Cubs, Jacob Webb Agree on New One-Year Deal with Team Option for 2028

[Matthew Trueblood]

In an echo of a larger deal they made with Colin Rea last November, the Cubs averted an outright decision to decline or exercise their club option on right-handed reliever Jacob Webb Monday, a source with knowledge of the deal said. Webb, 33, would have been due $2.5 million for 2027 under the terms of a deal the parties signed last offseason. Instead, he'll get $2 million this year, with the extra $500,000 pushed out into a buyout on a $4-million option for 2028.

The ugly way the season ended made Webb a much less enticing keeper for next season than he looked like as late as the trade deadline, when he was acting as the team's de facto closer and missing bats well with his signature changeup. A barrage of home runs cost the Cubs a few games down the stretch and pushed Webb into lower-leverage work, and heading into next season, he'll be viewed as no more than a middle reliever. Still, absent this new deal, picking up his club option would have been a no-brainer. He's meaningfully better than most players available at that price range on the free-agent market.

By re-upping this way, the Cubs save a small amount on their 2027 budget, but that amount is a rounding error. More importantly, they capture the possibility of another year of control over Webb, which would also be at a bargain rate. In effect, he's being paid the same salary as he would have been otherwise, and the team has a $3.5-million decision to make about him a year from now.

This kind of move is part of Jed Hoyer's roster-management hygiene routine. Last fall, the Cubs held an option on Colin Rea, coming off the lone guaranteed season of a deal he had signed with them in January 2025. Rather than either exercise or decline it, the team effectively restructured the contract, guaranteeing Rea the same amount but tacking on another club option, this time for 2027. They declined that option on Rea Monday, but renewing their deal with him last fall still looks like a win. They got much-needed bulk innings from him amid a slew of pitching injuries this season, and had he been even a hair better, they could have kept him at a low price. This kind of move is low-risk and medium-reward—a Hoyer specialty.

With Webb officially back in the fold, the Cubs have him, Phil Maton, Daniel Palencia, Ryan Zeferjahn and Ryan Rolison penciled into next year's bullpen mix. Beyond those names lie injury risks and best-guesses, but the foundation on which Hoyer is building next season's relief corps appears to be strong.

Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

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