The Chicago Cubs identified early in the offseason that pitching was the team’s largest focus in free agency. With most of last year’s relievers leaving in free agency, the Cubs need to add several new bullpen arms to this roster.

So, the Cubs got to work early by adding Phil Maton to a two-year deal in the middle of November and signing left-handed reliever Hoby Milner to a one-year contract a few days ago.

Advertisement

However, Chicago’s bullpen is far from complete.

The front office still needs to sign at least two more high-leverage bullpen arms at this point in the offseason. One relief pitcher that could make a lot of sense for the Cubs to target is former New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver.

Weaver was actually recently highlighted in an article by David Adler at MLB.com, in which he listed him as a potential pitcher that the Cubs could target in free agency.

“The nasty two-pitch combo of his mid-90s, rising fastball and upper-80s changeup that he developed in New York make the 32-year-old righty a reliever worth signing,” Adler wrote in that article.

Advertisement

Weaver hasn’t been talked about much this offseason, and that likely has to do with his poor numbers in the second half of the 2025 season. After finishing the first half with a 2.65 ERA, the right-hander was unable to build on that post-All-Star break.

The 32-year-old had a 4.94 ERA and 34 strikeouts across 27 ⅓ innings pitched in the second half. He gave up an earned run in eight of his 28 appearances during this stretch and allowed five more runs across ⅓ of an inning in three postseason appearances.

So, it’s safe to say that Weaver’s value is significantly down following a career-worst second half. He was tipping pitches late in the season, and the Yankees couldn’t rely on him by any means in the playoffs.

However, this is usually where the Cubs come in.

Advertisement

Chicago’s front office loves to acquire relievers whose value is down. That’s because these struggling pitchers usually then sign for cheap deals to get their value back up before heading into free agency again.

That means the Cubs could realistically sign Weaver to a cheaper deal this offseason. That wouldn’t be a bad move for a reliever who has shown consistency on the mound in previous seasons.

He finished with a 2.89 ERA and 103 strikeouts across 84 innings pitched in 2024 and posted solid numbers in the first half of the 2025 season. If Weaver has indeed solved his tipping pitches problems from last year, then this is a nice target for the Cubs.

His expected ERA (2.98) was 64 points lower than his actual ERA (3.62), and his expected batting average against (.195), whiff rate (31%), chase rate (32.8%), and strikeout rate (27.5%) all ranked in the 80th percentile or better in 2025.

Therefore, a bounce-back season could be in store for Weaver. Spotrac lists his market value at just two years, $19 million.