Chicago Cubs face bad news buzz on free agency-bound pitcher

The Chicago Cubs went out and got what they needed at the trade deadline this season. In contrast to last year, when Jed Hoyer and the front office played things conservatively at the deadline, the 2026 Cubs were aggressive in bringing assets in.

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All told, the team acquired Kevin Gausman from the Toronto Blue Jays, Braxton Garrett from the Miami Marlins, Ryan Zeferjahn from the Los Angeles Angels, and Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor from the New York Mets.

The Cubs’ stressed and strained starting rotation got the biggest boost with the additions of veteran starters Gausman and Holmes, who have become fixtures in the regular season rotation and are being looked to as key assets in the postseason rotation.

Holmes, especially, has become a source of much-needed consistency amid a rotation that had been in constant flux due to injury. So far with Chicago, the 33-year-old has been stellar with his new team, posting a 1.96 ERA through four starts—and this is after coming off an extended IL stint due to a fractured right fibula that kept him from pitching at the big league level since mid-May.

This sneak peek with the Cubs whets the appetite for what the groundball specialist could do over the course of an entire season with the team’s elite infield defense behind him.

Are Clay Holmes’ Cubs days numbered?

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Unfortunately, it’s looking less and less likely that the Cubs will be able to hold on to him beyond this season.

Holmes holds a $12 million player option for 2027 and the thought has always been that he’d test the free agency market rather than exercise that option. And now, it seems like that testing of the market is pretty much a sure thing. Per Fansided MLB insider Robert Murray, Holmes is being seen as one of the most popular free agent starting pitching options behind Tarik Skubal ahead of the coming season.

“Whatever you have projected for Clay Holmes, I would take the over on it,” Murray said on the Just Baseball podcast. “He is incredibly popular.”

By all accounts, Holmes is very happy in Chicago and his performance certainly reflects how well he’s meshed with the team.

“Pitching at Wrigley with a Cubs uniform on, in a Friday day game, it’s special. It’s iconic,” Holmes said after his first start with the team. “To do it with this team — and these guys that have been so great at welcoming me in — was a lot of fun.”

“You feel the environment,” Holmes added. “You feel the passion they have here. You just feel that they love baseball. They love winning baseball. It’s just fun to be a part of that.”

Money

But, of course, this is a money business and a 33-year-old pitcher is going to look to grab at a contract as lucrative as possible for as many years as possible. The Cubs’ history when it comes to pitching is that they won’t spend the next-level bucks on arms.

That could change as the team stares down the possibility of having no healthy, reliable starting pitching heading into the 2027 season and nine-figures of available budget to play with. But, for now, it might be wise to view Holmes as a really awesome ship that passed in the night.

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