Are Cubs A Great Fit To Steal Free Agent Pitcher From Hated Division Rival?

"The Cubs could look to steal veteran pitcher Nick Martinez from the Cincinnati Reds," Pressnell wrote. "Martinez works as a starter and a reliever for the Reds. He does a solid job in both roles, and the Cubs could look to sign him to a one or two-year deal with that kind of workload in mind. Chicago could have used more pitching all year, so having a flexible arm like Martinez would have worked to its benefit. With the veteran on the market, the fit makes sense this winter."

Martinez accepted a qualifying offer last year which paid him more than $21 million, but he proved his worth with an excellent season that saw him pitch the most starts of his career. With the way Chicago has employed a strategy of using openers at the back end of the rotation, someone the 35-year-old could wind up being a perfect fit.

Martinez Makes a Ton of Sense For Cubs

The right-hander has been excellent for Cincinnati over the last two years, but more importantly he has been extremely versatile. He has made 81 appearances since the start of 2024 and 42 of them have been starts. In that period, Martinez has pitched to a 3.85 ERA and 1.124 WHIP, piling up a bWAR of 6.2.

He was better last year than he was in 2025, and that combined with the fact that he is starting to age will prevent Martinez from getting a huge long-term deal, which obviously would keep him in Chicago's desired price range as well.

If the Cubs would be willing to extend potentially a two-year deal at an AAV of around $10-15 million, this would likely give them a great chance to land him and give Chicago someone who they can deploy anywhere and get solid production from.

The Reds would surely like to keep him, but stealing a veteran talent like Martinez away from a young ascending rival should further widen the gap between the two NL Central rivals.

When the offseason does come, look for the Cubs to make a real run at someone like Martinez.