The Chicago Cubs had a great offense last season, led by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman.
However, the pitching staff was terrible. They had a 4.12 ERA overall, with their starters posting a 4.27 ERA. The team needs to make adding starting pitching a priority, and Freddy Peralta makes too much sense as a target.
Peralta has played most of his career for Craig Counsell and is the second-best pitcher on the open market. He struggled early in the season, but after he was sent to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, he turned things around. He started throwing his changeup more, changed his position on the rubber and started throwing out of the stretch exclusively. His velocity ticked up and he ended up winning World Series MVP.
Last season, Edward Cabrera had some good moments, but struggled with injuries. Cade Horton missed most of the season, making just two starts. Justin Steele missed the entire season as well.
The team tried fixing the rotation at the deadline by adding Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman, but it was not enough. Those two, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga are all on the open market now, and the Cubs need to make moves. While Steele and Cabrera should be good to go when the season starts, whenever that may be, Horton could miss most of the year.
The Cubs will surely throw their hat in the ring for Tarik Skubal, but it seems like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Mets are poised to win that sweepstakes. Peralta seemed to thrive in a smaller market, and even though Chicago is not exactly a small market, it's smaller than Los Angeles or New York.
Peralta wants to get paid and compete for a championship. The Cubs could check both of those boxes and also let him face his former team, the Milwaukee Brewers, a ton.
The Cubs have money to spend and Counsell has a connection with Peralta. He will likely be the pivot option for all the teams that miss out on Skubal, but the Cubs may be more desperate than other suitors, meaning they may be willing to overpay.
He is a two-time All-Star and can be a legitimate ace in a very needy rotation.