Cubs are logical fits for a ton of MLBTR's top offseason trade candidates

With the majority of their financial commitments moving forward aligned with the expiration of the current CBA at the end of the 2026 season, the Chicago Cubs could do just about anything this offseason.

But all signs point to more of the same from Tom Ricketts and Jed Hoyer who, Kyle Tucker trade last winter aside, have been about as conservative and risk-averse as any team in the league, avoiding major free agent expenditures like the plague, despite being one of the most profitable teams in all of Major League Baseball.

So if Ricketts won't write the checks required to swim in the deep end of the free agent pool, Hoyer may have to look to the trade market to check off boxes this offseason. Looking at MLB Trade Rumors' list of top 40 trade candidates entering the winter, you can make the case the Cubs are a fit for as many as eight of the top 10.

I say as many as because two of the names mentioned, Freddy Peralta and Sonny Gray, play for NL Central rivals and, thus, are unlikely trade fits for Chicago - especially in the case of Peralta, who anchored the Brewers rotation again in 2025 and will almost certainly garner some down-ballot Cy Young votes for his efforts.

MLB Trade Rumors' list loaded with potential Cubs trade targets

It also helps that the list is incredibly pitcher-heavy, with eight of the top 10 being arms - and a number of those names the Cubs were previously connected to in trade deadline rumors this summer. Mackenzie Gore, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Sandy Alcantara all show up and have been speculative trade targets at various points in the last 12 months.

Before pursuing a trade, Hoyer will need to decide how to handle Shota Imanaga's complicated contract decision, which could play out in a number of ways this winter. The left-hander, who was brilliant as a rookie in 2024, stumbled down the stretch and was near-unusable because of his home run tendencies come October.

Veteran and first-time All-Star Matthew Boyd will return, along with rookie right-hander Cade Horton and Jameson Taillon, who is entering the final season of the four-year, $68 million pact he signed with the Cubs prior to the 2023 campaign. Justin Steele, who missed almost the entire 2025 season, will return at some point, as well, which should be a major boost for the staff.

Still, with the possible exception of Horton - and the jury is still out on him given how young he is and how early on in his MLB career he is - this is a rotation that could definitely use more firepower. Thankfully, some of the offseason's most likely trade candidates are big-time arms and with a top-heavy farm system, this could be the offseason Hoyer and the Cubs finally get aggressive and go get their big-name starting pitcher.