Cubs linked to reunion with free agent slugger who hasn't played in Chicago since 2020

The Chicago Cubs are expected to use a left-handed slugging Kyle this offseason. Kyle Tucker is the top free agent available in MLB, and he's likely to sign elsewhere. 

But they could replace him with a different lefty slugging Kyle.

Kyle Schwarber, the former Cub, could return to Wrigley Field.

It's a move suggested by MLB.com's Will Leitch.

"If the Cubs aren’t going to sign the best free-agent hitter on the board -- and it sure looks like Kyle Tucker will go elsewhere -- then why not go after the second-best option?" Leitch writes. "Of all the members of that 2016 World Series team, Schwarber is far and away the best player right now, and seeing him back at Wrigley Field would bring back all sorts of lovely memories and give the Cubs a powerful left-handed bat in the lineup. It would be quite a full-circle moment 10 years after that World Series season. One big difference from Schwarber’s rookie year back in 2015 on the North Side? He is highly unlikely to be a catcher this time around."

Schwarber was a hero for the Cubs back when they broke their curse.

In the last handful of years, he's developed into an even more dangerous hitters.

He spent the past four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (after a year split between the Nationals and Red Sox in 2021 after leaving the Cubs after 2020).

With the Phillies, Schwarber slugged 187 home runs in his four seasons. That included a career-high 56 homers in 2025.

Schwarber is likely only ticketed for DH the rest of his career, but he has a great eye at the plate and prodigious power. He's worth having even as someone who won't play in the field.

The Cubs haven't been at the top of most rumors list for Schwarber, but maybe they should be. It'd be a really fun outcome.

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