The Chicago Cubs made their latest transaction of the offseason this week when they reached an agreement with Colin Rea on a one-year, $5 million deal. The deal for the 34-year-old right-hander comes with a $6 million club option for 2026. The deal brings Rea back to Chicago where he spent the COVID-shortened season in 2020, his first in MLB since 2016. Rea will also be reunited with Craig Counsell, who was his manager in Milwaukee before Counsell took the Chicago Cubs job last offseason.
Rea has spent the last four seasons in Milwaukee, and the last two as an important member of their pitching staff. Pitching mainly in the starting rotation, Rea was consistently around a 4.50 ERA, always available to eat up innings and keep the Brewers in games. The right-hander now moves back to Chicago where he will likely serve as a spot starter. He will be relied upon to pitch in the middle innings and be one of the most frequently used arms in a chaotic Chicago Cubs bullpen.
Colin Rea Signs With the Chicago Cubs
Colin Rea has signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs with a club option for 2026. The right-hander agreed to a $5 million deal in 2025 with a base salary of $4.25 million and a $750,000 buyout for 2026. If retained in 2026, Rea is on the books for $6 million. The move takes Rea away from division rival Milwaukee and their starting rotation and puts him in the Chicago bullpen. Rea has previously pitched for the Cubs and has also worked with Counsell during the pair’s time with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Rea pitched with the Chicago Cubs in the abbreviated 2020 COVID-19 season. The 34-year-old right-hander was very unpredictable. It was the first major league action Rea had seen since 2016 and he struggled to get into any sort of rhythm. Rea appeared in nine games, two as a starter, and went 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 14 innings. While the year wasn’t stellar for Rea, he showed enough to get picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Throughout four seasons in Milwaukee, Rea appeared in 59 games, starting 49 of them, and going 18-12 with a 4.41 ERA. Rea’s workload picked up in the last two seasons with the slew of injuries to the Brewers starting rotation. With the Chicago Cubs, Rea portends to be a bullpen arm and spot starter. The signing of Rea comes after the Cubs signed Matthew Boyd to a two-year, $29 million deal and traded for Eli Morgan to bolster their major league pitching staff earlier in the offseason.
Final Thoughts
The move to sign Rea is another indication that business isn’t going to change for the Chicago Cubs any time soon. They continue to shop at the bottom shelf for solutions to key problems on the ball club. Rea had success with the Cubs and again with Counsell so hopefully he can be productive for the pitching staff. The risk/reward of the signing doesn’t make sense for the Cubs in their given situation.
The Chicago Cubs have plenty of prospects and young pitchers who need to be given opportunities to show what they can do on the mound. The move to make is not to clog up the pathway between the majors and the minors but to add top-level arms that lessen the load for the rest of the established pitching staff. If the Cubs were hoping to catapult themselves into the World Series picture this offseason, so far they have not.
