a swingman but made 27 starts last season and is a fine sixth starter.
Past those six, there’s Justin Steele, who will return from Tommy John surgery at some point. Remember, he had a 3.10 ERA in 78 starts from 2022-24. Javier Assad is also a swingman type like Rea. That’s eight options for starting pitchers down the stretch and, if everything breaks right, four frontline starters for a playoff rotation in Horton, Cabrera, Steele and Boyd with Imanaga as a fallback.
My expectation is the Cubs are done looking for starting pitching now after the Cabrera acquisition. This is a good stable with the upside being one of the most productive rotations in baseball.
What’s next?
The Cubs had a robust offense in the first three months last season before it sputtered down the stretch. What made the Cubs great in the first half was the emergence of Pete Crow-Armstrong as a big-time power hitter, Kyle Tucker doing Kyle Tucker things and Seiya Suzuki posting the best several months of his life. In the second half, PCA struggled, Tucker dealt with injuries and the worst slump of his career and the streaky Suzuki reverted to the bad part of the streakiness.
As the 2026 roster stands today, the Cubs have a good number of quality hitters — to varying degrees — who aren’t superstar-caliber bats like Michael Busch, Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner along with supporting cast types like Carson Kelly/Miguel Amaya (the catchers) and Matt Shaw. The front office is relying on Shaw taking a big leap forward, Moisés Ballesteros becoming a monster DH and Suzuki and PCA hitting all year like they did in the first half.
Still, there are plenty of questions in there from a team looking to win the division and make a deep playoff run.
Another middle-of-the-order bat would sure make things look more promising. The Cubs have been attached in rumors to free agent infielders Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman. Tucker remains a free agent, as does former Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger.
How might things fit?
The infield
Busch is firmly entrenched at first, as is Swanson at short. Hoerner, at second, was one of the best “glue guys” in baseball last year, but trade rumors are circulating because he’s only signed through 2026. Shaw was good in the second half and could come back at third.
This is to say that the Cubs aren’t desperately in need of filling an infield hole. Grabbing someone from outside the organization would be an effort to upgrade the team. The weak link there right now is clearly Shaw and that’s where Bregman comes in. Shaw could then be traded or become a utility backup (he could play third to rest Bregman, play second to rest Hoerner or Swanson — with Hoerner playing shortstop when Swanson sits, etc.).
Bichette’s fit is slightly trickier. He played second base for the Blue Jays at the end of the season; would he do the same for the Cubs, leaving Shaw at third (and Hoerner either on the bench or traded)? What about third base to replace Shaw?
Regardless, either Bregman or Bichette would be a big get for the offense, especially if they did so while holding onto Hoerner.
The outfield
For ease, we’ll include the DH role here too. Remember, last season with Tucker in the fold, the Cubs set up with Happ in left field, PCA in center and Tucker in right while Suzuki was the primary DH. If the Cubs don’t bring in another outfielder, it looks like Happ-PCA-Suzuki is the outfield set up with Ballesteros taking over as the primary DH.
If the Cubs fail to bring in an infielder like Bregman or Bichette, perhaps they turn their attention to the outfield, especially with Owen Caissie now gone as part of the Cabrera trade.
Tucker would make sense, but the Cubs’ front office — whether it’s Hoyer or ownership — seems content to operate as a middle-market team. This is to say, Tucker’s demands on the free agent market appear too rich for the Cubs’ blood.
This could leave an opening for a Bellinger reunion. He was great in 2023 and pretty good in 2024 before the Cubs traded him to make room for Tucker. He’s coming off his best year since his 2019 MVP season.
Would the Cubs bring Bellinger back to beef up their lineup? I think this only becomes a discussion if they miss out on both Bregman and Bichette.
If you look at a potential lineup right now, though, it sure seems like they could use another big bopper in the middle:
1. Michael Busch, 1B
2. Nico Hoerner, 2B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Seiya Suzuki, RF
5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
6. Dansby Swanson, SS
7. Moisés Ballesteros, DH
8. Carson Kelly, C
9. Matt Shaw, 3B
It’s pretty good. It just seems like, come the middle of October, we’d be saying once again that it wasn’t good enough.
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