The Chicago Cubs are among the teams that are pursuing superstar pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani, but they have contingency plans in place if they aren't able to land the presumptive 2023 AL MVP, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN:

“The Cubs are in on Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga — the latter has already spent time in Chicago — according to sources familiar with the situation. They also have an eye on Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes, in case the Brewers begin to subtract — and Milwaukee is willing to trade with the team that just pilfered its manager. The Cubs would like to acquire a starter after Marcus Stroman opted out of his deal recently — though young pitching is a sudden strength for the organization.”

Yamamoto is 25 years old, one of the best pitchers to come out of Japan, and teams' evaluators and computer models love him. Yamamoto is expected to command an initial contract in the $200 million range when his posting window opens. The Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are the main teams that are expected to compete with the Cubs for his services, with the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays also in play.

Burnes is currently under contract for one more season with the Milwaukee Brewers. The team won 92 games last season but is reportedly open to a fire sale of their roster. should they begin a rebuild, it's unlikely that the team would want to extend Burnes at a cost of $100 million or more. It's far more likely that they would be open to dealing Burnes for young assets.

The Chicago Cubs finished 83-79 last season.