The Cubs and veteran righty Lance Lynn are in talks on a potential one-year deal, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who adds that the Cubs are eyeing some further rotation depth. That said, Lynn could potentially emerge as a bullpen piece. The right-hander told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal earlier in the offseason that his agent had gotten calls from teams curious about using Lynn out of the bullpen, and he sounded open to the idea at the time.
Lynn, 37, spent the 2024 season with his original club, the division-rival Cardinals. He made 23 mostly solid starts, logging a 3.84 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 117 1/3 innings. The righty averaged only five innings per appearance and had a pair of 15-day IL stints due to discomfort and inflammation in his right knee.
Even with the limited workload, it was a bounceback effort for the 13-year veteran, who’d been torched for a 5.73 earned run average in 183 innings between the White Sox and Dodgers the year prior. Lynn was baseball’s most homer-prone starter that year, serving up an average of 2.16 long balls per nine frames. He trimmed that to a far more manageable 1.23 in his return effort with the Cardinals.
If the two parties to come to terms, Lynn would be a fairly surprising addition. Chicago already has Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd locked into rotation spots. Presumptive fifth starter Javier Assad will open on the injured list due to an oblique strain but isn’t expected to be sidelined long-term. In the meantime, swingman Colin Rea could step into the rotation after signing a one-year, $5MM contract earlier in the winter.
The Cubs also have several young arms who are on the cusp of MLB readiness. Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Caleb Kilian are all already on the 40-man roster, as is journeyman Cody Poteet. Prospects Cade Horton and Brandon Birdsell aren’t yet on the 40-man but have both reached Triple-A. Horton, in particular, is generally ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects.
Any of those arms might need to be relied upon in the early stages of the season anyhow, as at this point it’s hard to imagine Lynn would be ready to jump into a big league rotation or bullpen with domestic Opening Day just two weeks out. The Cubs’ season, of course, starts next week during their Tokyo Series showdown against the Dodgers.
Chicago’s payroll currently sits at an estimated $194.6MM, per RosterResource, while their estimated CBT number checks in at $214.5MM. That places them $26.5MM away from the luxury tax threshold. Signing Lynn on what would surely be an affordable one-year deal would still leave the Cubs with more than $20MM in space between their current levels and that CBT barrier, providing ample room for in-season dealings as the front office sees fit.