The Chicago Cubs will be an interesting team to watch during this offseason.
After being swept by the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series, the Cubs should look to improve their roster this offseason. One of their most obvious needs is starting pitching help.
However, with the offseason getting started, the Cubs are now being predicted to lose one of their star pitchers in free agency.
Chicago Cubs Predicted to Lose Star Pitcher to NL Rival
In a recent article for Bleacher Report, Kerry Miller predicted that the Cubs will lose star pitcher Clay Holmes to the San Francisco Giants this offseason.
“And beyond the ground ball rate, Holmes is exactly the kind of relatively affordable veteran No. 2 or No. 3 starter the Giants always seem to target. They’ll probably need to spend a bit more than usual to secure the former closer turned starter who turns 34 in March, but they should be able to afford a three-year, $63M type of deal to help fill out what is presently looking like a much less than stellar rotation for 2027,” Miller wrote.
With the Giants needing pitching help, it would not be surprising if they made a push for Holmes. He has shown during his career that he can be an impactful pitcher. Thus, it would make sense if a team like the Giants tried to land him this offseason.
Losing Holmes to the Giants would not be the best news for the Cubs, though. This is because Chicago needs all the pitching they can get, and the Giants are one of their National League rivals.
Looking at Holmes
Holmes split the 2026 season between the New York Mets and Cubs. In 18 games split between the two teams, he posted a 6-8 record, a 3.29 ERA, and 78 strikeouts. This was after he had a 12-8 record, a 3.53 ERA, and 129 strikeouts in 33 games with the Mets during the 2025 season.
Holmes has also had an ERA under 4.00 in each of his last seven seasons. With this, he has been a dependable pitcher for a while now and could generate a lot of interest in free agency. Thus, if the Cubs want to re-sign them, they should act quickly.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what happens with Holmes this offseason. The Giants likely won’t be the only team looking to sign the Cubs pitcher.
Chicago Cubs Suddenly Predicted to Lose 2X All-Star Pitcher to NL Rival