There is no way in hell Grimm has more upside than Rondon. I get the money part. They both should be gone though.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

This isn't 2015 anymore. Rondon was ruined when he was removed as closer. Both he and Grimm has good 2015's but Grimm's issues aren't mental.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He's never been the same since that injury late in 2016.

Yeah they are physical.

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No clue why the want to keep Grimm. Maybe as an add on in a trade or gone before the season starts and gets termination pay.

As for Rondon - bye.

maybe its something absurd like he is jake's boy and it could help with negotiations. Anyone that watched him pitch last year wanted him gone last year.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Yep. Absolutely terrible.

Sign them both!

http://www.bleachernation.com/2017/12/0 ... r-options/

After a relatively large number of free agent exits this winter (most recently Hector Rondon), the certain part of the Cubs’ bullpen is down to just Carl Edwards Jr., Pedro Strop, and Mike Montgomery, with Justin Wilson as an under-control-and-probably-will-be-in-there-too guy, and Justin Grimm just a step below that. (There are some young arms like Dillon Maples available, too, but none are clearly set in stone just yet.)

And while there’s obviously plenty of talent loaded into that group, there’s not a single sure-fire closer ready for next season. Fortunately, there are plenty of quality reliever options on the free agent market, even if it means the Cubs will have to bring in more talented arms that also aren’t “sure-fire closers” and just hope that someone takes the job and runs with it.

Or, the Cubs could target a “non-closer” they really like in free agency with the goal of making him the guy.

According to Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic), if the Cubs do not re-sign Wade Davis this offseason (seeming unlikely, but not impossible as of now), they might add a reliever without much closing experience to be the ninth-inning guy next year.

And apparently, their targets include 2017 breakouts Brandon Morrow and Mike Minor.

Morrow, you might recall, was one of the earliest Cubs rumors of the offseason. In fact, he was connected to the Cubs just after he dominated them out of the Dodgers bullpen in the 2017 NLCS. Morrow, 33, blew up in Los Angeles this past year, earning a 2.06 ERA (1.55 FIP) and 1.7 fWAR over 43.2 IP.

And the most interesting thing about Morrow is that, unlike most relievers, he doesn’t just do one thing really well while lacking in other departments. He is decidedly *good* at pretty much everything.

Take a look (league averages in parenthesis):

Strikeout rate: 29.4% (23.3%)
Walk rate: 5.3 % (9.2%)
Average: .194 (.242)
Ground ball rate: 45.0% (44.3%)
Fly ball rate: 31.2% (35.9%)
Soft-hit rate: 20.0% (19.5%)
Hard-hit rate: 30.9% (31.0%)

Sure, he’s better in some areas than others, but that’s a really well-balanced pitcher right there. If you’re looking for warts, however, you won’t have to look far. Morrow was injured in every single season from 2008 to 2015, threw just 16.0 innings in 2016, and only 43.2 innings this past season. So, at 33, it’s fair to wonder if the Cubs could rely on his health for an entire season, let alone the multiple years he’ll get on his next contract.

Of course, that’s also why he’s fairly affordable. According to various projections (Jon Heyman, MLB Trade Rumors, FanGraphs) Morrow is likely to earn something between 2 years/$22 million and 3 years/$24 million on his next contract. All things considered, he would be a high-risk (in that, he might not pitch all that much), high-reward option for not too much cost.

And then there’s Mike Minor.

If you recall, we’ve already done a full free-agent profile on Mike Minor here at Bleacher Nation, and I came away very impressed with the former-starter turned reliever:

There’s almost nothing not to like from his 2017 season. He had the traditional stats (ERA, K%, BB%) of a top-flight reliever as well as the peripheral numbers (FIP, soft contact, hard contact) to support it. You could argue that his ground ball rate was a little low, but it was actually the best mark of his career and a only a couple clicks below average.

On top of everything else, Minor is yet another example of a former starter turning into a reliever and immediately finding a ton of success – Andrew Miller and Wade Davis are two recent highly-notable examples. The Cubs front office has said on multiple occasions that they hope to find the next Andrew Miller, instead of trading for the current version (so to speak), and Minor, albeit with one quality season already in the books, could be that guy.

Minor is also just 29 years old, and threw almost twice as many innings in 2017 (77.2 IP) as Morrow. Naturally, that means he’ll likely cost a bit more (both in terms of years and dollars), but it might not be as far off as you think.

Heyman has him at the same 3 year/$24 million deal, MLB Trade Rumors projects a four year/$28 million, and FanGraphs has him at 3 years/$27 million. Frankly, even though it’s more money overall, the average annual value (for luxury tax reasons) keeps his deal quite reasonable. [Brett: YO, give me that 4/$28M deal RIGHT NOW.]

In any case, both pitchers have plenty to offer and you should be excited that the Cubs are pursuing either. Obviously, they’ll need to add much more than just one reliever to the mix for 2018, but Morrow or Minor would be a really great start.

I'd like Addison Reed and Brandon Morrow. Mike Minor still worries me.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

'

All three worry me as closers.

CJ will be the shutdown closer. Don't worry.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

he probably will be. He's got the stuff. Relievers are volatile assets.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Cubs sign Chatwood.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/ ... twood.html

http://www.bleachernation.com/2017/11/1 ... -chatwood/

Potential Target: Tyler Chatwood
Performance in 2017

Although Tyler Chatwood didn’t escape the regular season without injury, he did manage to make 25 starts and eight other relief appearances for the Rockies in 2017, en route to the second highest inning total of his career:

And although some of the up-front numbers look bad (4.69 ERA, sub-20% K-rate, over 10% walk rate), there’s actually a lot to like here.


For one, he’s an ELITE ground ball pitcher. Indeed, his 58.1 GB% ranked 5th among all pitchers with at least 140 IP this year. On top of that, he earned an above-average soft-hit rate and a below average hard-hit rate (both good things), which makes him a nice bet for the current offensive environment – especially because his HR/FB ratio seems ridiculously out of whack given what we know about his batted ball profile (indeed, it was 10.7 percentage points higher at Coors Field than it was on the road!).

You can’t just ignore the low strikeout rate and high walk rate, but he’s not exactly a top of the rotation candidate, either. And, again, away from Coors his ERA dropped all the way down to 3.49 this season.
Performance Before 2017

And how about this: back in 2016, Chatwood had a 1.69 ERA in 80.0 IP away from Coors field, which was the best away ERA among all qualified pitchers than season.

Perhaps more importantly, none of the success he had this (or last) season was rooted in an unusual statistical blips. His BABIP, strand rate, and ground ball rate were all about where they’ve always been, and he’s continued to keep opposing hitters from doing too much damage … that is when he’s away from Coors:

Career at Home: .365 wOBA
Career Away: .305 wOBA

Instead, Chatwood’s biggest problem has always been staying healthy and on the field. Before the 25 starts he made this season, he made a career high 27 starts (158.0 IP) last year.
Projection for 2018 and Beyond

If Chatwood, 27, could find a way to limit the walks just a bit (without even adding to his strikeout total), he’d have the potential to be a really interesting starting pitcher – especially at his age.


His overall batted profile is just so strong and so attractive in an era when balls are leaving the yard more than ever.

Possible Contract/Existing Rumors

At FanRag, Jon Heyman (2 years/$25M) and his expert (3 years/$24M) think a short-term commitment is all it would take to get Chatwood and MLB Trade Rumors (3 years/$20M) agrees.

The Cubs haven’t been connected directly to Chatwood yet this offseason, though we’ve talked about him a couple times. We like him a lot for the Cubs.

Even still, a multi-year commitment to a guy with so many red flags in his past (injury-wise) is at least a little scary. Then again, at just 27 years old, maybe you’re more confident he can keep healing.

Other Considerations/Injuries

Okay, this is the most important section for Chatwood.

Chatwood *first* underwent Tommy John surgery back when he was just 16 years old, pitching for his high school in Southern California. He then had to get the surgery again in mid-July, 2014, knocking most of that and all of the following season completely off the books.

Here’s his start and inning totals for each of his seven seasons in the Major Leagues:

2011: 25 starts, 142.0 IP
2012: 12 starts, 64.2 IP
2013: 20 starts, 111.1 IP
2014: 4 starts, 24.0 IP
2015: 0 starts, 0 IP
2016: 27 starts, 158.2 IP
2017: 25 starts, 147.2 IP

Basically, Chatwood has dealt with one injury or another in every single year he’s pitched in the Majors. And, yes, that includes a 10-day DL stint this season (right calf strain) that – in part – forced him into the bullpen for a bit as he made his return.

Less hits than IP and almost a K per IP. good stats BUT High ERA and 15 L's ain't pretty. Maybe a #5 starter or a middle innings guy.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

13 million per year for the loss leader in the NL last year. It's great to be a MLB pitcher.

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3 years, 38M with a 3.5 road ERA.

Obviously a 5th starter/depth guy. 12.66M for a 5th starter - damn.

Bleacher Nation‏ @BleacherNation
2m2 minutes ago

Replying to @BleacherNation

Fun fact: in 2016, Chatwood's 1.69 road ERA was *THE* best in baseball.

I loved when his dad and granddad had that stunt car show thing.

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Elections have consequences.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2017/12/0 ... year-deal/

Another set of fun facts:

Chatwood's 58.1% groundball rate was 5th best in baseball in 2017.

Extremely relatedly? The Rockies had only the 13th best defensive efficiency against grounders in 2017 (per BP).

The Cubs? They had the best.

looks like a good signing but he is always going to drain your bullpen due to high pitch counts early in games

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This guy, selfishly, did not sign for less to play for the Cub. Luckily Ohtani will to balance things.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Lotta walks.. I like the pick up though. Upgrade over Lackey

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Grandfather is a HS b-ball legend in Indiana.

And has had two Tommy John surgeries

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Tommy John surgery is nothing nowadays, he should be fine.

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Twice is not normal.

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Elections have consequences.

Over 50 guys had at least twice..it's not like he's the first ever.

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So nothing that he pitched 24 innings over two seasons because of it. SMH.

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This doesn't excite me at all. What's worse is they will probably have to settle on Darvish and I'll be pissed off watching the playoffs again next year.

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His stats away from Coors field and his ground ball ratio are both promising. Its not that much money or that many years. He should be a solid 4 or 5 depending on who else they get. He most likely hasn't peaked so if they coach him up and he stays healthy this could be a very nice move. Id rather spend 38 mil on him for 3 years than 150 over 6 on Darvish.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!