October for the Chicago Cubs usually means arguments about the rotation, the payroll and whether the front office will finally spend like a team that wants more than a Wild Card exit.
Fans have spent the past few weeks circling the same name. Tarik Skubal, the left-hander who won the American League Cy Young Award twice before a midseason trade sent him to Los Angeles, is expected to hit the open market once the postseason ends.
The Cubs have holes at the front of the staff. Other clubs have money and a recent habit of winning. That mix has turned a winter rumor into the main topic on local sports radio before the World Series is even finished.
MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi addressed that talk Tuesday on 104.3 The Score. He was asked whether Chicago can truly go toe to toe with the Dodgers and the Mets in the bidding for Skubal.
“I tend to think they will fall short,” Morosi said.
He did not frame the comment as a knock on the roster the Cubs already have. He framed it as a test of whether ownership will pay what the top of this market is likely to demand.
Skubal will turn 30 in November. He has been one of the most reliable starters in the game for three seasons, and his time with the Dodgers made him ineligible for a qualifying offer.
That status removes one barrier for every club that wants him. It does not remove the price.
Morosi said a credible claim on a 2027 World Series run requires more than interest.
“You have to go get a dude if you want to credibly say you’re going to be a World Series team in 2027,” he said.
The Dodgers already have him in the clubhouse for the playoffs. Keeping him would mean outbidding themselves as well as everyone else.
The Mets, backed by Steve Cohen, have shown they will chase elite talent when the player fits the plan. Both clubs are expected to be in the conversation early.
Chicago’s place in that group is less clear. The Cubs have been linked to big-name pitchers before and have often landed somewhere short of the final bid.
Morosi’s read suggests this winter could follow that pattern unless the offer changes the math.
A deal for Skubal would reset the market for starting pitchers. Agents already expect the guarantee, the average annual value, or both, to push past recent highs for arms who are not Shohei Ohtani.
For the Cubs, matching that number would mean clearing other offseason priorities or stretching the payroll past recent norms.
Morosi left the door open only in theory. On the air, he sounded more convinced that Los Angeles or New York will be the team that finishes the job.
Listeners who called in after the segment pushed the same point from the other direction. Several said the club talks its way into the rumor and then watches the contract land somewhere else.
The comments land while the White Sox are still alive in the American League playoffs and the Cubs are already looking at next year.
That split has sharpened the local debate. One side wants a signature signing. The other expects another winter of measured moves.
Morosi’s answer put him with the second group, at least on this player.
