The Cubs face a critical offseason, rebuilding a nearly decimated bullpen. Expect savvy acquisitions, not splashy signings, as they unearth hidden relief pitching gems.
There are a lot of different ways this offseason could go for the Chicago Cubs. They could go all in on Kyle Tucker and offer him a blank check. They could let other teams bid for Tucker and instead go after prolific hitters like Kyle Schwarber and Alex Bregman.
While we don’t exactly know how this offseason will unfold for the Cubs, Chicago will be heavily involved in the relief pitcher market over the next few months.
According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, rebuilding the bullpen is the biggest need for the Cubs this offseason. That isn’t a major surprise, considering most of Chicago’s bullpen from this past year is mostly gone.
Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, Drew Pomeranz, Michael Soroka, Aaron Civale, Ryan Brasier, and Taylor Rogers are all set to hit free agency. The Cubs also traded away Andrew Kittredge to the Baltimore Orioles last week.
That means Chicago is only left with a few bullpen arms for the 2026 season. Daniel Palencia and Porter Hodge are really the only two relievers who spent most of the year with the Cubs. However, Palencia is really the only consistent bullpen arm remaining from last year’s team.
Hodge had a 6.88 ERA across 36 appearances before spending most of the second half on the injured list. Ben Brown was inefficient in the bullpen with a 4.99 ERA across 30 ⅔ innings, and the front office likely can’t rely on relievers like Gavin Hollowell (4.82 ERA), Eli Morgan (12.27 ERA), Ethan Roberts (6.00 ERA), and Luke Little (3.38 ERA) to carry the bullpen next season.
As a result, the Cubs should be in the market to add several relievers this offseason. They could re-sign key bullpen arms like Keller, Thielbar, and Pomeranz while also adding some more relievers via free agency.
There’s no doubt the Cubs need to reshape their bullpen this winter, but fans shouldn’t expect the front office to go after big-name relievers. Signing relievers to big contracts is not the Jed Hoyer way, and we shouldn’t anticipate that changing ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports that the Cubs will almost certainly not be going after the top relief pitchers on this year’s open market. So, relievers like Edwin Diaz, Robert Suarez, and Ryan Helsley are probably off the front office’s radar heading into free agency.
Still, the Cubs have done a good job finding bargains at the relief pitcher position in recent years. Just look at Keller, Pomeranz, and Thielbar a season ago. Those three relievers were key in making Chicago one of the better bullpens in 2025.
With the Cubs likely not going after relievers like Suarez and Diaz, the front office will need to find more hidden gems at the position this winter.