After the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs went the distance during the NLDS in 2025, the Cubs, who lost that matchup, have finally made an offseason splash to replace their departing star, Kyle Tucker, and signal to the rest of the league that they are serious about competing with the Brewers in the NL Central in 2026.
Early on this offseason, Chicago confusingly committed over $20 million to Shota Imanaga as he accepted the team's qualifying offer. The Cubs also committed $14.5 million to reliever Phil Maton, brought back veteran bullpen arm Caleb Thielbar for $4.