The Chicago Cubs have plenty of areas to address this offseason, the starting rotation foremost among them. But the team has another pressing need at catcher, where Yan Gomes struggled so mightily he eventually got DFA’d and Miguel Amaya needed a strong finish to get his numbers with shouting distance of respectability. Chicago ranked 26th in the Majors in wRC+ and 29th in fWAR last season; even finding a league-average option over the offseason would be a major upgrade.

But Jed Hoyer hasn’t even been able to clear that relatively low bar. Chicago swung a trade for Los Angeles Angels cast-off Matt Thaiss, but while Thaiss brings the pedigree of being a former first-round pick, he’s been largely abysmal during parts of six seasons at the Major League level. He can hardly be counted on to improve the Cubs’ catching situation in a meaningful way — which is a problem, because the players who could do that have started flying off the board.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work onThe Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

First came Travis d’Arnaud, who went to the Angels on a two-year deal that precipitated the team trading away Thaiss. (Yes, one of the most dysfunctional organizations in baseball decided it would rather pay to bring someone else in than continue to give Thaiss playing time; let that sink in.) Then came Jacob Stallings, who followed up a career year in Colorado by re-signing with the Colorado Rockies. And on Monday night, San Diego Padres postseason hero Kyle Higashioka landed with the Texas Rangers on a two-year, $13.5 million deal that also includes a mutual option in 2027.

If d’Arnaud wasn’t the best catcher available in free agency, Higashioka was; the 34-year-old put up a 101 OPS+ last season while delivering his usual steady defense behind the plate, good for 1.6 fWAR in just 84 games. He’s not a superstar, but he’s the rare catcher who will at least not hurt you on both sides of the ball, and he would’ve been a massive upgrade on Thaiss while allowing Amaya to pick up less wear and tear.

Now, though, he’s off the board, and the list of available options is growing thinner by the day: At this point, Carson Kelly is the only free agent who cracked even 1.0 WAR this past season. Beyond that, you’re looking at the likes of Danny Jansen, who missed most of last season due to injury, and Gary Sanchez, who at this point is a catcher in name only. That doesn’t leave Hoyer with a lot of wiggle room if he wants to improve one of the worst catcher situations in baseball. And if he doesn’t, it could wind up costing Chicago some important games in 2025.