Chicago Cubs Need To Target One of These Relief Pitchers Ahead of MLB Trade Deadline

The Chicago Cubs have found a lot of success offensively during the 2025 MLB regular season, but their pitching staff has sometimes left something to be desired.

Injuries have hampered the starting rotation and the bullpen has had its fair share of woes thus far.

There have been a few strong performances from Daniel Palencia and Caleb Thielbar and the recent additions of veterans Drew Pomeranz and Chris Flexen have paid dividends as well.

But, if the Cubs want to remain in contention, it wouldn’t hurt to add another impact arm to their group of relief pitchers.

Here are four bullpen arms Chicago needs to target ahead of the trade deadline.

Kyle Finnegan

After being non-tendered by the Washington Nationals early in the offseason, their veteran closer eventually re-signed with the club. He was linked to the Cubs during the offseason and given their place in the standings, should be available this summer.

Finnegan has been the only consistently reliable reliever for manager Dave Martinez this season, recording 14 saves out of the team’s 19 wins. He has a 2.70 ERA and has yet to allow a home run, fixing one of the issues he faced throughout his career.

On an expiring contract, it shouldn’t be too costly to acquire him from a Nationals team that isn’t very likely to make a playoff push.

Peter Fairbanks

If Chicago is looking for someone who has some control beyond the 2025 campaign, the Tampa Bay Rays closer could be their guy.

Always money-conscious, Fairbanks fits the mold of the kind of player the Rays would try to flip for future assets being under team control only through the 2026 season. He has been great as a closer and would help shore things up beyond this year with Ryan Pressly set to hit free agency.

A flamethrower, there are some injury concerns here. That could knock down the asking price, but a reliever with a 30.9% strikeout rate in his career will always be popular, despise his numbers being way down the last two years with an 8.7 K/9 ratio last year and 8.5 ratio this year.

David Bednar

The Cubs have seen first hand how dominant the Pittsburgh Pirates reliever can be when he is on his game. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been on his game too often recently, clouding his future with the cost-conscious Pirates.

They have shown a willingness to spend some money on pitching, but Bednar was bad in 2024 with a 5.77 ERA. He has been a little better in 2025 with a 4.26 ERA, but is no longer the team’s closer.

Under team control through 2026, he is someone who could be a buy-low candidate for a contender given his impressive track record before 2024 when he made the National League All-Star team twice as one of the top closers in the game.

Ryan Helsley

The price to acquire the St. Louis Cardinals closer is not going to be cheap. It could be even more expensive for a National League Central rival.

But given the current makeup of Chicago’s roster and the uncertainty surrounding Kyle Tucker’s future with the team, the Cubs need to be aggressive seeking upgrades.

Helsley is set to hit free agency after the 2025 season, but would be a massive improvement for this year’s squad. After leading the MLB with 49 saves last year, he is going to be a hot commodity on the trade market unless the Cardinals continue to keep pace in the playoff race.