5 ex-Cubs starting pitchers are boringly realistic fits for SF Giants in free agency

The SF Giants are in need of starting pitching this offseason, but they’ll be far from the only team perusing the free agent market looking for starters. The Chicago Cubs could potentially have a brand new starting rotation as all five of their starters are going to be free agents.

San Francisco will likely have Logan Webb, Landen Roupp, and Adrian Houser in the rotation next season so the front office has at least two rotation spots to fill. It wouldn’t really come as a shock if the Giants poached two starters who finished the 2026 season with Chicago. None of them are especially exciting options and one could even argue they’re sort of boring and practical, but it’s doubtful that the Giants will be able to land a big fish like Tarik Skubal or Michael King. 

5 Cubs starters from 2026 who would make sense for Giants

Clay Holmes

Holmes was an All-Star with the New York Yankees in 2022 and 2024 and he had a solid 2026 campaign spent with the New York Mets and Cubs. In total he had a 3.29 ERA in 18 starts and the sinkerballer would fit right in with Webb, Roupp, and Houser who all throw the sinker in their own right.

David Peterson

Another pitcher who spent half of 2026 with the Mets before being traded to the Cubs was David Peterson. The lefty was an All-Star in 2025 with New York but 2026 was more of a struggle as he had a 4.79 ERA in 148 innings but to his credit he pitched a lot better after being traded to Chicago.

He’d give the Giants at least one southpaw in the rotation and maybe he could recapture his All-Star form in San Francisco.

Matthew Boyd

Forever Giant Matthew Boyd never threw a pitch for San Francisco, but he and Curt Casali were traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2022. Since then he turned into an All-Star pitcher for the Cubs in 2025 and had a 3.91 ERA in 22 starts last season. He’s a lefty as well and could probably be had for a two or three-year deal.

Shota Imanaga

Our own Michael Swinehart recently looked at why Shota Imanaga would be a great fit for the Giants. He pounds the strike zone and doesn’t walk a lot of batters which is good but he does give up a lot of home runs. 2026 saw him surrender 35 dingers. He had a decent 3.77 ERA in 32 starts so he would be a decent No. 2 or No. 3 option in the rotation behind Webb.

Kevin Gausman

Then there’s our old friend Kevin Gausman. He had a 4.51 ERA between his time with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cubs in 2026. He was with the Giants in 2020 and 2021 but San Francisco opted not to bring him back and he went on to be supremely reliable with the Blue Jays.

Now a reunion with San Francisco makes a lot of sense even if his 2026 numbers do provide some cause for concern.

All of these Cubs starters are sort of mid-tier option who should be in San Francisco’s price range. If the Giants could get one righty and one lefty from this bunch then they’d probably feel fine about their rotation going into 2027 even if the moves wouldn’t thrill a ton of fans. 

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