Cubs Dubbed Top Landing Spot for Dodgers’ 2-Time All-Star Starting Pitcher
The Chicago Cubs missed out on the postseason in 2024, though they are primed to make a run at a World Series champion this offseason who can help get them back in the hunt.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report named Chicago the ideal landing spot for starting pitcher Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a two-time All-Star who finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting in 2021 and earned himself a championship ring last month.
“It’s a good rotation the Cubs have, but there’s a hole in it where Kyle Hendricks used to be,” Rymer wrote on Monday, November 4. “Buehler should appeal to them as a guy who could bring some bat-missing potential. It would also be fun to see him reunited with Cody Bellinger, a fellow former Dodgers champion.”
Walker Buehler Advised to Strike While Iron Hot With Team Like Cubs
Chicago is in position to snag Buehler early in the offseason proceedings given his status compared to some of the other top starting pitching talent that is going to be available ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Buehler has now undergone two Tommy John surgeries in his career, a procedure that a couple of decades past often spelled the end of the career to most pitchers who endured it. And while Buehler missed the entirety of the 2023 campaign due to injury and struggled for much of this regular season, he caught lighting in a bottle on the Dodgers’ run to a World Series title.
Rymer predicted that Buehler will sign soon while the market is at its strongest to take advantage of the momentum the recently-ended playoffs have afforded his free agency.
“If ever there was a free agent [who’s] in a position to strike while the iron is hot, it’s Walker Buehler right here and right now. Before the postseason, he looked like he would be a reclamation project in free agency,” Rymer wrote. “It’s hard to think of another player who raised his free-agent stock as much as Buehler did during the playoffs. And yet, he would do well to not get overconfident.”
Walker Buehler Won’t Command Massive Deal in Free Agency
Buehler will play next season at 30 years old. His age, combined with his injury history, is going to keep him well shy of the massive money that the top aces in the MLB currently command.
That said, baseball hasn’t historically shied away from paying players big money well into their 30s, so Buehler may be able to split the difference in a potential deal with the Cubs.
Rymer predicted a three-year contract worth $30 million total and no qualifying offer that includes an opt-out clause after 2025.
That’s solid money for a player who missed the entire year two seasons ago and went 1-6 as a starter in 2024. The reason Buehler can command even $10 million annually is because he allowed zero runs in his final three postseason appearances and recorded a save in the series-clinching Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees in the Big Apple — indicators that he might be on the precipice of returning to All-Star form.
