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The Chicago Cubs appear poised to pursue starting pitching this offseason after declining their club option for an extended deal, which led to Shōta Imanaga turning down his player option.

As a result, the question is, what starting pitcher should be on the Cubs’ radar to bolster the rotation for the 2026 MLB season? SiriusXM’s Jeff Joyce floated out the name of Dylan Cease as a target that the Cubs should consider this winter.

“The Michael King doesn’t feel like the pitcher the Cubs should go after,” Joyce said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM . “They’ve already got enough guys. I want a guy from the Cubs [who] is going to give me some known things, like innings and quality… I need a guy that I can count on for at least 160 innings.

“So I think Cease makes a lot of sense. It’s been like the every other year thing recently for him, where when the stuff is on, he’s really good. Second and fourth place finishes in the Cy Young.”

Last season with the San Diego Padres, Cease had an 8-12 record with an ERA of 4.55 and 215 strikeouts in 32 appearances in 2025, according to StatMuse. Moreover, Cease is familiar with the market, having played five years for the Chicago White Sox.

Dylan Cease Does Come With Concerns

While Cease logged 168 innings in 2025 for the Padres, his durability doesn’t erase every concern. Joyce sees the former White Sox pitcher as a strong target, yet he also made clear that pursuing him carries some risk.

“Still walks a lot of guys, but 214 strikeouts a year-plus, the last five years, 32 starts a year; the last five years, at least 165 innings a year; the last five years,” Joyce added. “He checks a lot of boxes except the consistency, and he does walk a lot of guys. But you look at last four years, he’s eighth in innings, first in strikeouts, first in strikeout percentage, first in walk percentage.

“He’s given you the durability part and the strikeout part. And all these teams are going to look at him and say, well, we can fix the inconsistency issue, we can turn him into that guy. There’s something there to work with.”

The Cubs Are Looking to Improve Their Starting Rotation

The reason Cease might be on the Cubs’ radar is that Imanaga’s decision to test the open market came as a surprise. He had agreed to a four-year, $53 million contract with the Cubs before the 2024 season, and the team also paid a $9.825 million posting fee to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Chicago could have exercised a club option that would have added a three-year, $57.5 million extension, keeping him under contract through 2028. Declining that option activated a $15.25 million player option, which he also passed on. While at the general manager meetings in Las Vegas, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer discussed how the situation unfolded.

“We value Shōta a ton,” Hoyer said on November 11 (h/t Marquee Sports Network ). “He was amazing for us as a pitcher and as a teammate. I don’t want to close that door completely, but ultimately we didn’t think the club option was the right value, he didn’t think the player option was the right value and that happens.”

Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He previously covered the league for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has contributed as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He also served as an editor for Athlon Sports and Heavy Sports focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo

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