Jed Hoyer and the Cubs are heading into a pivotal offseason. After 4 straight years without a trip to the playoffs, Hoyer and Co. are looking to build a roster that can get the franchise back into October. As they work to enhance this group, we are analyzing the Top 10 building blocks already on the Cubs roster. Next up: Ben Brown.

If you’ve heard Jed Hoyer once, you’ve heard him a thousand times: you can never have enough pitching.

So, when compiling the list of the Cubs’ Top 10 building blocks for 2025 and beyond, it was imperative to focus in on arms — and arms that will be around for years to come. So Jameson Taillon, while a strong, front-of-the-rotation starter, is knocked for only 2 remaining years on his contract.

Javier Assad is a compelling argument, having posted a 3.40 ERA in 294 career innings, including a 3.73 ERA in 147 innings in 2024.

But we’re going to blend potential and team control for the 9^th spot, Ben Brown. The righty pitched just 55.1 innings in his rookie campaign before injury struck, but boy were those strong frames. Brown had a 3.58 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP while flipping between starting and relieving (15 games, 8 starts).

He’s under team control until 2030 and isn’t arbitration-eligible until 2027, meaning he’ll be making less than $1 million until then — a bargain for the Cubs, regardless of what role Brown fills for the team.

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Admittedly, if Brown ends up as a reliever long-term — a real possibility given his reliance primarily on two pitches — then he’s not likely to appear on this list again next year or moving forward. The volatility in relievers and the lack of true, consistent dominant relievers means it’s hard to consider them as key centerpieces.

But as a starter, the 25-year-old was solid. In his 8 starts, he carried a 3.23 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and opponents slashed .181/.258/.301 (.559 OPS) against him. In his 6th career big-league start, Brown tossed 7 innings of no-hit ball with 10 strikeouts against the Brewers in Milwaukee, establishing himself as a key arm for the Cubs.

A few weeks later, though, injury struck and his season ended. He suffered a left neck strain — later diagnosed as a stress reaction in his neck — that meant he was a nonfactor after June.

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If he’s healthy and can factor into the rotation, that’s a game-changer for the Cubs. The front of their rotation is pretty set — Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Taillon headline it, with Assad as another option. If Brown can step in — even with likely rotation additions this offseason — that provides a boon to one of the team’s strengths.

The key, obviously, will be health. He’s thrown over 100 innings once in his professional career — in 2022 when he tossed 102 innings. Proving he can stay healthy will be a key for Brown. That could be the difference between being a key building block moving forward or just another “out-getter” for manager Craig Counsell.

Top 10 Cubs building blocks

1. Pete Crow-Armstrong
2. Justin Steele
3. Shota Imanaga
4. Dansby Swanson
5. Seiya Suzuki
6. Ian Happ
7. Michael Busch
8. Isaac Paredes
9. Ben Brown
10. Nov. 1
Honorable mentions: Nov. 4