Ian Happ will become a free agent for the first time in his pro career after his three-year, $61 million contract extension with the Chicago Cubs expires. The four-time Gold Glove winner in left field has made his love for the city, fans, and team clear throughout his 10-year MLB career, and it appears Happ is willing to take a pay cut to stay with the Cubs after the 2026 season officially comes to a close.

This was an interesting report from FanSided reporter Pat Ragazzo, who wrote the following earlier this week.

Via FanSided.

However, Happ’s time with the Cubs might not be coming to a close after all. A source familiar with Happ’s thinking told FanSided that they could see the outfielder taking a hometown discount in free agency to remain with the Cubs. As the source pointed out, Happ already signed a team-friendly three-year, $61 million extension to stay with the Cubs back in 2023. This could bode well for a chance at a reunion this offseason.

So, that source is either Happ himself or his agent, unless Happ’s wife suddenly gives reporters scoops on what the player prefers for his future. It’s no secret that Happ wants to stay with the Cubs, as he’s planted deep roots in Chicago since making his big-league debut in 2017. The main obstacle, as in many cases, is money.

Sure, Happ may be willing to take a hometown discount, but what does that actually mean for the Cubs? Reports already strongly suggest that, because the organization desperately needs to rebuild its pitching staff, Seiya Suzuki will be lost in free agency. Suzuki has been the better offensive player for the Cubs than Happ, and his defense took a big step up in 2026, making him one of the top position players in this upcoming free-agent market.

Unfortunately for Happ, his walk season was his worst since 2018. The switch-hitter posted a 107 wRC+ in 2026, but despite hitting more than 20 home runs for a fourth straight season, Happ became a liability in the second half. The Cubs acquired Tyrone Taylor at the trade deadline as the team needed an upgrade against left-handed pitching.

Happ finished the year with a slash line of .218/.326/.412. However, he was still good against right-handed pitching in 2026, hitting 20 of his 24 home runs against them with a 127 wRC+ and a slash line of .241/.358/.458, second-best on the team among the regular starters.

He’ll turn 33-years-old next August, and coming off a down season, Happ’s market will not be what he had hoped for. Despite a weaker class of free agents, history shows us that players age 32 or older don’t command big contracts. Among the eight players who were 32 or older in the past decade and signed free-agent deals of four years or longer, only two were outfielders: Lorenzo Cain and Starling Marte.

So, does a hometown discount mean a shorter deal? A lower AAV, with options that would let the Cubs move on from Happ after a year? He earned just above $20 million per season in his previous contract, so would the Cubs bring him back on a two-year, $30 million deal? Would Happ settle for that?

As of now, Jed Hoyer is keeping the door open for a reunion, praising Happ at the end-of-the season press conference. However, the Cubs POBO also discussed how the team will rely on Pedro Ramirez and Matt Shaw to cover playing time in the outfield.

Leverage is everything in negotiations, so we’ll see just how much Happ lets the Cubs test his loyalty this offseason.

Right now, that hometown discount may not be enough to keep Happ around, and given the discourse around him over the past three years or so and his decline in 2026, most Cubs fans will be happy if Happ doesn’t return.

Seiya Suzuki will be one of the top free-agent players this offseason, putting the Chicago Cubs in a precarious spot to retain the right-handed hitting outfielder. After the team’s embarrassing exit from the 2026 MLB Postseason, attention has turned to the Cubs’ future construction, and unfortunately, the giant crater created by pending free agents and uncertainty in the starting rotation may ultimately be why the Cubs lose Suzuki in free agency.

That has been the main talking point for the past couple of days since the San Diego Padres made quick work of the Cubs, sweeping Chicago in the Wild Card round. Suzuki was one of only four Cubs to record a hit against the Padres, as the team posted the worst offensive performance in MLB playoff history. Suzuki was hard on himself following the series loss, questioning whether he had lived up to expectations, including his own.

A humble message from Suzuki, who consistently posted strong numbers for the Cubs during his five-year contract. His rookie year was sidetracked because of a finger injury, but since then Suzuki has been a top-15 hitter in the National League.

From 2023-26, Suzuki posted a slash line of .270/.353/.480 while averaging 25 home runs per year. Although he didn’t like the move, Suzuki stepped aside in 2025 to make room for Kyle Tucker in right field. He was the primary DH and delivered 32 home runs with 103 RBI last season. The Cubs parted ways with Tucker, and Suzuki returned to the outfield, where he made sure to improve his defense.

Suzuki concluded the 2026 season with his fourth straight year of 20+ home runs and an OPS above .800. So, why wouldn’t the Cubs want him back? Well, it has almost nothing to do with him as a player and everything about the organization’s biggest problem heading into 2027: pitching.

Matthew Boyd, Shōta Imanaga, Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson will all be free agents. Meanwhile, Justin Steele will be returning after missing nearly two full seasons. Cade Horton might not be available until July, as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and Edward Cabrera has to start over with the Cubs after his dud of a 2026 season. The bullpen, which was a disaster down the stretch, will have several new arms next season.

In short, most of the Cubs’ offseason resources to improve the team will go to pitching, meaning Suzuki won’t be a priority. The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney has made that abundantly clear when discussing Suzuki’s future this week.

Via The Athletic.

Suzuki, who was 19th in the league in fWAR, put up some of the best overall numbers of his career, which will probably make him a hot commodity. Considering their pitching deficit, it’s unlikely that the Cubs will get into a bidding war for Suzuki’s services, let alone win one.

The Cubs have already made nine-figure commitments to Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson — at a time when the pitching staff will need to be completely overhauled — so it seems likely that Hoyer’s group will stay in touch with Suzuki’s camp but not go all-out to win a bidding war.

The Cubs will place the qualifying offer on Suzuki once the offseason begins. That could slow the outfielder’s market, along with the impending lockout, but a weak free-agent class sets up well for Suzuki, as Randy Arozarena is the only other premier outfielder available. A deal in the $100 million range isn’t out of the question for Suzuki, and unfortunately for the Cubs, their main focus will be improving their pitching, which paints a clear picture of where they stand with Suzuki.

Jed Hoyer was unintentionally called out publicly by Bruce Levine in July, and, unwilling to go down silently for a second consecutive year, the Chicago Cubs made aggressive moves at the trade deadline. Desperate for pitching, the organization traded away six prospects for three pitchers who ultimately contributed down the stretch and made the Wild Card roster against the San Diego Padres. However, after an embarrassing sweep, those trades look bad, and they could doom the Cubs for years to come.

Kevin Gausman made nine starts for the Cubs. The veteran right-hander posted a 4.83 ERA in 50.1 innings. The Cubs went 5-4 in those games, and although his overall numbers were poor, Gausman had only two bad outings: 6 ER in 4 IP vs. the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 9 and 6 ER in 4.2 IP vs. the Washington Nationals on Aug. 13, resulting in a 3.24 ERA in his other seven starts.

Unfortunately, in his final regular-season start, Gausman injured his left shoulder while making a lunging tag near third base. He wasn’t 100% for his Game 2 start against the Padres on Wednesday night, and although it wasn’t a total disaster, Gausman needed to be nearly perfect to give the Cubs a shot. The right-hander gave up two runs in the second inning and was charged with a third run after Gavin Sheets took Daniel Palencia deep in the fourth with an inherited runner on base.

The Cubs traded Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene to the Toronto Blue Jays for Gausman. Southisene is a 21-year-old, light-hitting infielder whom the Cubs drafted in the fourth round in 2024. He’s still in High-A Ball. Bateman, 24, made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays this year, posting a 138 wRC+ and 1.9 fWAR in 41 games.

Of course, Bateman wasn’t going to move Pete Crow-Armstrong off center field, and if he had stayed in the Cubs organization, he would have needed to hit for much more power to stick in the corner outfield. Still, batting .329/.402/.424 in 181 plate appearances gives you pause about whether he could have contributed in the future with the Cubs.

Keep in mind that the Cubs will have left field and right field open heading into the offseason as both Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki will be free agents.

Bateman posted a .410 BABIP, and his batted-ball data show he massively overachieved in his first stint in the majors. Yet that won’t stop fans from checking in on how he continues to perform for the Blue Jays.

Ryan Zeferjahn looked very average for most of his time in the Cubs bullpen, posting a 4.50 ERA over 18 innings. His strikeout rate was 23.8%, which was fine, but opponents hit .268 against him, and the righty had a 10% walk rate. Zeferjahn didn’t get many clean innings, which didn’t give fans much confidence, even though he ended the season with seven straight scoreless outings, including 1.1 innings against the Padres.

He has nasty stuff, throws in the high 90s, and is under team control through 2030. Zeferjahn can obviously take his game to the next level, but as we’ve seen far too often, relievers can be extremely volatile year to year. That’s why it was a little scary when the Cubs traded Moises Ballesteros and pitching prospect Mason McGwire to the Los Angeles Angels for Zeferjahn.

To be clear, this one hasn’t looked bad for the Cubs just yet. Ballesteros had a great month to start the 2026 season, but he couldn’t adjust to MLB pitching afterward, and his slump led to a demotion in June. After the trade, Ballesteros played in 45 games for the Angels. The left-handed batter posted a slash line of .199/.260/.280 with three home runs in 177 plate appearances. The 22-year-old had a 26% strikeout rate and rated poorly defensively at catcher.

But he is only 22-years-old with a history of great bat-to-ball skills. As for McGwire, he was having a breakout season in the Cubs farm system before the trade, and if he ever becomes an MLB arm, that would definitely sting, since the Cubs have a bad track record of developing pitchers.

This is the trade Cubs fans dread most. Clay Holmes was one of the most sought-after starting pitchers at the trade deadline, and Hoyer paid a high price for the veteran righty. Holmes made nine starts with the Cubs, including a 1.55 ERA over five games in August. However, he struggled in September, allowing 18 earned runs in 19.2 innings. His 8.24 ERA, to go along with a 16.1% walk rate, made Holmes so untrustworthy that, despite being on the Wild Card roster, Counsell avoided using him in either game in San Diego.

The trade to acquire Holmes also included outfielder Tyrone Taylor, who was great in his two months with the Cubs, but giving up top prospect Jefferson Rojas could be the biggest mistake Hoyer made in 2026.

The infielder was having a solid year in the Cubs farm system, posting a .799 OPS and hitting 15 home runs in 91 games. If not No. 1, Rojas was certainly top two in most Cubs prospect rankings, and once he joined the New York Mets minor league system, his stock rose even higher.

Rojas finished the regular season with 12 home runs in 34 games in the Mets’ farm between Double-A and Triple-A, slashing .293/.346/.629 over 160 plate appearances.

Maybe the Cubs re-sign Holmes, and he helps stabilize a shaky starting rotation heading into 2027. However, it’s hard not to think the Cubs are on the wrong side of a PCA-type trade that coincidently involved the Mets trading away a future star.

Don’t lie, after Game 1, you knew what was going to happen Wednesday night. It was going to be yet another slow march toward elimination, with no hope that the Chicago Cubs were going to do anything against the San Diego Padres’ bullpen. If you expected anything more, I deeply admire your optimism, but it was painfully obvious from the very first at-bat that the Cubs were done. At the end of the night, the Cubs produced the single worst offensive performance in MLB history.

Pete Crow-Armstrong challenged a strike three call that wasn’t even close. Alex Bregman struck out after getting ahead 3-0, and Michael Busch looked caught off guard as Nick Pivetta dropped curveballs at the top of the strike zone. The Cubs were rattled in Game 2, while the Padres quickly jumped on Kevin Gausman in the second inning and delivered the knockout blow in the fourth when Gavin Sheets hit a two-run home run off Daniel Palencia.

The Padres used four relievers after Pivetta went 3.1 innings. Bradgley Rodríguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon, and Mason Miller combined to pitch 5.2 shutout innings, allowing only two hits, a walk, and a fourth-base runner via a hit-by-pitch.

The Cubs were never a threat in San Diego, going 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Craig Counsell’s group led MLB in runs, OPS, and total bases in the regular season, but all that didn’t mean shit at Petco Park. The Cubs tallied eight hits in two games, the fewest among any team in MLB history in a playoff series (minimum two games), while scoring one measly run.

Nico Hoerner went 4-for-8, including the first hit of the game on Tuesday against Michael King in the seventh inning that broke up a no-hit bid. The second baseman also hit a double on Wednesday in the ninth inning against Miller; it was the only extra-base hit by the Cubs in both games.

Seiya Suzuki had two hits in the series, while Carson Kelly and Tyrone Taylor each recorded one hit for the Cubs against the Padres. Everyone else in the lineup was hitless. As a team, the Cubs posted a slash line of .129/.229/.145 with the lone extra-base hit, 19 strikeouts, seven walks, and the lowest slugging percentage in a multi-game playoff series in MLB history.

Via OptaSTATS.

Lowest slugging percentage in a multi-game postseason series in MLB history:
.145 – 2026 Cubs (NLWC)
.153 – 2020 Twins (ALWC)
.154 – 2022 Rays (ALWC)
.174 – 1998 Rangers (ALDS)
.179 – 2019 Cardinals (NLCS)

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. But again, that’s exactly what was expected after the Padres had a fully rested bullpen following Game 1’s 8-0 blowout.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman were the team’s top hitters this season. They sucked against the Padres. Jim Deshaies said it perfectly before Game 2: the Padres’ star players played like stars; if the Cubs had any chance, then their star players had to be stars. They didn’t. On to next year.