The Chicago Cubs put together an impressive year, finishing 92–70 and advancing to the NLDS before falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in five games. Now they face one of the MLB’s toughest offseason dilemmas: figuring out how to keep — or replace — Kyle Tucker.
Tucker is the premier free agent on the market, and there’s a strong chance he’ll be leaving. If that happens, the Cubs will need another star to anchor their roster. According to Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter, Chicago might solve that problem by pulling off a major trade with the Detroit Tigers for two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
The trade would look like this:
Cubs get: LHP Tarik Skubal
Tigers get: C Moises Ballesteros, RHP Jaxon Wiggins, OF Kevin Alcántara, RHP Javier Assad
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“The Cubs have a rotation filled with No. 3/4 starter types and lacking a bona fide ace, and while 2025 rookie Cade Horton has the potential to fill that role, adding a proven frontline starter this winter would make them legitimate title contenders. After paying a steep price for Kyle Tucker last offseason, only to watch him walk in free agency, they would need to have some belief they would be willing to lock Skubal up with a long-term extension. If there’s an all-in move to be made for the North Siders, this is it,” Reuter wrote.
This past season, Skubal posted a 13-6 record, a 2.21 ERA, 241 Ks, and a WHIP of 0.891 over 195 innings pitched. He also won his second Cy Young in two years, being the first to do it since Jacob deGrom in 2018-19.
If the Cubs landed Skubal, it would solve their ace problem, their superstar problem, and their leader problem. With Skubal, the Cubs could be World Series contenders. Hopefully, they pony up the money to pay the man and have their ace locked down for the future.
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