Cubs skip the drama, agree to terms with an important rotation depth piece

Most of the attention ahead of Thursday's arbitration deadline was focused on Justin Steele and Edward Cabrera - and rightfully so. Chicago Cubs fans are anxious to see Steele back on the mound after he missed most of the 2025 season and Cabrera, the team's newest rotation addition, is the talk of the town right now.

But later on Thursday, Maddie Lee of the Sun-Times gave us a third, and final, piece of the puzzle, with the Cubs agreeing to a $1.8 million deal with right-hander Javier Assad.

Cubs swimming in starting pitching options with spring approaching

When you look at the sheer volume of starting rotation options manager Craig Counsell will have to work with this season, it's frankly easy to overlook Assad. Seriously, just look at this list.

• Cade Horton
• Justin Steele (expected back prior to the All-Star break)
• Matthew Boyd
• Jameson Taillon
• Edward Cabrera
• Shota Imanaga
• Colin Rea
• Ben Brown
• Javier Assad
• Jordan Wicks
• Jaxon Wiggins

What a problem to have. But Assad is valuable because he has worn multiple hats in his big-league career, pivoting between the pen and rotation based on the Cubs' needs at the time. As a starter, he's racked up 272 innings across parts of four big-league seasons, working to a 3.51 ERA and 1.346 WHIP. Out of the bullpen, in a smaller 59-inning sample size, Assad owns a 3.05 ERA and 1.254 WHIP. The moral of the story is: he's been pretty effective no matter how he's used.

That being said, he's always outperformed expected metrics. He has a career 3.43 ERA, but a far less sightly 4.77 xERA and 4.46 FIP. However, he has continued to get the job done, so until the wheels come off, it's hard to knock the end result.

With a pair of minor league options left, it seems likely Assad will open the year at Iowa as rotation depth in case of injury, along with former first-round pick Jordan Wicks, who also has two options left. Yes, the Cubs have a lot of options here, but with the revamped bullpen, having some guys to turn to at Triple-A when injuries happen is going to play a huge role in the team's success in 2026.