2:08 PM: Harvey’s deal is a one-year deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
1:03PM: Cubs and the right hand Hunter Harvey have agreed to a contract, according to The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma. The deal will become official if Harvey (a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council) passes his physical.
Harvey looks to bounce back from a troubled 2025 season in which the reliever played 12 games in the Royals bullpen. A sprain in early April kept Harvey out until late July, and he played in six more games before being sidelined permanently by a Grade 2 adductor strain. The frustration of these two key injuries was compounded by the fact that Harvey looked good when healthy – he didn’t allow a run over his 10 2/3 innings pitched, while issuing one walk against 11 strikeouts.
Between these injuries and the back problems that marred the end of his 2024 campaign, Harvey ended up pitching just 16 1/3 innings in a Royals uniform after Kansas City acquired the righty from Washington in July 2024. Unfortunately, health concerns are nothing new for Harvey, as his time as a top-100 prospect in the Ostilys’s system was broken by the Ostioles’s interrupted list.
It wasn’t until the 2022 season that Harvey (now with the Nationals) finally got an extended taste of MLB playing time. He went on to post a 3.17 ERA, a 27.83% strikeout rate, and a 6.36% walk rate over 145 relief innings during his time in DC, serving in a senior role and at times as a closer with the Nats.
Harvey used to allow a lot of hard contact, but his control and hitting ability allowed him to get out of jams when he allowed baserunners. Harvey has always been a solid pitcher, though his 96.1 mph fastball in 2025 was the slowest he’s posted in his MLB career. Of course, it’s hard to draw conclusions in that sample size of 10 2/3 IP, and it’s possible Harvey could get a tag or two off his heater once he’s healthy.
Availability is a lingering question for Harvey, however there is plenty of planning right as he enters his age 31 season. He’s a perfect fit for Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who has a habit of buying very cheap arms that can (if all goes well) yield a ton of cash.
Chicago’s a two-year, $14.5MM deal Phil Maton counted as a departure related to Hoyer’s spending standards, but the Cubs have now signed Maton, Harvey, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webband an old friend Caleb Thielbar in what has quietly turned into a very extensive remodel of the support team. Daniel Palencia He remains the Cubs’ first-choice reliever, but Harvey now provides backup as a reliever with some ninth-inning experience.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team pursue releasing more veterans on less expensive contracts, to give the Cubs as much depth as possible ahead of what Chicago hopes is a deep postseason run. The Cubs have been linked to a number of big-ticket position players and starters, but the Maton deal remains their biggest investment in a rookie this offseason.
