Chicago Cubs: Who do they have targeted as free agents?

The Chicago Cubs have over $50 million coming off the payroll next year. There are plenty of areas to fix this winter, but who are the best candidates to come to the North Side in 2020?

Let’s start with the rotation. While the Chicago Cubs Cole Hamels becomes a free agent, Jose Quintana is set to become a free agent after 2020. Should the Cubs exercise his team option? The question becomes whether the Cubs trust giving a guy like Adbert Alzolay 30+ starts, or going kind of a committee/opener role for that spot.

With some of the available talent this winter on the pitching side of things, the Cubs can do better than Alzolay, who may be suited for a Mike Montgomery-like role at the big league level.

If they want to go out of the box, a guy like Colin Rea may win the spot. Rea has MLB experience with the Padres and just won the Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year, and anybody who follows the Mets knows that’s a heck of an accomplishment this year.

Rea has started 25 MLB games with the Padres and just one with the Marlins. He was part of an odd trade in 2017 where he had to be sent back to the Padres after a trade because of medical records.

He has pitched to a 4.69 ERA in just 134 1/3 MLB innings. He has walked 55 hitters and struck out only 106, along with 14 home runs. Now, enough about the available in-house options, who is available this winter? One name might look familiar to Cubs fans.