Report: Chicago Cubs division rival “aggressive suitors” for script-flipping ace

The Chicago Cubs had a very productive offseason and made a lot of meaningful moves. It was so productive that they are now heavily favored to win the NL Central Division.

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Newcomers Alex Bregman and Edward Cabrera are all but guaranteed to make the team overall better, but this is major league baseball and, of course, anything can happen over a long and grueling 162-game season.

NL Central contenders

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The Milwaukee Brewers, who won the NL Central last year and eliminated the Cubs in the NLDS, will be in contention once again, even without Freddy Peralta, just because, well, they always are.

Elsewhere in the division, the St. Louis Cardinals may have written themselves off for this season with their fire sale of established talent, but the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates have shown uncharacteristic aggression this offseason and have both become dark horse contenders to compete.

The Reds made recent headlines with the signing of free agent slugger Eugenio Suarez, but the Pirates are not far behind when it comes to trying to make script-flipping offseason moves.

Pirates’ “aggressive” pursuit of Framber Valdez

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Pirates are “aggressive suitors” for the services of free agent starting pitcher Framber Valdez.

Per Rosenthal:

“Thwarted in numerous attempts to find additional offense, the Pirates have emerged as one of the most aggressive clubs to pursue Valdez, according to people briefed on the matter.

The signing of Valdez, 32, would enhance the Pirates’ biggest strength — their starting rotation, led by National League Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes. Bill Murphy, Pittsburgh’s new pitching coach, worked with Valdez for the vast majority of the pitcher’s professional career, as both a minor- and major-league coach with the Houston Astros.”

The reported grab at Valdez falls in line with Pittsburgh’s offseason push to become postseason-capable. They’ve worked on improving their MLB-worst offense and are counting on the emergence of shortstop Konnor Griffin, who is the consensus top prospect in all of baseball and the most highly regarded young asset in years. They’ve come up short in their eye-catching pursuits of Kyle Schwarber and Eugenio Suarez and are currently reportedly exploring DH Marcell Ozuna. The effort to become a contender there, they just haven’t been able to win over any of the big free agent names.

Adding Valdez would be a major step in that upward direction, regardless of what they do on offense. The lefty veteran has been an elite-tier starter for the last five years and, even in a bit of a down 2025, still managed to go 13-11 with a 3.66 ERA over 31 starts and 192 innings.

What Valdez means to the Pirates and to the NL Central

What the Pirates have going for them in their pursuit is that there is some skepticism regarding Valdez’s character. A September incident where Valdez allegedly crossed up and intentionally hit catcher Cesar Salazar in the chest with a 93 mph pitch has soured many on the pitcher and has apparently limited the suitors for him, although it’s believed that the Braves, Padres, and Blue Jays could still be bidders.

If the Pirates get Valdez, he’d be slated behind Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and ahead of Mitch Killer in, arguably, the best rotation front 3 in the league, with young arms Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler behind them.

That’s a big “if.”

As things currently sit, though, the Pirates are already seen as greatly improved over last season’s 71-win squad. Fangraphs is projecting them to finish 2026 with 82 wins, less than one full game below the Brewers in the division standings and four games below the Cubs.

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