What’s next for the Cubs now that Roki Sasaki is going somewhere else?

As we learned late Monday, the Cubs will not be the MLB landing spot for NPB star Roki Sasaki. He has narrowed his choices to three teams: Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays.

I think I’m not alone when I say I hope it’s either of the two teams besides the Dodgers. In fact, if he did choose the Jays, that would be somewhat refreshing, a club that doesn’t often get a big splash like this.

Regarding Sasaki’s not choosing the Cubs: It is not time for recriminations about Jed Hoyer, how “Sasaki was never going to pick the Cubs” or any such thing. Not one of us knows why the Cubs were not chosen or anything else that Sasaki is thinking. We likely will never know, and so be it.

But that makes this time to move on, and I would now expect the free agent and trade markets to pick up a bit of steam, especially once Sasaki does make his choice. That choice won’t come until at least tomorrow, Jan. 15, the beginning of the 2025 international signing period. Sasaki must make his choice by Jan. 23, the end of his 45-day posting period from his NPB team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.

So what could the Cubs do in the interim? Here are three possibilities

Make a trade

This specific possibility was mentioned in the comments to the linked article above and I hope Hoyer & Co. are at least examining it.

While we don’t know which team Sasaki will pick, yet, let’s assume for the sake of argument that it’s going to be the Padres.

If so, the Cubs could offer some international bonus money — something San Diego could likely use in this case — along with a couple of prospects, and ask for Dylan Cease in trade.

Which prospects? Owen Caissie was mentioned, and that’d be interesting if for no other reason than the fact that Caissie came from the Padres organization in the Yu Darvish trade.

Of course, that wouldn’t be the only player going in such a deal. A starting pitcher, perhaps Jordan Wicks or Javier Assad, would have to be included, and perhaps another prospect or two. I’ll let you fill in the blank here.

But I’d think Hoyer should look into making a trade like this.

In the case of Cease, this would be a deal similar to the Kyle Tucker trade in that Cease is a free agent after 2025.

What if Sasaki’s choice is the Blue Jays? The Cubs could make a similar offer there for, say, Kevin Gausman (under contract for two years) or Jose Berrios (under contract with a complicated deal that he can opt out of after 2026, so assume it’s essentially a two-year deal with choices to be made after ‘26). Personally, I’d rather have Berrios, as he’s three years younger.

The Cubs should absolutely, positively look into making a deal like this.

It doesn’t have to be a starter from one of the Sasaki “finalists.” Maybe look at Twins starter Pablo López, as I suggested earlier this month.

Sign a free-agent starter

There aren’t many left on the open market. One of the more attractive possibilities is Jack Flaherty.

Last November I wrote a free-agent target article about Flaherty and 56 percent of you said the Cubs should not sign him, in the poll attached to the article.

Obviously nothing’s changed about Flaherty’s numbers or potential performance since November. At the time, MLB Trade Rumors projected him to get a five-year, $115 million deal, an AAV of $23 million.

That would definitely be somewhat risky given Flaherty’s injury history, though he did have a good, completely healthy year in 2024. He didn’t throw all that well in the postseason for the Dodgers, although that’s a fairly small sample size (22 innings).

As we get later into the offseason, perhaps Flaherty would be willing to take a Cody Bellinger-type deal, three years with multiple opt-outs.

Here’s a list of all remaining free agents. Looking at starting pitchers, there aren’t really any others left who would fill the role the Cubs need.

Leave starting pitching alone for now and sign a quality reliever

Looking at that free-agent list above, guys on it who have closing experience include Carlos Estévez (who I wrote up here last week), Kenley Jansen, David Robertson, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.

There are a few others who might be attractive to the Cubs, including Scott Barlow (who I believe the Cubs have tried to trade for in the past), Kyle Finnegan and A.J. Minter, among others.

Personally, I think the Cubs should give Porter Hodge every opportunity to take the closer spot and so don’t need to sign an “established” closer. But they could still use some veteran help in the pen.