Cubs bolster starting rotation by trading for Toronto’s Gausman

Posted August 02, 2026 8:26 pm

By Mitch Bannon, Ken Rosenthal and Sahadev Sharma

The Cubs on Sunday agreed to acquire veteran starter Kevin Gausman from the Toronto Blue Jays, adding postseason experience to their rotation, team and league sources told The Athletic. Sources indicate that the Blue Jays will receive two prospects, outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene.

While Gausman isn’t having his best season at age 35, the right-hander has quietly been one of the best starters in baseball over the last five years. Since Gausman joined the Blue Jays in 2022, only Dylan Cease and Zack Wheeler have more strikeouts than the veteran right-hander. Gausman posted an ERA under 3.90 for five-straight seasons before 2026 while making at least 31 starts every year.

Flashing a fastball and splitter combination, along with the occasional slider, Gausman rarely walks opposing batters and has the strikeout stuff needed to flourish in the playoffs. In Toronto’s 2025 postseason run, Gausman posted a 2.93 ERA in six appearances and was continuously given the ball in some of the Jays’ biggest October games.

The Cubs have been laser focused on adding pitching this summer and in Gausman are getting an experienced performer who they believe still has a lot left in the tank. At his peak, Gausman, 35, was garnering Cy Young votes and was one of the top pitchers in the game. This season, though, he has a 4.38 ERA, struggling for a Blue Jays team that had extremely high expectations coming into the season.

But the Cubs believe there’s something to be excited about here when you look past Gausman’s ERA. He isn’t the guy who posted a 29.8% strikeout rate from 2020-2023, otherwise the cost would have been significantly higher than Bateman and Southisene. Both are quality prospects, but the Cubs are deep in position-player prospects and leveraged that depth to get a solid piece for their playoff push.

What the Cubs like about Gausman is that beyond the ERA, a lot of what he’s doing looks similar to his 2024 and 2025 seasons, when he put up a 3.71 ERA in a combined 371 innings with a 22.9% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. This season, he has a 23.5% strikeout rate with a 6.7% walk rate while also sticking with the three-pitch mix — four-seam fastball, gyro slider and splitter — that’s always made him stand out.

The velocity hasn’t deteriorated in a significant manner and the batted ball numbers don’t look scary. Gausman also showed he can step up in the postseason last October. Cubs team president Jed Hoyer remembers passing on Justin Verlander in 2017 and then learning from that mistake and trusting that Cole Hamels would find his best self with the Cubs in 2018. This is a bet on a veteran performing up to his underlying numbers as he enters a playoff race with a talented team that plays in front of a packed park with die-hard fans cheering them on both at home and on the road.

Gausman would be added to a rotation that has a 4.25 ERA on the season, but has actually been on a bit of a roll of late. Since June 1, they’re fifth in baseball with a 3.71 ERA and since July 1, they’re second at a 3.38 ERA. Currently, the Cubs have Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Javier Assad and Colin Rea in their rotation. Once Gausman is added, it’s likely one of Rea or Assad moves to the bullpen. Edward Cabrera, who will make his second rehab start this week, should be back by mid-August.

Still, the Cubs don’t appear to be done adding to their rotation. Not if they have their way. A starter under control beyond 2026 would be ideal, but the Cubs came into these final hours before the deadline hoping to come away with multiple arms and they don’t believe their work is done.