With eight key relievers hitting free agency and questions surrounding Daniel Palencia, the “versatile” former Yankee closer represents a perfect, affordable $24M solution for the Cubs’ 2026 bullpen.
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs are facing a bullpen overhaul this offseason. This is owed to the team having multiple key pieces from their 2025 relief corps elect free agency, including:
- Caleb Thielbar
- Drew Pomeranz
- Aaron Civale
- Taylor Rogers
- Ryan Brasier
- Michael Soroka
- Brad Keller
While there’s a good chance that Chicago re-signs some of these arms, many will be wearing different uniforms by Opening Day 2026.
This allows President Jed Hoyer to pursue fresh arms in hopes of improving a bullpen that had a collective 3.78 ERA during the 2025 regular season (11th in MLB).
The Palencia Question
Perhaps the biggest question Hoyer and the Cubs’ brass need to decide is whether they’re content with keeping Daniel Palencia as their closer.
While the 25-year-old was “extremely solid” as the bullpen anchor (posting a 2.91 ERA and converting 22 of 25 save opportunities), there are questions about whether Palencia is “truly elite,” given that 2025 was his breakout year.
The Luke Weaver Solution
If the Cubs were to sign former New York Yankees reliever Luke Weaver this winter, his versatility would make it so Chicago wouldn’t need to make an immediate, hard decision on Palencia.
Weaver excels as a high-leverage reliever late in games, but he can also be a solid and consistent closer. This “relatively rare trait” was proven during his time with the Yankees, where he took over as closer when Clay Holmes (2024) and Devin Williams (2025) lost their jobs due to poor performance.
The Cubs could sign Weaver and have him start the season as their primary high-leverage setup man, while also serving as the perfect insurance policy to take over for Palencia in case of injury or underperformance.
Since Spotrac projects that Weaver will sign a three-year, $24 million deal, he should be well within the Cubs’ price range as they look to rebuild their 2026 bullpen.
