Matt Watson Media

With the holiday season upon us, the free agent market in Major League Baseball has slowed down.

Once the new year rolls through, I do expect the starting pitching market to begin heating up. While Dylan Cease quickly came off the board earlier this year, the remaining top pitchers have slowly found their next contracts.

In my opinion, the best remaining starting pitcher available is former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez.

With Philadelphia’s payroll nearly maxed out, the club is unlikely to be involved in the Suarez sweepstakes. Due to this, the expectation is that the former All-Star will be playing in a new uniform come 2026.

If this club plays their cards right, Suarez might remain in the National League.

Chicago Suarez?

A failure of the 2025 Chicago Cubs was not adding to their starting rotation at the trade deadline. The team got off to a tremendous start but were unable to sustain their momentum. A big deadline move could have helped Chicago regain that spark. Alas, they failed to do so, and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

With Kyle Tucker expected to depart, the Cubs need to reallocate their resources towards starting pitching. With Suarez being the best available arm, he is a natural fit.

The Cubs have already done a lot of work to retool their bullpen. Upgradung the rotation should be next.

They also brought back Shota Imanaga back on the qualifying offer for 2026 to keep their current rotation intact.

Cade Horton is the only starter under a long-term deal with the organization. Being on his rookie deal, Horton is under contract until 2031. With their flexibility in the starting rotation, it would not hurt the Cubs to think long term.

Adding Suarez would give Chicago a minimum of two quality arms for the next five years.

Ranger Suarez	L
Matthew Boyd	L
Cade Horton	R
Shota Imanaga	L
Jameson Taillon	R

Suarez’s 1.48 earned run average across 11 appearances in the postseason would spring him towards the top of this rotation. His experience and proven track record would make this a slam dunk signing for the Cubs.

FanGraphs predicts that the left-hander will sign a deal around $125 million over five seasons. Since becoming a fulltime starter in 2023, Suarez has accumulated 12.1 fWAR over four seasons with the Phillies.

The general consensus in Major League Baseball is that 1.0 WAR is equivalent to 8-10 million dollars. The proposed contract for the veteran would be right on track with that assessment.

With the current state of the Cubs, this would be a smart signing. If I understand this, so will many other major league front offices. Once we hit the new year, expect the Suarez sweepstakes to heat up. Until then, Cubs fans can continue to speculate their next move.