An early look at the best free agent fits for the Cubs this offseason

The top priority for the baseball team on the North Side of Chicago right now is making the 2025 postseason. After a roaring start to the campaign, the Cubs have slipped way down in the standings, facing long odds to wrestle the division back from the Milwaukee Brewers.

That being said, it's never too early to turn our attention to the upcoming offseason, where the Cubs will have money to spend and holes to fill. The team's lackluster performance at the trade deadline won't inspire a ton of confidence, but this is the same front office that acquired Kyle Tucker via trade and signed Matthew Boyd to a free-agent contract last offseason.

It just so happens that Tucker will be the best free agent on the market this upcoming winter, and the Cubs will be faced with the prospect of a bidding war to retain his services.

Nevertheless, he, and many other top free agents, will be on the Cubs' radar this offseason. Following The Athletic's latest list ranking the top 25 prospective free agents, which players should the front office be planning to target come November?

Kyle Tucker, Padres' righties stand out as perfect Cubs free agent fits

Jim Bowden didn't assign any "most likely fits" in that rankings piece, though it isn't hard to snuff out which players fill the Cubs' various needs.

Tucker is the "no duh" option, even as he struggles through the most prolonged slump of his career right now. He's the Cubs' best player when healthy, and the team traded for him with the intention (we hope) of re-signing him to a long-term contract.

Besides him, a pair of co-aces from San Diego, Michael King and Dylan Cease, stand to be the best right-handed starters available. They, like most players on Bowden's list, will be attached to the dreaded qualifying offer, though that shouldn't stop a win-now Cubs team from pursuing obvious and logical rotation upgrades.

There are a number of left-handed starters also available, including Framber Valdez (Astros) and Ranger Suárez (Phillies), though all things being equal, it stand to reason that Chicago would want another righty to balance out their top trio of Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, and Matthew Boyd.

It's unlikely to that the Cubs will go after corner infielders like Pete Alonso and Eugenio Suárez given the breakouts Matt Shaw and Michael Busch have experienced at various points this season, though a reunion with Kyle Schwarber could be in the cards if Tucker walks (pushing Seiya Suzuki back to right field), and the team would be foolish not to at least try to lure Munetaka Murakami in.

There's also a crop of impressive relievers (Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, Robert Suarez), and it's possible Jed Hoyer and company tries to make up for their swings and misses on Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates last offseason. However, it's more likely that the team continues to build cheap bullpens from the scrapheap in order to invest resources elsewhere.

In all, there's a number of intriguing free agents that appear to be solid fits for the 2026 Chicago Cubs. As such, the question is less about which players the team will have interest in, and more about whether or not the team will spend serious money ahead of the impending 2027 lockout.