The Chicago Cubs entered 2024 with much higher expectations than the current standings would indicate, though the fact that the team is still lingering in the National League wild card race shows that there is a core of talent that might have produced better results with better health and a few breaks along the way. But the team made clear at the trade deadline that it was aiming toward a big boost in 2025, so there is, at least, some hope.
Hope is nice, but what’s even nicer is free-agent spending. And the Cubs have, recently, been linked to one of the biggest free-agent names to hit the market in recent memory, a player who could create the kind of hoopla we saw last winter when Shohei Ohtani was available and signed with the Dodgers.
And while the caveat is that what follows is a long shot, at the very least, it is a possibility: The Cubs could be suitors for Yankees star Juan Soto, who will be a free agent potentially commanding a deal worth $560 million over 14 years, according to The Athletic.
Cubs ‘Could Likely Afford’ a Pursuit
Two top MLB insiders—ESPN’s Jeff Passan and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman—both ticked off the Cubs as potential pursuers of Soto when examining his free agency. Passan acknowledged that Soto’s salary floor will come in at $500 million, but that’s just a floor.
“It will go higher, though, and when it does, that number will frighten away a vast majority of teams,” Passan wrote. “Some of them could afford it; many will choose not to. This is the history of free agency. There are ultimately at most a handful of spenders for the biggest free agents. In Soto’s case, the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and both Los Angeles teams could likely afford him but are long shots to make a real push.”
Heyman has the Yankees as “even money” favorites to keep Soto in the offseason. “I’m sticking with the Mets at five-to-1 as the second choice,” Heyman said. “That doesn’t leave a lot of room for anybody else. Everybody else is a long shot in my book. I have the Dodgers at 15-to-1 and the Giants at 20-to-1. … Toronto at 25-to-1, (with) Philadelphia, Boston, Cubs, Nats and Padres.”
Of course, 25-to-1 does not put the Cubs into prime position to sign Soto, but they could have a significant slice of free-agent money to spend, as their payroll could drop to $155 million after the season, depending on how Cody Bellinger handles his upcoming $27 million player option.
Juan Soto Most Likely Returning to Yankees?
As Heyman noted, Soto is most likely to head back to the Yankees, given the way he has fit so nicely at Yankee Stadium. He’s batting .291 with a .419 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage, with a career-high 37 home runs.
Those numbers would look pretty nice in the middle of the Cubs lineup that is lacking a slugger, even if Soto is a longshot.
A more realistic opportunity for the Cubs on the free-agent market could come if the Yankees find themselves in a bidding war with the Mets over Soto, which would leave current Mets first baseman Pete Alonso open for offers. Alonso would be an ideal and slightly more affordable fit for a Cubs team that has been rumored to be interested in signing him.
