The Chicago Cubs are expected to have a very active off-season. They are loaded with young, cost-controlled talent that not only puts them in a position to win soon, it gives them a ton of payroll flexibility. The Cubs are the hottest name in the early off-season rumor mill, and will almost certainly be big players in costless agency.

With a majority of their impressive crop of young talent being on the position player side, pitching is where the Cubs lack most. President Theo Epstein has already stated that the Cubs are interested in costless agent starting pitching options this off-season, even stating that in an ideal world, the Cubs would add one top-of-the-rotation type starting pitcher and stable mid-tier costless agent starting option.

The top-tier costless agent starting pitchers are obvious, with the Cubs being connected to each of them in early off-season rumors. Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields are all ace pitchers who the Cubs are clearly interested in and each would be a huge addition to the team. Lester appears to be at the top of the Cubs’ wish list, but it will all depend on how the market dictates their values. Regardless, it seems possible, if not likely, that the Cubs land one of these top-of-the-rotation options.

As for the mid-tier costless agent starting pitchers, the options are plentiful. Francisco Liriano, Brandon McCarthy, Justin Masterson, Jake Peavy and Kenta Maeda are all solid options who make sense for the Cubs. They seem even more likely to land one of these mid-tier options, and each pitcher has many positives and negatives associated with them. The Cubs will be looking to land the best value in this range to get a pitcher that fits their needs in the rotation.

While adding any of the options mentioned above could bring positive value to the Cubs beginning next season, perhaps no mid-tier starting pitching option fits better than a familiar face. According to Bruce Levine, the Cubs have already met with representatives for RHP Jason Hammel, who appears to be at the top of their list when it comes to the mid-level starting pitching options.

Levine reports that the Cubs have already met with representatives for Hammel, Lester and catcher Russell Martin early in the GM Meetings. Martin’s elite level defense and veteran leadership makes him an obvious target, while Lester has been connected to the Cubs repeatedly. Epstein and his staff checking in early on both Lester and Martin is far from unexpected, but Hammel is a somewhat surprising addition to that list.

Just one year ago, the Cubs brought Hammel in as a costless agent on a modest one-year deal. He was magnificent early in the 2014 season posting 2.98 ERA, 3.19 FIP and 24.2% strikeout rate in 108.2 innings pitched with the Cubs. After such a strong start, teams started having a ton of interest in Hammel on the trade market. With the Cubs never being serious contenders in 2014, they cashed in on Hammel’s trade value by sending him to the Oakland Athletics along with Jeff Samardzija for an impressive package of prospects headlined by shortstop Addison Russell.

Hammel did not fare as well in Oakland, posting a 4.26 ERA and 5.10 FIP in the second half with the A’s. In his first four starts with the A’s Hammel was awful, but after that he was able to settle down and end his season on a high note.

Hammel had a lot of success with the Cubs last season, and while players who get traded mid-season rarely return to the team that traded them in the off-season, this seems like an actual possibility. He has a history of success, and would be a solid addition in the middle of the Cubs’ rotation, bringing some much needed stability.

There are certainly other attractive starting pitching options available, but Hammel would be a great fit with the Cubs. Clearly, the interest is there.