The Cubs are in agreement with right-hander Jacob Webb on a one-year deal that includes a club option for the 2027 season, according to a report from Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Per The Athletic’s Will Sammon, the righty is set to make $1.5MM in 2026 with a $2.5MM option for 2027, though incentives can push those figures up to $2MM and $3MM respectively. Webb is a client of KHG Sports Management. The Cubs have multiple 40-man vacancies and won’t need to make a corresponding move.
Webb, now 32, is coming off three straight solid seasons. He doesn’t overpower hitters or have pinpoint control but he can miss bats and also miss barrels.
He has thrown at least 53 2/3 innings in each of the past three campaigns. His earned run average has been 3.69 or lower in each of those. He walked 10.3% of batters faced in that time, a rate a bit higher than average. His 34.1% ground ball rate was also worse than par. His 23.5% strikeout rate was better than average but just barely.
Despite those underwhelming peripherals, he has kept runs off the board. He has perhaps had some help from the baseball gods, as he has allowed just a .235 batting average on balls in play over those three years, about 55 points below par. His 77.6% strand rate also leans to the fortunate side. His 4.11 FIP and 4.10 SIERA are skeptical of his 3.22 ERA for that span.
It might not be entirely luck, however. Statcast has pegged Webb’s exit velocity allowed as being in the 70th percentile or better in each of the past three years, including in the 95th percentile in 2025. His hard hit rate was middle of the pack in 2023 but 82nd percentile or better in each of the past two seasons. His barrel rate was 85th percentile or better in 2023 and 2025, though with a dip to 46th in 2024.
Despite the solid run of results, Webb has been fairly nomadic, perhaps since his arsenal isn’t dominant. His fastball has averaged in the 93 to 95 mile per hour range while he also throws a changeup and a sweeper in the low 80s. Teams love velocity and strikeouts these days and have perhaps been a bit skeptical of Webb’s numbers.
He was stuck in the minors in 2022 and sent through waivers unclaimed that year. Going into 2023, he settled for a minor league deal with the Angels. He eventually got a roster spot in Anaheim but went to the Orioles on waivers.
He stuck with the Orioles for a little over a year, from August of 2023 through the end of 2024. He posted a 3.02 ERA for Baltimore in 2024 and could have been retained for 2025, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a modest $1.7MM salary, but the O’s surprisingly non-tendered him.
The Rangers scooped Webb up and gave him a $1.25MM guarantee plus incentives. That turned into a great investment for Texas, with Webb posting a flat ERA of 3.00 this year. But once again, Webb found himself non-tendered, despite a modest $2MM salary projection for 2026.
The Cubs love to build a bullpen on the cheap. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer got his current title in November of 2020 and went five offseasons without giving a reliever a multi-year deal. Their 2025 relief corps featured contributions from Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar, Drew Pomeranz, Ryan Pressly, Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers, who were all acquired via trade or signed modest one-year deals, or sometimes even minor league deals.
That strategy has been effective for the Cubs as they have had some decent results from the bullpen without burdensome commitments. The downside is that so many short-term commitments means a big slate of guys reaching free agency at season’s end.
Going into 2026, there was work to do in rebuilding the relief corps. Hoyer finally broke his streak and gave a two-year deal to Phil Maton, though the $14.5MM guarantee was still quite affordable. The club has also added lefty Hoby Milner to a one-year deal with a $3.75MM guarantee. Perhaps coincidentally, each of Maton, Milner and Webb finished the 2025 season with the Rangers.
In addition to digging a runoff trench from Arlington to Wrigley, the Cubs also brought back Thielbar on a $4.5MM guarantee. Those four signees should slot in next to Daniel Palencia in the bullpen. The Cubs could give the final slots to in-house arms like Porter Hodge, Ethan Roberts, Luke Little and others but those guys still have options, so the Cubs could still find more external additions in what remains of the offseason.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Tim Heitman, Imagn Images