Chicago Cubs losing hope fast on the closer front

The Cubs, meanwhile, were only seriously tied to Williams, who reportedly preferred coming to Chicago, but opted to take the more generous money offer from the Mets.

You may be noticing a familiar pattern here. That pattern also played out in the team’s reported pursuit of starter Dylan Cease, which, similarly, came up short when the Cubs pulled back after the $200 million line was crossed. It’s even truer to form, though, for Chicago to be frugal when it comes to a bullpen arm, even a high-leverage shutdown closer.

The questions surrounding Daniel Palencia

Yes, the Cubs do, technically, have a closer already.

Daniel Palencia turned a lot of heads in 2025, coming up from the minors in mid-April and eventually winning the closer role. For awhile, he was among the best in baseball at closing out games. He came into August sporting a 1.40 ERA and a “for real” bluster about him.

But this was Palencia’s first extended ride of any note at the major league level, and definitely his first time dealing with big league pennant race pressure. There was enough concern that fans and media called for the Cubs to acquire an experienced co-closer at the trade deadline. The Cubs didn’t follow through on the recommendation.

In Palencia’s last two months of the season, he crumbled. He posted a 7.07 ERA in 17 appearances in August and September, with a stint on the IL tossed in after the first week of September. In the playoffs, the 25-year-old was just passable, with a 3.52 ERA in six appearances. Most telling, however, was the fact that manager Craig Counsell had seemingly lost confidence in Palencia’s ability to close games.

Now, headed into 2026, Palencia is one of just two familiar bullpen names still on the team from the 2025 NLDS roster. It’s just assumed that he will resume his closer role, but, given the way he closed out last season, there’s absolutely no guarantee of that.

He’ll be joining new pickups Phil Maton and Hoby Milner, who are solid free agent acquisitions, in a bullpen still riddled with question marks and a glaring need for a late-inning shutdown specialist.

And now, the high-end closer options are almost all off the board.

Who’s still out there?

Remaining are Pete Fairbanks, who is reportedly being courted by several teams, and then some more modest fall-backs like Luke Weaver, Kenley Jansen, Kirby Yates, and David Robertson. Meanwhile, hope is fading fast that the Cubs will/would meet the growing asking price of their 2025 successful reclamation project Brad Keller.

So, essentially, Chicago is starting 2026, the same way that it started 2025, at least when it comes to the closer situation. Unless something big happens, they’ll be hoping for a surprise or two and falling back on a closer by committee if things go sideways.

All will be forgiven if the Cubs somehow manage to get Alex Bregman and a front-of-rotation starter. But we’ll just have to wait and see on that.