The Chicago Cubs had Kevin Gausman on the mound for them in their final game of the season.
When they traded for him this summer from the Toronto Blue Jays, that may have been what they were envisioning, in a dream scenario — a World Series Game 7, and Gausman gets the ball.
It fell just a bit short of that.
Gausman started on Wednesday night in San Diego. It was Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series. The Padres eliminated the Cubs.
And just like that, Gausman’s time in Chicago may have been over.
Kevin Gausman Contract
The reason Gausman was available at all this summer was that he was on an expiring contract.
He’d be a free agent at the end of the year, no matter who he finished the season with. And with the Blue Jays failing to make a substantial playoff push by the trade deadline, they made the tough call to trade away Gausman.
He was a sensible acquisition for the Cubs, whose starting rotation was decimated by injuries this season.
Gausman struggled with the Cubs, though, and he battled injury, as well. It wasn’t the time in Chicago anyone would’ve wanted for him.
Still, the Cubs trusted him in a big moment. But it didn’t matter what Gausman did in Game 2, because the Cubs set a record for the lowest slugging percentage ever in a postseason series. No one was going to win games on the mound for Chicago in that circumstance.
Kevin Gausman Future
The early indications are that Gausman won’t be considering an immediate return to the Cubs.
“Boyd might return, but (Clay) Holmes, (Shota) Imanaga and Gausman will test the market, opening up some slots in the rotation,” ESPN’s Jesse Rogers wrote after the Cubs lost.
That’s a lot of pitching that the Cubs could potentially have to replace.
“The Cubs need to rebuild their pitching staff and that includes both their rotation and bullpen,” Rogers writes. “The good news is they can concentrate on that part of their team because they have enough position players to fill the void left by (Ian) Happ and (Seiya) Suzuki, who are both likely to leave the team via free agency. But what does that staff look like with Justin Steele and eventually Cade Horton returning from injury? Do Holmes and Boyd return? One but not the other? And what does one make of a bullpen that was inconsistent? It’s a yearly debate under Jed Hoyer, who doesn’t like to spend big money on closers. The Cubs have paid for that decision at times — though in other moments they’ve developed some good relievers. Pitching is the key to their offseason, whether it comes from within or from outside the organization.”
There will be musings about whether Gausman could return to the Blue Jays. He did have great years there, although they somewhat replaced him when they traded for Jose Soriano from the Angels.
Gausman’s lengthy experience and strong talent should still make a nice market for him in free agency, no matter where he ends up.
Kevin Gausman’s Cubs Future Made Clear by ESPN After Blue Jays Trade