As Cubs Consider Buying Low on a Bat, These 5 Names Stand Out

6 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

It's an unfortunate reality, but an urgent one: the Cubs have more to do with this winter than they have with which to do it. They're a good team, but not a great one—not good enough, to be sure, to challenge the mighty Brewers without major upgrades. They have a bad farm system, so the solutions to their pressing problems aren't coming from within the organization. They'll have to make external additions, and while they have ample money to spend on those additions, their budget isn't unlimited. Nor is the free-agent class teeming with great options, if you're a team aiming higher than a Wild Card berth.

That means doing some triage, and for Jed Hoyer, the decisions about how to allocate his scarce resources should be pretty easy. The Cubs need pitching help much more than they need position-player help, so they need to spend big money and bundle whatever prospects they can to bolster the pitching staff. However, they also have to either re-sign or replace each of Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Carson Kelly; rebuild a lumpy bench; and consider an upgrade or a platoon improvement at first base. Since most of the resources will need to go toward pitching, the hitters will have to be picked up on the cheap.

Happily, buy-low options are easier to find this winter than star-caliber solutions. Here are five guys who finished 2026 in a rut and might thus be available at a bargain price, about whom the Cubs should at least be making some calls between now and the presumed lockout at the beginning of December.

Spencer Horwitz: A Poor Man's Michael Busch, in Case Yours is Broken

The Pirates got hold of Spencer Horwitz in the offseason between 2024 and 205, as part of a double-move by the Guardians in which they acquired the lefty-batting first baseman from Toronto and flipped him to Pittsburgh. Since then, he's been a reasonably useful platoon guy at first for the Bucs. He hit .272/.353/.434 in his first year on the senior circuit, playing a very slightly expanded version of the role he took on when he arrived in the bigs in full the previous campaign. He didn't hit for as much power as you'd like, even from a platoon guy, but he hit for average and got on base.

That was true for the first chunk of 2026, too. In fact, he got even better. At the All-Star break, he was batting .280/.386/.455 and looking like a breakout guy. Alas, thereafter, he was dreadful. In 156 plate appearances down the stretch, Horwitz hit .180/.263/.201. He only had three extra-base hits; they were all doubles. It was a nightmare. He cratered.

As we'll discuss shortly, though, Horwitz wasn't the only Pirates batter who fell into the abyss. Nor is he some decrepit veteran circling the drain. He's almost exactly the same age as Michael Busch. Plainly, Busch has more upside, given the power he showed in 2025. Horwitz isn't big, and he's not a high-end defender even at first. He wouldn't be a projectable upgrade on Busch. Rather, he'd come in as an option at designated hitter and a bit of a dice-roll—but also as an insurance policy, in case Busch continues his own downward trend. The Pirates probably aren't ready to give up on Horwitz outright, but the asking price on him ought not to be terribly high. It's a conversation worth having.

Brandon Marsh: Oh My God, What Happened?

Marsh is an All-Star—not a former All-Star, mind you, but a 2026 All-Star outfielder. He had put together an encouraging finish to the 2025 campaign, and he carried that over gloriously into 2026. At the break, he was hitting a slashing .301 and tracking toward over 20 homers for the year. He's only 28 years old; it looked like he was finally making good on considerable promise. Like Horwitz, though, he collapsed after the break, with a .502 OPS the rest of the way. Marsh, too, is virtually identical to Busch in age, but unlike Busch and Horwitz, he's due to be a free agent at the end of next year.

For a Phillies team in transition, that makes him an intriguing trade candidate. Moving Bryce Harper would save them more money and headaches, and actuarially, a team should strive to hold onto a 29-year-old like Marsh, rather than a 34-year-old like Harper. Practically speaking, though, there's much more friction involved in trying to move Harper, and trading Marsh might yield what the Phillies want to balance an organization that's misshapen but still dedicated to winning. Marsh's underlying data suggests he shouldn't have gone quite as bad as he did, so maybe some positive regression is in store.

Ryan O'Hearn: For When You're Shopping in the Horwitz Aisle But Prefer to Go Cheaper

After a strong 2025 season with the Orioles and Padres, Ryan O'Hearn signed a two-year deal with the Pirates last winter. Early on, it looked like a win; he hit .288/.351/.487 with 16 home runs before the break. The wheels then came off. Amid a second half marred by six weeks on the injured list, O'Hearn batted .198/.268/.297 in 112 plate appearances to close out the year. He's owed $14.5 million for 2027. The Pirates are almost certain to move one of him and Horwitz, particularly given the bitter taste left in their mouths after the way their season ended. Horwitz, who's under long-term team control and might have upside, will be a more expensive acquisition. O'Hearn has the stronger overall track record, though, so as a short-term investment, he might be preferable. Again, he'd be a platoon DH, with the chance to take playing time from Busch as and when needed.

Bryan Reynolds: The Three-Rivers Trifecta?

No injury excuses, here. Reynolds played 162 games, batted 699 times and led the majors with 40 doubles. He batted .261/.365/.424 at age 31, in the third expensive year of seven on the extension he signed with Pittsburgh long ago. Unlike Happ, he's a true switch-hitter, capable of handling lefties and righties with virtually equal aplomb. His splits between season halves were not nearly as even, though. He batted only .229/.312/.347 after the All-Star break. His strikeout rate ticked up; his walk rate ticked down. He's expensive, and he's locked into a deal that ensures he'll be expensive for quite a while. There's enough meat on the bone, contractually, to limit what the Pirates could demand in trade for him, but he would be a meaningful upgrade over Happ as a left fielder.

Taylor Ward: The One Who's Available for Nothing But Cash

The four players above are all trade targets, but the downside of that avenue of roster upgrade is that the Cubs would be parting with the scarce resource of solid prospects. They can't afford guys with very high trade values; they don't have enough young talent. Ideally, then, they would bolster their lineup via free agency, not just trades. In a thin class for bats, though, they need to find a way to do that without putting more of their dollars in the hitter basket than they can afford.

Taylor Ward is an interesting option in that vein. He had a great season for the Angels in 2025, prompting the Orioles to make an ambitious trade for him over the winter. His time in Baltimore was unhappy, though, as he went from patient to passive and gave back virtually all the power that made him so good with Anaheim in his last year there. He's a free agent at the end of the World Series, so the O's dealt him to Seattle at the trade deadline, where he only continued to spiral. Ward batted .125/.238/.148 in 101 plate appearances for the Mariners. Woof. I mean... woof.

Ward tried to leverage the implementation of ABS by becoming more patient than ever, but ended up getting abused, instead. He has to figure out how to get back to getting off his 'A' swing more consistently, without losing that plate discipline. Fortunately, the fact that he was unable to do so for most of 2026 will keep him cheap in free agency. He's a right-handed bat who can handle DH duties or play left field. He's a good fit for the Cubs, albeit as a complementary piece, rather than a middle-of-the-order solution. 

Again, the Cubs should spend a lot of money this winter. None of the moves above should be thought of as alternatives to (say) re-signing Suzuki, which they should still explore. Eventually, though, they'll need to divert money or trade chips from the lineup toward the pitching staff. To fill the remaining gaps, they need to spot a few places where talented hitters' stock has fallen more than it ought to have. These are just a few of the possibilities along those lines.

Image courtesy of Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

 

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While we are shopping in the bargain aisle, why not mention Josh Bell? He only cost money too. Switch hitter, can play some first base. 20 homer power and a guy who can give you a little more than league average offense. Not necessarily advocating for Bell, but he is as good as any mentioned in this article.