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The Chicago Cubs agreed to acquire veteran starter Kevin Gausman from the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, adding postseason experience to their rotation, team and league sources told The Athletic. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been finalized, indicate that the Blue Jays will receive two prospects, outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene.

While Gausman, 35, isn’t having his best season, the right-hander has quietly been one of the best starters in baseball over the last five years. Since Gausman joined the Blue Jays in 2022, only Dylan Cease and Zack Wheeler have more strikeouts than him. Gausman posted an ERA under 3.90 for five straight seasons before 2026 while making at least 31 starts each year.

Flashing a fastball-and-splitter combination, along with the occasional slider, Gausman rarely walks batters and has the strikeout stuff needed to flourish in the playoffs. In Toronto’s 2025 postseason run, Gausman posted a 2.93 ERA in six appearances and was given the ball in some of the Jays’ biggest October games.

The Cubs have focused on adding pitching this summer, and in Gausman they’re getting an experienced performer who they believe has a lot left in the tank. At his peak, Gausman was garnering Cy Young votes as one of the top pitchers in the game. This season, though, he has a 4.38 ERA for a Blue Jays team that has underachieved after beginning the season with extremely high expectations.

But the Cubs believe there’s something to be excited about when you look past Gausman’s ERA. He isn’t the guy who posted a 29.8 percent strikeout rate from 2020 to 2023; otherwise, it would have cost significantly more than Bateman and Southisene to acquire him. Both are quality prospects, but the Cubs are deep in position-player prospects, and they leveraged that depth to get a solid piece for their playoff push.

Beyond Gausman’s ERA, the Cubs believe he has performed similarly to his 2024 and 2025 seasons, when he put up a 3.71 ERA over 371 combined innings with a 22.9 percent strikeout rate and 6.9 percent walk rate. This season, he has a 23.5 percent strikeout rate and a 6.7 percent walk rate while sticking with the three-pitch mix — four-seam fastball, gyro slider and splitter — that has always made him stand out.

Gausman’s velocity hasn’t deteriorated significantly, and his batted-ball numbers don’t look scary. He also showed the ability to rise to the moment in the postseason last October. Cubs team president Jed Hoyer remembers passing on Justin Verlander in 2017, then learning from that mistake and trusting Cole Hamels to find his best self in Chicago in 2018. This is a bet on a veteran performing up to his underlying numbers as he enters a playoff race with a talented team that plays in a packed park filled with die-hard fans.

Gausman would be added to a rotation that has a 4.25 ERA on the season but has been on a bit of a roll lately. Since June 1, they’re fifth in baseball with a 3.71 ERA, and since July 1, their 3.38 ERA ranks second. Currently, the Cubs have Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Javier Assad and Colin Rea in their rotation. Once Gausman joins the team, it’s likely that Rea or Assad will move to the bullpen. Edward Cabrera, who will make his second rehab start this week, should be back by mid-August.

Still, the Cubs don’t appear to be done adding to their rotation. A starter under control beyond 2026 would be ideal, but the Cubs came into these final hours before the deadline hoping to come away with multiple arms, and they don’t believe their work is done.

This story will be updated.