The Milwaukee Brewers made an effort to boost their pitching staff when they swung a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for Dustin May and JoJo Romero. They probably wouldn’t go back and undo the deal since they won a World Series, but Romero ended up being the better addition of the two as May struggled. That’s why the Chicago Cubs being linked to May probably won’t concern Milwaukee too much.
It was reported by Jon Morosi of MLB Network that the Cubs are one of several teams that have interest in May. While Brewers fans may be scratching their heads at why there is so much interest in May after he had a 5.65 ERA in 10 starts with Milwaukee and a 5.73 ERA in the playoffs, he is still seen as having good underlying stuff even if the results have not quite gone his way.
If May were to join the Cubs and pitched similar to how he pitched in Milwaukee then Brewers fans would probably be delighted. He could continue his tour of the NL Central and the only team he would be missing is the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Teams that are interested in him seem too be betting that he can return too the form he displayed earlier in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. From 2019 to 2023 he had a 3.10 ERA in 192 innings of work, but since he had an esophageal tear in 2024 he has been trying to regain his old form and had bounced around from team to team in the process.
Cubs could really use more pitchers which is why they are interested in Dustin May
The Cubs are a team that is desperate for pitching this offseason, though. Basically all of their starters are set to hit free agency so they are going to have to sign quite a few arms to go into 2027 feeling like they are in a good spot when it comes to the starting rotation.
No team thinks that a pitcher like May will be an ace, but Chicago might want to sign him thinking he could be a decent No. 4 or No. 5 starter with the hope that a little work can help him return to his earlier form.
Still, from Milwaukee’s perspective they would probably love to see May sign with a dreaded rival and put up the same uninspired numbers he put up in his brief stint while with the Brewers. Milwaukee loves to dunk on the Cubs as Trevor Megill showed, so May struggling with the Cubs would be icing on the cake for Brewers fans.
Brewers Likely Shrug As Dustin May Is Linked to NL Central Rival