Cubs To Re-Sign Jacob Webb

The Cubs and right-hander Jacob Webb have agreed to a new contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a $2.5MM guarantee with a $2MM salary in 2027 and $4MM club option for 2028 which comes with a $500K buyout. Webb’s previous deal had a $2.5MM club option for 2027 with no buyout. The Cubs will bring him back and give him that same figure on the new deal while adding an extra year of potential club control. There are also incentives, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Webb will earn an extra $125K at 35, 45, 55 and 65 games pitched, giving him a chance to earn an extra $500K.

Webb, now 33, was a free agent last winter. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, $1.5MM deal with a $2.5MM club option and incentives. He went on to have a good season in the Chicago bullpen. He tossed 67 innings with a 3.36 earned run average. His 8.8% walk rate and 40.8% ground ball rate were both right around league-wide average while his 25.7% strikeout rate was a few ticks better than par. He racked up nine saves and nine holds in a volatile Cubs bullpen.

Despite pretty consistently solid results, the market has never been too excited about Webb. In 2024, he posted a 3.02 ERA for the Orioles and then was non-tendered despite MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a fairly modest $1.7MM salary for 2025. He signed with the Rangers for 2025 on a deal with a $1.25MM guarantee. He gave Texas 66 innings with a flat ERA of 3.00. His gift was another non-tender, despite a projected salary of just $2MM.

That was when the Cubs swooped in and gave him $1.5MM. Today was the deadline for them to decide about the $2.5MM club option in the deal. It seems they were on the fence about that decision. They have worked out a new deal that will pay Webb at least that $2.5MM figure, while giving the club a chance to bring him back in 2028 if he has another strong campaign.

The pitching staff in Wrigley is slated for a huge amount of turnover. Clay Holmes declined his player option today and is now a free agent. He joins Kevin Gausman, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Matthew Boyd, Aaron Civale, Colin Rea, Hunter Harvey, Caleb Thielbar and Trent Thornton on the list of Cubs now headed for the open market. Webb might have been in there as well if the Cubs had passed on his option. Given all that uncertainty, it’s understandable they would want to keep Webb around at a fairly modest price point.

Webb slots into the projected 2027 bullpen alongside Daniel Palencia, Ryan Zeferjahn, Shelby Miller and others. With so many arms departing the roster, the Cubs will surely be busy in making transactions this offseason, so the roster projection will undoubtedly change many times before the club takes the field again.