Chicago’s lone starting pitching addition at the 2025 deadline never panned out — and his contract with Arizona underscores why the Cubs can’t afford more half-measures this offseason.
The first Major League free-agent signing of the MLB Winter Meetings went down on Monday morning — and it involved a former Chicago Cubs pitcher.
Michael Soroka, the 28-year-old right-hander, has signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cubs acquired Soroka at the 2025 trade deadline in what became, controversially, their lone addition to the starting-pitching group despite clear holes on a contending roster. Cubs fans were holding out hope for a splash move like Mitch Keller, Sandy Alcantara, or MacKenzie Gore. But instead the deadline brought a in relievers Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers, utilityman Willi Castro, and Soroka as the only rotation help.
To land him, Chicago sent prospects Ronny Cruz and Christian Franklin to the Washington Nationals. Franklin had an .817 OPS in 2025 and was just added to Washington’s 40-man roster and could make an MLB impact in 2026.
Meanwhile, Soroka made almost none in Chicago before leaving in free agency.
He debuted for the Cubs on August 4, lasting only two innings in his first start before being pulled and placed on the injured list the next day with a right-shoulder injury. He returned in mid-September and finished the regular season out of the bullpen. Soroka made two postseason appearances — including an outing in the NLDS against Milwaukee in which he gave up three runs in one inning.
It should have surprised nobody considering Soroka's injury history and lack of innings. Prior to 2025, he only had one season in which he threw over 80 innings - and that was with Atlanta back in 2019. The Cubs traded for him right after he got across that 80 inning threshold, and his body wasn't ready to withstand the workload of a full season.
Now he moves on, signing with Arizona and ending his tenure as a Chicago Cub.
If Franklin or Cruz make any meaningful impact for the Nationals, this trade will go down as a resounding loss for the Cubs. It probably already is.
But hopefully, it becomes a lesson for Jed Hoyer heading into this offseason. When you have a playoff team, you push your chips in to give that roster its best chance at winning a World Series. Those opportunities for postseason run don’t come around often. The last time the Cubs got cute and went cheap, it cost them dearly — and they can’t afford to repeat that mistake this winter.