Cubs begin offseason with qualifying offer to Suzuki
The Cubs have their work cut out for them.
For an organization that fell short of its lofty postseason goals, the Cubs need to take advantage of the foundation they built over the last couple of years to bolster a roster that must get past their division rival, World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.
The offseason fully kicked off at 4 p.m. Monday when teams could talk to free agents who weren’t under their control this past year. It coincided with the deadline for organizations to extend qualifying offers to eligible players, and for players’ and teams’ options to be accepted or declined.
The Cubs gave right fielder Seiya Suzuki a qualifying offer worth $23.15 million for 2027, with the 32-year-old slugger positioned as one of the top hitters available in free agency. Suzuki has until Nov. 17 to decide whether to accept, though the expectation is he will reject the offer.
The team opted to not extend an offer to left fielder Ian Happ, who was their longest-tenured Cub after 10 seasons.
The Cubs agreed to a one-year contract with veteran reliever Jacob Webb on Monday. The deal is reportedly worth $2 million and includes a $4 million club option for 2028 and has a $500,000 buyout. This essentially replaces the original club option from when Webb, 33, signed last offseason, which was worth $2.5 million for 2027, but adds another team option for 2028. Ideally, the Cubs would add reinforcements for the back end of the bullpen and not rely on Webb so heavily in those situations.
They also added to their pitching depth Monday by claiming right-hander Eric Orze off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. The Elk Grove native and Glenbard North graduate spent the 2026 season between the Twins and Triple-A St. Paul. Orze, 29, posted a 5.66 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 36 relief appearances with the Twins.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office have built a solid core heading into 2027. This is particularly true on the position-player side, featuring five returners who received the bulk of playing time at their respective spots, plus catcher Miguel Amaya coming off a tandem role with now-free agent Carson Kelly.
The pitching staff, namely the rotation, faces the biggest overhaul with left-handers Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and David Peterson and right-handers Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Colin Rea now in free agency. That group combined to start 106 of the Cubs’ games in 2026. Holmes did not pick up his player option, while the Cubs declined Rea’s $7.5 million club option Monday.
After winning his second consecutive Gold Glove Award on Sunday, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said, “I don’t think we’re all that far off.”
“I don’t know the inner workings of what they do every day, but not to be naive and ignorant and call their job easy, I think that there are some super-specific things that we can tackle and that are super achievable,” Crow-Armstrong said. “So, like I said, we’re not that far off, man. I think the exoskeleton of what the Cubs roster could look like next year is really easy to fill in. It depends on health as well, with who we’ll have available, who’s coming off injury and whatnot. But who we have in our colors already, it’s a pretty impressive group, so I think there’s just a couple pieces that we can add that’ll really take us to the next level.”
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cubs try to address some of their roster questions this month before the expected MLB owner-imposed lockout begins Dec. 1, which halts all roster transactions. Third baseman Alex Bregman plans to pay attention to what moves the front office makes this offseason, especially in the coming weeks.
“I’ll definitely be watching — I know obviously that any transaction and stuff like that’s way above what I’m doing,” Bregman said Sunday after winning his second career Gold Glove Award. “I just kind of watch and get excited for next year. But, yeah, I’ll definitely be interested to see when the bulk of them come, so we’ll see.”