Here’s a left-hander who hasn’t been mentioned much in connection with the Cubs, but I think Trevor Rogers might actually be a very good fit as a free agent starting pitcher.
Rogers had a bumpy start to his career with the Marlins, missing quite a bit of time due to injuries, including a lat strain which cost him most of the 2023 season.
He’s been mostly healthy since the Orioles acquired him at the deadline in 2024 for Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers, a rare trade that helped both teams. Rogers made
a career-high 30 starts in 2026 and posted a 4.03 ERA and 1.185 WHIP, a 2.2 bWAR season that registered lower on the WAR scale than his 2025 (5.3 bWAR with a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts).
While overall his 2026 numbers don’t look that great, they were skewed by some pretty bad outings in May. From June 1 to season’s end Rogers posted a 2.90 ERA (2.89 FIP) and 1.033 WHIP in 20 starts covering 121 innings, a large enough sample size to perhaps indicate that 2025 was not a fluke.
He doesn’t walk guys (5.6 percent walk rate) and generally keeps the ball in the ballpark (19 home runs in 169.2 innings). He’s got a more or less traditional pitch mix:
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Rogers turns 29 on Friday. MLB Trade Rumors has him at five years, $115 million and The Athletic says four years, $84 million, basically the same AAV of $21 million.
Seems worth it to me. What do you think?
