3 Chicago Cubs Who Won't Be Back Next Season

We continue our series looking at players who won't be back with their current teams for 2025. As we stay in the NL Central, where we looked at three St. Louis Cardinals who won't be around next season earlier this week, we now turn our attention to the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs were hopeful of being a playoff team in 2024, so they'll look to reload and plug some holes in the hopes of making a more serious charge in 2025.

Kyle Hendricks

The crafty right-hander wasn't fooling anyone in 2024 and had the worst season of his long career as a Cubbie. In his 11th season, at the age of 34, Hendricks went 4-12 and had a 5.92 ERA, well over two runs above his career mark of 3.68. He'll be a free agent this winter, and it's unlikely the Cubs will retain him.

It'll certainly be a bittersweet day if Hendricks does indeed move on, as he was the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions.

Patrick Wisdom

It was a nice run while it lasted for Wisdom in Chicago, but it seems to have come to an end. He has two more seasons of team control remaining through arbitration should the Cubs choose, but despite the 20-homer power he displayed from 2021 through 2023, the years of watching him strikeout at prolific rates while hovering around the Mendoza Line have likely pushed the Cubs to look elsewhere this winter. Wisdom didn't even sniff Mendoza in 2024, hitting .171 with an OPS+ of jus 75 and only eight homers.

Drew Smyly

The 35-year-old was signed by the Cubs before the 2022 season to be a solid rotation piece. And while that first year wasn't too bad, 2023 was a huge dud, as he finished with a 5.00 ERA and was moved to the bullpen. 2024 wasn't exactly a rousing success either, as it got to the point that the Cubs even DFA'd him in late August. No one claimed him, and he has remained in the bullpen through the end of the season. But that should be all for Smyly in the Windy City.