Now that the Zac Gallen free agency saga is over, one can speculate whether the Chicago Cubs still pursue one more starting pitcher. The last of the free agents are going fairly quickly as Spring Training begins. As of Saturday, there is still a small handful of starting pitchers remaining on the market. Unless they make a surprise trade, the pickings are slim.
While adding another starter feels like a bit more of a luxury than a necessity, it’s understandable to want to add another arm. The Cubs rotation is solid for now, but with injury concerns for Edward Cabrera and Cade Horton, questions about how Shōta Imanaga will rebound, whether Matthew Boyd has the stamina to repeat 2025, and Justin Steele coming back from injury, having insurance is not the worst idea.
Who remains on the starting pitching market?
The biggest name remaining is Lucas Giolito. He spent the two years with the Red Sox, missing all of 2024 recovering from UCL surgery. Giolito also missed last year’s postseason due to an elbow injury. Last year he sported a 3.41 ERA, 1.3 WHIP, 4.17 FIP, 7.5 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 in 26 starts. While his season was solid results-wise, some of the peripherals were not as pretty. His strikeout rate dipped 25.7% in 2023 to 19.7% last year, with his whiff rate in the 28th percentile, and an xERA of 5.06. Pretty understandable though, coming back from a major injury.
Giolito’s market value is around $20.4 million per Spotrac. Could he potentially be a solid enough veteran to eat innings and keep the Cubs in a game if healthy? Sure, but the recent injury history is concerning. He’s also more of a flyball pitcher, and the Cubs have plenty of those.
Other names on the market include Max Scherzer, Frankie Montas (injured), Tyler Anderson, Patrick Corbin, Zack Littell, Nestor Cortes (injured), Jon Gray, Germán Márquez, Wade Miley, and Marcus Stroman. One won’t find much here in terms of whiffs, at least not based on recent performances.
Scherzer is obviously a “big name,” but at age 41, durability won’t be there anymore. Littell is coming off a decent 3.81 ERA and 1.1 WHIP season in 32 starts. The peripherals are not amazing (4.88 FIP and 4.36 xERA), but he’s been durable the past few years, and the overall numbers are not awful, five-starter caliber stats. Anderson has also had recent success, being an All Star in 2022 and 2024. Last season he posted a 4.56 ERA, 1.4 WHIP, 5.60 FIP, and 6.9 K/9 in 26 starts at age 35. Nothing really exciting there, but he’s made 110 starts since 2022 and has a solid track record.
Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Outside of Giolito’s market, most of these names would not cost much. Littell and Cortes are the only ones projected to earn over $10 million per Spotrac. What they’ll actually get, time will tell. Some could get as small as Minor League deals. With that said, the Cubs do not have to overreach if they do not feel necessary.
At this point, the market has moved past providing an abundance of needle-moving options. Maybe Giolito, Anderson, or Littell could provide a solid 4-5 starter/innings eater. Scherzer could bring that experience and “big game” mentality. Or a guy like Márquez could be an intriguing NRI type. Either way, there’s not much here that feels like the Cubs would badly miss out on if they stand pat.
If they do decide to add one of these guys, then it seems like the Cubs organization has done enough for people to entrust their pitching and defensive infrastructure to work with them. Even if things don’t always pan out.
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