TODAY: The Cubs have officially announced the signing.
SUNDAY: The Cubs have reportedly agreed to a contract with free agent reliever Brandon Morrow, pending physical. Morrow, a Wasserman client, will be guaranteed two years and $21MM if the contract is finalized. He’ll earn $9MM apiece in each season along with a $3MM buyout or a $12MM vesting option for the 2020 season.
Chicago had a clear need in the late-inning mix, as the team has cut ties with Hector Rondon and has not (at least to this point) re-signed any of Wade Davis, Brian Duensing or Koji Uehara. Those four were among the relievers Chicago relied on the most last season, leaving the club in clear need of bullpen help to complement top holdovers Carl Edwards Jr., Pedro Strop, Mike Montgomery and Justin Wilson. Consequently, in addition to Morrow, the Cubs are likely to acquire one other late-inning reliever, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Cubs Depth Chart]
The 33-year-old Morrow will provide a significant boost to the Cubs’ relief corps if last season is any indication. In his first full campaign as a reliever, the former Mariners, Blue Jays and Padres starter put past shoulder issues behind him to toss 43 2/3 innings with the National League-winning Dodgers and pitch to a 2.06 ERA, also notching 10.31 K/9 against 1.85 BB/9 and a 45 percent groundball rate. Moreover, the right-hander finished third among relievers with 40-plus innings in infield fly rate (20.6 percent) and 18th in swinging-strike percentage (16.0).
Statistically, the hard-throwing Morrow wasn’t quite as successful during the Dodgers’ run to the World Series as he was in the regular season, yielding six earned runs in 13 2/3 innings, but four of those came in one disastrous appearance in Game 5 of the Fall Classic. He was highly effective otherwise – including when he held the Cubs scoreless over 4 2/3, one-hit, seven-strikeout innings in the National League Championship Series – and became the second hurler in major league history to pitch all seven games of the World Series.
Morrow’s workload in last season’s playoffs, in which the Dodgers deployed him in an eye-popping 14 of 15 games, and injury history stand out as obvious concerns, but his 2017 dominance nonetheless has him in position to secure a lucrative contract. That’s quite a change from a year ago when Morrow had to settle for a minor league pact in late January.
Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com first reported the sides were headed toward agreement (Twitter link). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweeted details on the deal structure, with Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeting financial parameters. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the full deal structure.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Morrow is great but as a closer its risky.
Who said he’s gonna close?
Its looking like he will be their closer. It already came out earlier in the offseason they liked him in that role
Eh I don’t like that. Wait and see I guess.
For 10-11 mill a year??? Mother of god he better shove.
I’d think Wilson would be.
Who pays $10M+ for setup man?
Yankees and Dodgers have
The price of relievers just keep getting higher
If he’s the set-Up man and Davis comes back, I love it. Or maybe
It was said Davis was risky too and he was. But there is always risk. His injury days were as a starter. Relieving may be perfect and he looks pretty good at it
No one though bringing Wade Davis in to close was a risk. He was already a proven closer
He has some injury issues in 2016.
He was an injury risk. That was the point
He has never had a full season in the majors in any capacity. He has had injuries his past 3 seasons and during all 3 he was a reliever.
Morrow didn’t have any injuries last year.
He’s not gonna close. They need to get one more bullpen arm for the middle innings. Then either Davis or Holland. And one more starter. I’m hoping its cobb
Wrek totally agree with you, gotta replace at least two guys minimum, then add Cobb
Definitely need more than one more arm in the pen. And I wouldn’t want Holland or Davis for the prices they’ll command. I’d rather sign McGee or kintzler and trade for colome. Colome will come cheaper than any reliever they’ve traded for in the past couple years.
Colome
Morrow
McGee/kintzler
Edwards
Monty
Strop
Would make up a very strong pen and wouldn’t cost tons of money. Could save the money that you’d spend on Davis for next year’s crop of free agents(Harper, Machado, Kershaw, black on and other big names and great relievers)
Then hopefully schwarber turns it around this year and we can trade him for a young controllable starter like Fulmer during next off season.. and then next off season we sign Harper..
Then we could trade Happ to either acquire a center fielder or package him with heyward to try to get someone eat his contract and sign a center fielder..
Not getting Fulmer for Scwharber! Wake up! You’re dreaming again.
Get him, Theo and Jed!
My favorite fanboy!!!
My favorite troll!!
*fangirl
I love you all. I’m here for your entertainment value. You may even learn something from me once in a while.
Do you like movies about gladiators?
No.
joey have you ever been in a Turkish prison?
From a minor league deal to a 3-4 year contract. Good for BMo!
depends on contract. he is a risk
3-4 year contract? It’s a 2 year deal with an option…..
Broxton 2.0?
Only if he ate another player
Includes a strict 2018 no-pitch clause, so he can recover from pitching every 45 minutes in 2017
I felt so bad for him the game he got blown up. Roberts abused him so much this postseason
Maddon is going to be disappointed when he can’t ride Morrow all postseason like he did Chapman.
Great move if the Cubs can get him. Reports are Morrow is ok with closing or not. So getting Morrow gets them a closer if Davis walks but they can still keep Davis. If Davis walks they can still go after Addison Reed which they should be doing anyway. I would love to see them sign 3 relievers including Morrow
Hard to believe they’ll also sign Davis. That would be $25m in relievers alone, plus Chatwood and (probably) Cobb. That’s adding $53m in salary in the pitching staff, all on multi-year deals. Sooner or later they’re gonna have to try and lock up their position player core.
They had at least that much set aside for this exact reason. Morrow and Cobb were always on their radar even with resigning Davis and possibly Arrieta at a decent contract.
And they have millions coming off the books this year in losing Arrieta and Lackey so what your point? You think the Cubs have no money left to lock anyone up?
Newsflash. Cubs are a cash cow and by the time the core gets to free agency they will have their own TV network or billion dollar plus deal.
So sorry but I do not agree that signing Cobb and Morrow stops them from David or anyone this year or next.
I do not agree with your position that we need to save this money at the expense of trying to win in 2018 or 2019 or 2020 to lock up the core. Money for the Cubs not an issue IMO.
But then what excuse will Cubs fans use when their team is eliminated by the Yankees or Dodgers?
Money isn’t an issue for the Cubs….yet their owner refuses to cross the luxury tax line. The Cubs won’t get their new TV deal until 2020…..
If eliminated by the Yankees the excuse would be the Cubs just won another pennant moron. What will the Yankees excuse be when they they do not even get there?
Or you gonna cry again like you did when Ohtani dissed you and make up more excuses
They won’t even let the core hit free agency. Everyone is locked up till 2021 at least. They’ll most definently lockup Bryant by then. And extend Rizzo and Baez. And probably lockup Contreras too.
Half of it. The other half in 2021.
I know Rizzo has two options after 2020 as well.
Bryant is a Boras client. The history is that Boras clients usually make it to free agency rather than sign early career extensions.
Bryce Harper is just one prominent example. That’s one reason so many of this year’s bigger name free agents are Boras clients (J.D. Martinez, Hosmer, Moustakas).
Doesn’t mean Bryant won’t extend before he’s a free agent. If he’s smart he’ll sign a huge contract with the cubs.. you can’t market bryzzo without Bryant.
Bryant will be hugely marketable wherever he lands as a free agent in a few years. It’s not like a small-market, low-exposure team is at all likely to be the team paying up for the sort of long-term, huge money deal that he’ll command, and he’s a good-looking, charismatic guy who is one of the best players in baseball.
Well, that sucks.
Edwards Jr the closer with Morrow the setup guy, I presume?
Setup guy will be matchup based – Edwards, Strop, Wilson…
No. I would presume Morrow would close
CJ won’t be the closer. They’ll re-sign Davis or go after Holland.
Question is: will they get the deal done today or to morrow?
Nice
Lou Pinella approves!
I have a feeling they’re still interested in Addison Reed after this signing.
Although the Cubs “disappointed” with “only” 92 wins, they’re still a top 3 team in the National League. The position player talent is among the best in baseball, and the rotation is still very good even if they lose Arrieta. They just need to shore up the bullpen some, but Morrow is a good first step.
The Cubs are still the team to beat in the central, but the Cards will make some big moves this winter to close the gap and the Brewers are an interesting team. What happened to the Bucs.
Bucs will be trading Harrison and McCutchen…..maybe Cole…..
I bet they’d look at offers for Marte as well, if they can get any….LOL
Reed could close and has. I’d rather have someone who has done it.
I agree with Chri
If they can get Jake McGee and then add Cobb to the rotation, the cubs should be done for the offseason, Unless the red sox offer them kings ransom for schwarber
Please stop with the Kings Ransom that is so over used in every trade scenario it seems.
Schwarber has value but not Kings Ransom Value
He did not say he would command that much. He said UNLESS the Red Sox offer it.
Yes I know. Eveyone always says it will cost a Kings Ransom to get there guy. Its absurd and it still is absurd
Blame Dave Stewart for letting them dream
JKB – I’ll pay you a Kings Ransom to delete your account and never comment again
Ditto!
Red Sox ,like the cubs have no farm system. They don’t have enough to offer worth for the cubs to give away Schwaber.
Hope we get him. Trade for Colome or Britton? Reed , Watson , nechek would be nice. Darvish and Cobb call it a day
No need for Darvish and Cobb.
they just need cobb to replace lackey and arrieta since they sign chatwood
Come on let’s go full dodgers and get them all
Screw it let’s do it
It was be nice if you took your meds, too.
Not Darvish he’s a bigger risk than chatwood.
Sorry to see him go, he did a great job for Dodgers. Good for him and his family.
i feel a bunch of relievers are gonna be signed here in short order now.
Bet your bottom dollar Cubs sign Brandon Marrow. They’ll be sun!
Ugh ..now I can’t get that song out of my head. Just like 6th grade when my sister woke me up every morning to the sounds of the Annie soundtrack.
Wow, the price of pitching is really increasing. Or is it just Theo and Jed getting who they prefer?
Two years is good with me.
Also agree with this. The price wasn’t what worried me, just the length.
Probably a combination of the two, as well as him being signed to fill the closing role. And as I’m typing this, the fact that they got him on 2 years plus an option most likely drove it up as well.
Oh geez, it seems like they really panicked and overpaid this week, and for guys who are especially injury-prone nonetheless.
10 million a year is an overpay?
For a non-proven closer with durability issues? Yes.
He was projected at 3/37. He got 2/20?
Oh ok Davebee how much was he worth
Actually the Zips projection was 3 years, $29 Mil, so yes 2 years $22 Mil would be an overpay. But yes, for a fragile pitcher that you’re probably going to use as a closer, it’s an overpay no matter what.
MLBTR had him at 3 years for $24M. So…….
@ KB
So …. you are hilarious
That is your basis for your overpay comment. You think what MLBTR says is the Market Value? Lol. Haha.
Wow. Incredible. First they are always under the market. 2nd what does MLBTR know about the real market.
I guess Theo is not smart like you. All he had to do was download the MLBTR app? Haha. You are an armchair GM relying on this rumor site as your basis. Lol. I cannot stop laughing
In actuality, I’ll trust MLBTR on salary projections over some fanboy who will drink the juice on whatever signing Theo makes, whether it’s a smart move or not
Actually I trust the market and future hall of famer Theo then some fanboy of the White Sox who just is a troll on anything Cubs. Yes that is you chitown311
It’s windy today in Chicago Just drove by wrigley . World Series banner really whipping in wind
37 year old Neshek just got 16+ for 2 years when mlbtr projected 2 for 12. Morrow looks like a steal now
For a guy with only 45 innings of somewhat consistent relief work on his resume….. yeah…. I’d say it is an overpay. The dude hardly pitched at all from 2014-2016. 2017 he was on a minor league deal and wasn’t called up until late May I believe. So 4+ months of light usage in the pen warrants an 8 figure salary? I don’t think so. BUT I really don’t care. It’s not my money. But if I had to give my opinion…. yeah, it’s an overpay. It’s not like the dude has a long history of success as a starter either prior to being converted to a reliever. In fact….. with how little he pitched the few seasons leading up to 2017, I’d say his only season worth a da** was 2017 and it wasn’t even a full season. If Morrow is worth $10-11M per season then Addison Reed MUST be drooling. If life was fair he’ll get a deal worth at least $15M per season then. Not only is Reed’s resume MUCH better but he’s also 4.5 years YOUNGER than Morrow. So $15M/year for Reed might be a bargain compared to this deal. If Reed signs for similar money and NOT with the Cubs, the Cubs made a blunder IMO. I Didn’t think Morrow was worth much more than $7M/season to be honest. Mike Minor had just as great a season as Morrow last year only difference is his was a FULL season’s worth of relief innings pitched. He also has more success as a starter. AND the Rangers signed him with the potential thought of him going back to the rotation. Yet he cost <$10M/season.
So by comparing Morrow and his career to others and what they have received in free agency and what they might receive in free agency…. yes. Morrow is overpaid on this deal. Even if he continues to do what he did last year for the next 2 seasons, it's an overpay. But again…… it's not my money…. or your money – so who really cares. It's only a 2 year deal too so it's not like it's too atrocious. All that said….. Chatwood was a much more ridiculous deal they've dished out this offseason. NOTHING about that dude warranted anything over $10M a season….. hell, I would question if he deserves a Major League contract. Yet look at what they gave him. We shall see. So far this offseason though I am unimpressed. I thought for sure by now they would've re-signed Davis for 4 years at $60M which is very reasonable and what most expect him to fetch. The fact they haven't done so tells me they have no intentions to. If they think they can walk into 2018 with both Wilson and Grimm in their bullpen and think they have a solid bullpen to compete with they are fooling themselves. While I am more of a Grimm supporter than most, he does have that inopportune game where he just implodes (but usually follows it up with weeks worth of solid performance). He's too inconsistent. As for Wilson….. from what I saw of him last year I fail to see why there was any buzz around him during last year's trade deadline. Wilson made Grimm look like Mariano Rivera that's how bad he was/is. Looking at his career it reminds me of Kyle Farnsworth from back in the day. Looks like he has a great year followed up by a mediocre if not bad year. Then a great year, etc. Kind of like Josh Beckett only for relievers. I want to say people were actually saying that Wilson could be an Andrew Miller 2.0 last summer….. which is ridiculous.
Cubs have ample amounts of cash they can spend still this offseason though so I am 100% certain they have several more moves up their sleeves. Sounds like Cobb will be joining the team shortly. Then this week I won't be surprised if they sign 2 more relievers…. possibly 3, and maybe yet another starter as they continue to search for their Arrieta 2.0 reclamation project.
Cubs are not going to exceed to luxury. Which means they really don’t have much money left to spend after this. Cobb is going to be sought pretty hard so the Cubs aren’t just going to get him at a discount. Also, I see the Cubs signing one more reliever, not 3 more like you think
KB is there a summary of that novel you wrote?
Tip: spacebar
Why is everyone ignoring 2016? Yes, it was also a shortened season as well, but he pitched a 1.69 ERA in relief.
(1) Because he pitched all of 16 MLB innings in 2016; and
(2)Because his peripherals were really bad in those 16 innings, despite the ERA. He only had a 4.50 K/9 in 2016. His FIP was 4.33, his xFIP was 4.37, and his SIERA was 4.50.
In other words, digging into stats that are more predictive of future performance, he pitched like someone with an ERA of 4.25 to 4.50 in those 16 innings. Going down to the level of individual pitch stats, he got a much higher percentage of swings and misses in 2017 (about 16% of pitches, versus about 10% in 2016).
To give some idea of how unimpressive those 16 innings were, he signed a minor league contract before the 2017 season.
How do you know it’s overpay? If 2 or more teams at end of free agency need relief or any other position and have to fight for one left this could look cheap
It’s an overpay regardless of what happens. Fact remains he only has 1 partial season of quality work as a reliever and they paid him like he is one of the proven greats. Look at Addison Reed. He sees this deal and he is WELL within reason to think he could get AT LEAST a 4 year $60M deal now at $15M AAV. Not only is his resume better than Morrow’s in terms of longevity and durability, but he’s also a pretty da** solid late inning reliever. AND to top that all off he’s like 4.5 years YOUNGER than Morrow too. So if Morrow is truly worth $10-11M per season, Reed’s got to be worth at least $14-15M/yr to you then too. And let me remind you just last year Kenley Jansen signed the second biggest contract ever to a reliever at $80M for 5 years. That’s $16M per season. Sure he’s got the years on his deal, but are you telling me that with what Morrow has done in his past he’s worth only $5M less than quite possibly the best reliever in the game? get real. If Morrow is worth $10-11M I am VERY interested to see what Andrew Miller gets next offseason when he is due to hit free agency. He might push $20M….. again, if you think Morrow is worth $11M.
@KB
Yea I think Morrow is worth the 10,5 million. Sure. Andrew Miller will get more I agree. But $20 Million for Andrew Miller is laughable.
Top relievers are getting 16-18m now so Morrow js not being oaid like a top proven closer so not sure what the problem is?
And as to your comment that this is an overpay “mo matter what happens” just shows a lack of understanding on your part since that comment just shows your lack of judgement and analysis
One partial season of quality work as a reliever? He had a 1.69 ERA last year with San Diego and a 2.06 ERA with the Dodgers this year. Where’s the “one partial season”?
Easy, everything is an overpay. They come in three flavors: big, huge, and massive.
Nice point BlueSkyLA
They panicked in signing guys other teams are chasing? And overpaid how exactly?
Let me guess you read the contract predictions based on MLBTR and that means that is the market in your opinion
While I believe there is some significant injury risk here, especially after the way roberts abused him in the postseason… there is no questioning his stuff… or his heart.
“Significant injury risk”
Can you back that up? We all know about his past. So pitching 5 innings or so in the World Series makes it significant?
So you like the signing or you do not? Or you just want to hedge your bets in either direction
Really can’t believe the Dodgers didn’t try to bring this guy back. He was lights out. Really don’t get this at all. Maybe they will move Maeda into that role because he was pretty lights out in the bullpen himself. Or they have someone else in mind for the set up role? Guess we will see. Cubs got a good one either way.
Well he is not signed yet
Who isn’t signed yet? This Morrow deal is done and Maeda is under contract with the Dodgers. Just not sure who “he” is.
I think as good as he was last year for them, their thought is based on history, of relievers short shelf lives vs what he’s commanding here, and they have quite a few good young arms coming (and also coming back after a year off like Yimi Garcia). I don’t know, I’m sure they would like to have him back but not at the cost and knowing the odds of him repeating.
I think you’re right, gotta be what they are thinking. Would love to have him back though. I know we have some good arms in the bullpen still and we have Garcia coming back plus some minor league guys that might debut this year but I still hope we go grab someone else in free agency or through trade for the back end of the bullpen. If we don’t make a move I do like the idea of Maeda becoming a reliever after watching his this post season but then again that does weaken our rotation and we need to add to it not take away from it. I guess we gotta see what happens. Glad to see that things are finally starting to happen now and hopefully we see more and hopefully the Dodgers do something
The way that the Dodgers have built their bullpen since the Friedman front office arrived after 2014 is pretty much plus throwing a lot of low-priced options up against the wall (team control pre-FA players, relatively cheap veterans) and seeing what sticks. The one clear exception to that is Jansen. They paid up in free agency to keep him and his history of being both really good and really healthy.
They got Morrow last year by signing him to a minor-league contract, one of a few reclamation projects that they tried. He’s the one who worked. They’d rather try to find the next Morrow than pay big money to keep him.
The Dodgers also may be trying to get under the luxury tax for 2018 to re-set the rate at which they pay luxury tax, just like the Yankees are doing.
Very well said. Good insight on Friedman FO bullpen strategy.
With Morrow it’s all about usage. He’s had a fragile career and it’s best not to use him in back to back days. At somewhere between $20 Mil and $22 Mil for two years it sounds like they’re thinking of him as a closer. Not sure if he’s durable enough to handle that.
Oh I think he can handle back to back days for the Cubs since he did back to back days for the Dodgers many times with success.
The one time he got hit was when pitching 3 days in a row. No different then Davis or most other closers
Plus he was way overused last year
So it could determine how healthy
and effective he is this year. Don’t think it’s an overpay per se, right in line with what bullpen pieces are now going for.
Yeah 43 innings was way too much.
I mean 43 isn’t that much but you factor in his overall inning workload and it’s about 76 innings pitched. It’s still a significant jump anyway you look at it. I hope he’s healthy quite honestly.
Not sure how you figure that. He pitched 43 innings in 45 games. By any measure they used him moderately and certainly not to excess. For comparison Jansen pitched 68 innings in 65 games. Essentially everyone in the pen was used more than Morrow.
Reliever usage isn’t judged by their personal innings/games, it’s usually a combination of innings/appearances per team game. If we don’t count Morrow’s minor league appearances…
Morrow pitched in 45 regular season games in 111 team games compared to Jansen’s 65 per 162 team games.
Morrow: 2.47 games per appearance, Jansen: 2.49 games per appearance.
Considering the postseason
Morrow: 2.14, Jansen 2.27
If we consider Morrow’s minor league appearances and a 162 season for him he pitched in one more game than Jansen in the postseason, plus being a middle/late reliever he had to warm-up more often than Jansen.
The Cubs know this and saw a guy who had a FIP almost as low as Jansen while having a similar if not more taxing workload over the year. They seem to feel that one year’s sample is enough to justify signing him.
The 43 innings were in part of a regular season. He also pitched 20 innings in AAA, as well as another 13.2 in the postseason.
Using him as a closer isn’t a good idea. Whether the Cubs want to admit it or not, they absolutely need to resign Wade Davis.
For a team that’s in the Cubs’ position, he’s well worth the money, and Morrow will be a PERFECT setup man for him.
Cubs not done . Per sources : #Cubs have planned to add two or more RP’s this winter meetings.Have more “offers on the table” #MLB
So does every team. It doesn’t change the fact that the Cubs overpaid for a fragile pitcher with not much of a track record of closing.
Davbee
Can you express how its an overpay. How much should he be paid oh wise one?
less
@bookemdano
How much less genius. Tell me his value oh wise one. Any moron can just say less. Can you put together a thought? Maybe more then one word? Maybe just a number and per year? Try oh wise one
So Rondon will get 6 million and gregerson just got 5.5 with 4.37 era for cards vs morrow 2.06. It’s what the market is. Rather have him then Grimm closing games.
Did someone sign Rondon for $6M? I know Cubs non tendered him. Did not know he signed? With who?
If someone gives Rondon $6M consider me Miles Davis.
Cubs paid Rondon 5.8 last year he was due 6.2. So morrow only 4 mil more than Rondon.
Only 70% more. lol
Just because Rondon was due $6M through arbitration does not mean he will get it on the open market, and he won’t.
That isn’t how the luxury tax calculation works. It’s total guaranteed money (including option buyouts) divided by years, so Morrow’s luxury tax number based on the reported terms is $11 million per year for each of 2018 and 2019.
He might not fetch $6 million on the open market, but I won’t be surprised if he approaches that salary and signs a 2 year deal.
Don’t understand what the dodgers are thinking. Morrow was a great set up man we also could of had Stanton.
I’m ok with not getting Stanton but letting Morrow go blows my mind. We better have someone good to replace him in the works. We need another starter too and a left hand hitter off the bench since Utley will it be back.
The Dodgers are thinking they can’t go over the major luxury threshold. At ~220M they are close. They simply do not spend big money on non Jansen relievers. They will churn for undervalued skill sets (I.E. Watson/Cingrani), sign guys with Morrow type skill sets to Milb deals. I’m not to worried about their pen construction even without Morrow. I completely understand the rationale behind not resigning him. I think they have some interesting arms in the upper minors, Santana, Sierra, Buehler towards the back end.
No wonder the dodgers didn’t resign him, a lot of cash for another reliever… I wanted him back but good luck Morrow you were a beast
Too much cash for the beast huh? Even for the Dodgers league blowing payroll huh?
Yes it appears so as they are going over major luxury tax threshold and how they view the volatility of RPs.
*aren’t
Dodgers will get some good relief
Still need a closer
and more bullpen
and a big bat!
Why do the Cubs need a big bat? They had six guys last year hit over 20 HRs and were 2nd in the NL in runs scored.
WOW………. $10-$11 million per year and MLBTR only predicted $8 million per year? Off again! What’s going on this offseason?
Same as every season. MLBTR predictions are usually wrong and usually light
Yes, it’s easy to be light on free agent contract predictions, since it’s the high bidder for each player who typically sets what the eventual contract ends up being.
Good reliever. The price tag seems a bit steep but this is one of those luxuries for those big market teams
BTW Darold Knowles was the other pitcher to pitch in all 7 games of the World Series
Oh well then he was worth the $10mm overpay. Unless they don’t get back to the World Series….again
Oh $10 M overpay. You must be a White Sox Fan pissed off the Cubs are making moves.
So hhmmm 10.5 M average with a 10m overpay? So he is only worth $500k per year? Or at least the $545k minimum salary???
Yea that sounds like the educated guess of a White Sox fan pissed off that no one cares about your team
LOL at the lil jimmy Cubbie fan, sounding some obsessed teenage Taylor Swift drone.
Congratulations, the “me too” addiction makes you the quintessential follower. It takes a leader to follow a team “no one cares about.”
Lol then you must be a leader amongst you and the 20,000 white sox fans in existence
I have no clue what the little jimmy thing means nor do I really know anything about Taylor Swift or that me too thing
I do know that you must be 12 years old or something. Maybe mommy can help you with some grown up digs.
Sorry you cant handle the Cubs winning ways. But they are here to stay with a great ownership group, the best front office in baseball, the best fans and the shrine on the MLB, Wrigley Field.
They are a national powerhouse and brand The White Sox will always be the definition of second city.
Sorry little boy if the truth hurst and I know it stings you deep very deep.
Go cry to mommy. She will kiss you and make it all better
If I’m a struggling or oft/injured starter, I’m going to the coaching staff and asking if I can work out of the pen. Got Morrow from a minor league deal to 10M per, nice work if you can get it.
Well holecammels35 you better be a struggling oft injured pitcher who was lights out starter before being injured
That’s a fairly common career path by which starting pitchers become relievers late in their careers.
Didn’t see this coming woooh! Honesty thought he’d re-up with the Dodgers considering his success with them and he even stated they were his first choice. Smh… this one hurts
Great signing. Get one more reliever, sign Cobb, and just PLEASE sign Wade Davis.
At this point, Davis is a must — in my opinion — if they want to continue to be realistic World Series contenders.
Just a hunch; but, thinking LAD are targeting Iglesias to fill 7th-8th inning role.
Well that’s our first bad contract of this off-season
It’s not as awful as I was expecting. But the Cubs do own the biggest overpay this off-season though in Chatwood. 3 years and $38m for Chatwood is insane to me. It’s like they learned nothing from their Edwin Jackson blunder a few years ago. To put it in perspective on how bad that signing is, Arrieta made just north of $15m in 2017. That’s what arbitors valued him at. Theo and company value Chatwood at $13m then? Either that should be viewed as an insult to Arrieta or a MAJOR compliment to Chatwood.
You can’t compare arbitration salaries to free agent salaries that way. Players make more than their final year arbitration salaries when they sign as free agents.
What does one have to do with the other. You are comparing Arrietas value last year to Chatwoods this year instead of comparing this year to this year and last year to last year. What does that tell you?
2-20/21 ?? Is worth it even if you based it off of nothing else but his crazy good run he had this year.
Look at his past three seasons and you tell me.
Any word in Duensing? Shouldn’t he be a priority??
Duensing? LOL
Even as a Cubs fan, I agree with ChiSoxCity. How is Duensing a priority?
Duensing is extremely inconsistent. He isn’t even an afterthought, to me.
So much for JP Hoornstra’s report.
I sure do like the aggressiveness of the Cubs front office!!! They have no problem of going after and signing the big boys quick!!! No hesitation and no fanfare. Just get it done!!!
I doubt anyone would describe Morrow as a “big boy”. The big boys in this market are Stanton and Darvish.
Stanton wasn’t a free agent. Darvish is overrated and as a result will get overpaid at a crazy level. But he is a big name and is probably one of the biggest names in this relatively weak free agent class.
As for morrow. I think he’s overrated at the moment too. But the 45 innings pitches in 2017 has gotten your typical fan and sports writers insanely excited. As a result I did believe morrow was a top 20 free agent and top 5 relief pitching free agent. So in that regard he is a “big boy” as the one person awkwardly put it.
A top 20 free agent in a “relatively weak free… class” is not a big boy.
Considering the current situation in Miami and what they got for Stanton, any of the four teams he liked could have acquired him. So in that sense he was a big boy.
Don’t argue with the White Sox fan. They are obsessed with everything Cub.
I’ve always been a big Morrow fan, even with the Blue Jays. Has had tendencies to be wild but a solid bullpen piece.
He’s been good for all of one season. He pitched great last year until Dave Roberts ran him into the ground in the post season.
Cubs should trade for Brad Hand of the Padres.. Low $$ highly effective set up/closer lefty.. PRELLER is asking for a Huge return but I think Pads do it for Baez or Russell as they need a SS..