There is still a significant amount of offseason left, and there are still a lot of excellent free agents available, even though you would never know it browsing through X. Numerous free agents could be a good fit for the Chicago Cubs, who have weaknesses in the pitching staff, outfield, and corner infield positions.
With Justin Steele leading the starting rotation, Chicago would benefit from adding another elite arm to complement their rookie left-hander, who crushed his way to a fifth-place finish in the NL. Cy Young balloting in 2023
The three pitchers I’m going to examine in more detail are all left-handers, which is ironic because the Cubs bullpen is in dire need of someone like Drew Smyly to be in the mix rather than out of the rotation.
Hey, lofty goals, huh? Blake Snell’s market will truly take form after the offseason’s top pitching prise, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signs, which might happen shortly. That’s why there hasn’t been much news about him this winter.
Now a two-time Cy Young champion, Snell was outstanding for San Diego in 2015, putting together a run from June on that brought to mind former Cubs ace Jake Arrieta’s 2015 campaign. The left-hander had 14 starts in the second half with an ERA of 1.54, and he had sub-1.00 ERAs in three different months: June (0.87), July (0.56), and September (0.58).
The Cubs need a hitter to partner with Steele at the top of the rotation, and Snell would be a huge improvement even though he has some baggage of his own (he led MLB in walks last season in addition to leading the league in ERA).
