Going to an arb hearing isn't always the worst thing to happen, but it certainly can cause some nasty feelings, especially coming from the player. Luckily, the Chicago Cubs have avoided arbitration with Justin Steele as the two sides have agreed on a new deal.
Thursday marks the deadline for players and teams to present their final numbers for a 2026 salary and Steele has officially agreed to a $6.775 million contract for this year. Steele, who was limited to four starts in 2025 and was shut down after suffering an elbow injury, is in his third year of team control through arbitration. The 30-year-old starting pitcher has one year remaining of arb control before he can become a free agent.
The Athletic's Patrick Mooney first reported Steele's agreement with the Cubs Thursday afternoon.
Drafted out of high school in 2014, Steele overcame some early injuries in the minors and broke out with the Cubs after his rookie campaign. The left-hander earned an All-Star nod in 2023, when he also finished fifth in the Cy Young Award voting. Between 2022-24, Steele made 78 starts for the Cubs and recorded a 3.10 ERA in 427 innings of work.
Justin Steele's expected return
In 2025, Steele underwent elbow surgery that sidelined him from the middle of April through the end of the regular season. It wasn't Tommy John surgery, but instead the pitcher had UCL revision surgery with an internal brace and although the recovery time is normally quicker than the traditional Tommy John procedure the team isn't rushing their starter back to the rotation.
Earlier this offseason Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed that Steele would not be ready to return to the active roster by the time the 2026 regular season rolled around. However, Counsell did set somewhat of a timetable, saying Steele should be back in the first half of the of the season.
The team will have a clearer timeframe in mind once spring training begins next month in Arizona.
Cubs rotation depth
Jed Hoyer needed to add quality rotation depth heading into the 2026 season and that was a need regardless of Steele's status. Thus far, the Cubs have primarily been busy filling out the bullpen, but the front office did make a consequential trade this week, acquiring 27-year-old Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins.
Here is how the Cubs rotation depth looks like after getting Cabrera.
Cubs Starting Pitching Depth
Cade Horton
Matthew Boyd
Edward Cabrera
Jameson Taillon
Shōta Imanaga
Justin Steele
Colin Rea
Javier Assad
Ben Brown
Jordan Wicks
Jaxon Wiggins
Not bad, not bad at all. The Cubs not only have cover in the rotation with the addition of Cabrera, but they've assembled a group of 10+ arms that capable of filling in at any moment that have prior MLB experience and success at varying levels. Oh and then there's top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins waiting in the wings as well.
