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The 32-year-old hurler opened the 2025 season pitching at the Triple-A level for the Twins, posting an 8.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP and a 7/9 K/BB ratio over nine innings before being let go. He then logged 21 1/3 innings for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League and 13 1/3 frames in the Mexican League. He’ll add organizational bullpen depth for the Cubs.

Rosenthal also notes that the annual luxury tax charge for the Cubs will be less than $35 million and that the present-day value is expected to land in the $30-$31 million range. What an unbelievable evening it must have been for sports fans in Chicago with the Bears rallying to defeat the Packers in the Wild Card round while the Cubs announced their pact with Bregman simultaneously. The 31-year-old represents a massive upgrade to the middle of the Cubs’ lineup.

Along with a full no-trade clause, he gets $20 million more than Pete Alonso and $25 million more than Kyle Schwarber over the same timeframe. Outfield might have been the bigger priority for the Cubs, but Bregman still seems like a big upgrade from Matt Shaw at third, and the Cubs could see what Shaw looks like in the outfield. Trading Nico Hoerner is another possibility. For the Red Sox now, it’s Bo Bichette or bust.

The Cubs weren’t going to fight it out with their newly acquired right-hander, so he’ll get a $2.5 million raise in his second of four arbitration seasons. Cabrera had a 3.53 ERA in 26 starts for the Marlins last season.

Assad was a first-time arbitration eligible, so the option would cover his second year there. The 28-year-old Assad missed most of 2025, but he has a 3.43 ERA in 54 starts and 24 relief appearances for the Cubs since debuting in 2022. Alas, the missed time and the subpar peripherals have knocked him down the depth chart some, and he’ll enter camp no higher than seventh in line for the rotation. He could pitch out of the pen, but Triple-A is also a possibility.

Steele gets only a very slight increase over his $6.55 million salary from 2025 after being limited to four starts last April. He’s due back from Tommy John in the first half of 2026, and he’ll remain under Cubs control in 2027 before becoming a free agent for the first time.

The 33-year-old spent most of the 2025 season in the Diamondbacks organization before getting released in August while he was on the minor league injured list. He had just an 8.10 ERA and 2.40 WHIP in 3 1/3 MLB innings and has a 4.85 ERA and 10.7% walk rate in his career.

Cabrera, who has three years left before free agency, looked like he turned the corner after making mechanical adjustments last season, though he did miss time down the stretch with another arm issue. The 27-year-old’s 144 2/3 innings (including two rehab starts) were easily a career high in his nine seasons in the Marlins organization. The Cubs are hoping he’s the kind of pitcher who gets healthier with age, but we’ll see. He’d seem to finish off a rotation that will also include Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton, with Justin Steele expected back in June or July. Colin Rea is now due to open up in middle relief, though that was also the case at this time last year (he went on to make 27 starts). Caissie’s departure leaves Moisés Ballesteros as the now obvious Kyle Tucker replacement, with Seiya Suzuki shifting from DH to right field, but it also could make it more likely that they’ll add a bat.

The 23-year-old Caissie is the prize of the deal for the Marlins, and he’s obviously ready for a major league gig after hitting .281/.380/.507 with 41 homers in 982 plate appearances for Triple-A Iowa the last two years. Still, his upside is in question, especially given that he’s been striking out 28% of the time in the minors. If the Cubs were particularly high on him, they probably would have kept him and given him a shot in Kyle Tucker’s spot next season. Most likely, he’ll turn out to be a decent enough regular, but not a guy who goes to All-Star games. The Marlins will probably primarily roll with a Kyle Stowers-Jakob Marsee-Caissie outfield, with Griffin Conine more focused on first base and DH.

One of the top international signings in the 2021 class, Hernández has yet to hit as hoped, but he does have some plate discipline and he still figures to add some power. At age 21, he came in at .252/.329/.365 with seven homers and 52 steals in 115 games in High-A ball. He’s a legitimate shortstop, so he won’t have to excel offensively to turn into a decent regular. Still, he has some improving to do over these next two years. The Cubs failed to protect him from the Rule 5 draft last month, but he went unpicked.