This offseason will be one of the most important ones for the Chicago Cubs. 

Things are finally trending up for the franchise after the team made the playoffs and won a postseason series in 2025. That means the front office has to do everything it can to improve this Cubs team from last season. 

While MLB insider Bob Nightengale doesn’t expect the North Siders to be one of the most aggressive spenders in free agency, he does list the Cubs as the hot stove’s biggest sleeper. 

Part of the reason is that no one really knows how the Cubs will attack this offseason. Could they still be in play for Kyle Tucker? Will they add a big-time player via trade? How aggressively will the front office move in free agency to improve this team? 

There are a ton of question marks surrounding Chicago heading into free agency, but Nightengale offered some insight into what the team could be looking to add this winter. He started by saying the Cubs want “another corner outfielder.”

That doesn’t come as a total surprise, considering the Cubs will look to replace Tucker in right field. With Owen Caissie only having 26 Major League at-bats under his belt and Moisés Ballesteros strictly a designated hitter, Chicago could use some more depth at the position. 

That could mean going out and signing Cody Bellinger or trading for someone like Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward. Both Bellinger and Ward would likely be the team’s starting right fielder, which would push Seiya Suzuki back to DH for the 2026 season. 

Nightengale also stated in the same article that GMs he has spoken to believe the Cubs will land Dylan Cease and/or Framber Valdez this winter. In his words, the team will be “shopping in the expensive aisle for starting pitching.”

Getting one of those starting pitchers would be a massive win for a Cubs rotation that is already strong. Cease has been one of the most durable starting pitchers in baseball over the last few years, making 162 starts since the start of the 2021 season (most among all pitchers). 

Although Cease is coming off a down year in which he finished with a 4.55 ERA, his metrics suggest that a bounce-back season should be in store for the right-hander in 2026. His expected ERA (3.43) was 112 points lower than his actual ERA. 

As for Valdez, he has also been one of the biggest workhorse pitchers in baseball in recent years. He has thrown 767 ⅔ innings since the 2022 season and has finished with a sub-3.70 ERA in all four of those years. 

If the Cubs can land one of those corner outfielders and one of those starting pitchers, that would be a pretty successful offseason. Both players would instantly make this team better.