1:24PM: Brach will earn at least $4.35MM in guaranteed money in 2019, Rosenthal tweets. The mutual option is also more of a dual option for the 2020 season, similar to what we’ve seen in recent contracts for Zach Britton and Yusei Kikuchi. If the Cubs exercise their option for 2020, Brach will receive $9.5MM over the course of the two seasons. If Brach exercises his side of the option but the Cubs do not, Brach is still under team control for 2020 but at a lesser salary.
11:59AM: The Cubs have agreed to sign free agent reliever Brad Brach, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). The deal is a one-year contract worth $3MM, as per Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports (Twitter links), and the two sides hold a mutual option for the 2020 season. Brach, a client of Big League Management Company, will have to pass a physical before the deal is official.
After four years of excellent numbers out of the Orioles’ bullpen from 2014-17, Brach’s production stumbled in the first half of the 2018 season, as he posted a 4.85 ERA over 39 innings with Baltimore. Brach had an untidy 4.4 BB/9 rate over that stretch, though an inflated BABIP may have somewhat unfairly contributed to Brach’s struggles. After a deadline trade to the Braves, however, Brach looked more like his old self, delivering a 1.52 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and a 2.44 K/BB rate over 23 2/3 frames for Atlanta.
On the whole, Brach posted a career-best 46% grounder rate in 2018, though he also had a career-worst 35% hard-hit ball rate, far surpassing his previous high of 29.6%. His fastball also averaged 94.4mph after three years of topping the 95mph threshold, though Brach also threw his fastball less often than usual last season, instead using his changeup with greater frequency in 2018 than in any season save 2015.
These warning signs and Brach’s age (33 in April) may have been enough to lower Brach’s price tag to just one guaranteed season. (MLBTR ranked Brach 41st on our Top 50 Free Agents list, with Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Jeff Todd projecting Brach for a two-year, $12MM deal.) The mutual option does provide the right-hander with the ability to test free agency again next winter if he returns to his old form, making the deal essentially a pillow contract.
Brach served as Baltimore’s closer in 2017 when Britton was on the disabled list, and he could very well pick up some save opportunities early next season as Brandon Morrow recovers from November elbow surgery. At the very least, Brach will provide some backing behind Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards Jr., or whomever ends up handling the ninth inning while Morrow is out, assuming Joe Maddon doesn’t deploy a committee approach.
Getting the 2013-17 version of Brach for, at most, $9.5MM over two years would be a nice coup for a Cubs team that has been facing a payroll crunch all winter. Even the modest expenditure for Brach, however, puts Chicago into a higher Competitive Balance Tax bracket. As per Roster Resource’s projections, the Cubs now have a luxury tax payroll over just under $229MM for next season, putting them in line for an additional tax beyond the usual 20% “first-time” rate for not only exceeding the $206MM luxury tax threshold, but exceeding it by more than $20MM. There had been speculation that the Cubs could explore trading a big contract or two off its current roster to afford bullpen help or other acquisitions, and it remains to be seen if Theo Epstein’s front office has more moves in store to cut payroll and/or land new players.
I guess no lefties allowed in the bullpen that aren’t named Montgomery.
Or better yet named Duensing but he’s probably going to be designated because of his.
Why would Duensing be designated (with a guaranteed contract) over Ian Clarkin?
Nice pickup . Sipp , Perez or trade for Will Smith \tony Watson?
Isn’t there an old wives tale about lefties being the devil or something
Did Bobby boucher’s mama tell you that?
Mama’s wrong again!
Lucifer is ambidextrous.
That one made me laugh.
Randy Rosario
Really fell off last year with his command and control betraying him but he’s a good bounce back candidate with a good track record.
He still had 60:28 K:BB ratio though which isn’t terrible. His strikeout rate did drop last year though to less than 1 per inning. I think he bounces back. He showed signs of life once he was traded to ATL.
Agree. Good sign for 3m. was hoping Boston would be in on this guy.. Now last 3 probably sign for cheap that could help are Justin Wilson, Alex Wilson and boxberger, tho would rather them sign one of the 1st 2 for cpl million if possible.
brach for 3m was/is a steal IMO.
I don’t know if it was so much his command and control “betraying” him as it was him punching a door and doing it to himself.
Sorry, I’m dumb. This was meant for another comment.
1.52 era in 27 appearances in Atlanta. But, yeah, he has control problems
That ERA was very flukey in Atl. He was constantly getting himself in trouble.
Cool, finally.
Cool? It’s friggin’ freezing out, man!
Nice signing by the Cubs.
BuT tHe cUbS hAvE nO MoNeY
They have no money for Harper or MM. But $3m is a lot different than $30m – that zero holds a lot of weight!
They have more than enough money for anyone. They could go out and get Machado AND Harper, if they really wanted to.
But, Ricketts just isn’t gonna spend it because he doesn’t think they’re worthy of the prices and years they’re asking for.
I also think it’s a passive aggressive dog whistle “time out” for Theo, after his absolutely atrocious free agency performance last year.
I’d give Theo a D+/C- on it, and when you’re the Cubs, that just ain’t gonna cut it.
continued……
He was able to salvage it with his signings of Murphy, Hamels, and Chavez, but the bad ones were really (like, epically) bad.
Any team could afford the contract they gave Brach, but not all teams can afford what Machado and Harper are demanding.
1/$3M is a steal on Brach. Great signing.
0.3 war – replacement level player – 3M is about right. I don’t see any real value there, just another guy.
the value is in the potential WAR, not his past WAR. you only look at his past stats to try and project future WAR. they arent giving him 3M to have a 0.3 WAR. theyre paying him 3M because theyre hoping for a bounce back
judging a reliever by a 1-year WAR sample size… oh lordy….
WAR isn’t the greatest metric for a reliever, simply because relievers don’t pitch enough anymore. Even the very best reliever in baseball last season only put up 3 Wins. A strong bullpen is important, of course, but individual reliever WAR is a little misleading simply because the bulk just isn’t there.
Another former Padre that was around during Hoyer’s tenure in San Diego. Back to back days he brings in former draft picks. Brach + Rea.
As it turns out, this signing will ultimately turn out to be the Cubs big move of the offseason. Hard to fathom this outcome when the season concluded last October.
Didn’t realize today was the deadline for trades/FA signings!
That would Cole Hamels at $20m but hey, you gave it a good effort.
What do you want them to do? They have a load of talent on their roster. They can’t trade Heyward, it’s just not going to happen.
They don’t have many “holes”
But, you’re right, they should have spent an extra $50m this offseason to satisfy fans desire
to satisfy non-Cubs fans desire at that.
Sounds like a bargain to me
Lol Theo is trash
Jed Hoyer is the GM
Yeah….the 3 or 4 rings he has just screams TRASH!!!
Wow. What the Cardinals missed.
Just go away.
Really Braves? We couldn’t retain him for that much? You idiots!
Why would they want him back? He was always pitching himself into trouble. Plus, where exactly does he fit in Atl? O’Day basically takes his spot. The only logical bullpen move is for a closer and Brach would be a poor choice for that role.
Good Signing by the Cubs, might be a nice bounce back year for Brach
Wanted cards to get him
But the Cards have all that young talented pitching. Why do they need anyone else?
Everyone needs veterans on their staff to anchor and mentor young players.
Cecil, Wainwright, Mikolas, Miller, AND THE GREAT AND POWERFUL YADIER MOLINA!! The greatest catcher since the game was invented. How many veterans do they need to “anchor and mentor” a staff?
Good answer. Your right. They certainly don’t need that piece of crap.
Cards already have 2 pieces of crap. Cecil and Gregerson.
I never said they needed another veteran. You asked why a young pitching staff might need an experienced veteran, so I told you why.
You can never have too much pitching and for that price, why not ? I was hoping for the Cards as well.
Better and cheaper than Jesse Chavez signed for.
I’d rather have chavez.
Figured Brach would cost about $5-6-mil given how much money has been thrown at relievers the last couple offseasons. This could be a huge steal for the Cubs. If Brach is anywhere near the pitcher he was in Baltimore it’s a huge pickup.
What a pain braves…. where are y’all in the bullpen market! So much talent out there and we haven’t make a single bullpen move and it was our biggest weakness going into the offseason
Sounds like Brach was more desperate than the Cubs. At least they didn’t spend a desperate $14mil on Holland, like my Cardinals did
Hey ninth who’s better the president of baseball operations of the team you support that hasn’t made the playoffs in YEARS????? Worry about your team us cubs fans will worry about clearing our schedules for another year of October baseball. Excellent pickup by the Cubbies!
If you’re an actual cubs fan, you wouldn’t call them “Cubbies”. Stop making CHC fans look stupid, there was no schedule to clear last October. Stop.
Thank you. A cub fan who actually GETS it
Lol, nailed it.
I always disliked the term cubbies. The only thing really bad about the organization besides having a clueless owner. Is hiring a mascot after not having one for the 120 year history. The reds,Mets and Phillies are the only teams that need mascots. And Bernie Brewer too. But the brewers went full on family friendly after a brewers home run. Hes supposed to slide into a beer mug.now it’s some lame foam pit.
Why are the Reds, Mets and Phillies the only teams that “need” a mascot?
St Louis is boring!
Them’s fighting words! Ask Brandon Phillip’s and Nyjer Morgan what happens when you talk trash about the Cardinals
Yeah, don’t mess with the Cardinals. You might end the career of their backup catcher.
The Braves bullpen is so fantastic that Brach was the odd man out. Yes sarcasm !!
Cubs better hope Brach has something left in the tank. Their bullpen is a major weakness due to lack of depth (and a real closer). They could have easily signed a lefty closer like Britton.
Every single facet of the Cubs organization is better than your team.. Better rotation, better bullpen, better defense, better lineup, better management, absolutely everything is better. And since I don’t see Cubs fans trolling the White Sox rumors, is pretty clear who the better fans are as well. Get a life man, time to let the hate go.
Typical juvenile response from a Cubs fanatic. Megaj, little babies like you make the internet forums a minefield. If it doesn’t fit your limited knowledge, it’s trolling.
“And since I don’t see Cubs fans trolling the White Sox rumors”
You clearly aren’t paying attention then. This crap goes both ways. Get over it.
The crap does go both ways, but you two are the very definition of immature, juvenile trolls. Its just a shame they don’t have a troll filter so we wouldn’t have to read your useless barbs on a daily basis. I can’t disagree with you or “cry” about anything, because you never have a point to begin with. Cubs old, Theo dumpster diving, Cubs suck, blah, blah, blah. It just sounds so petty coming from fans of a far lesser team. But every day, the same crap, never anything new.
Can’t speak for what you’ve witnessed posted on other boards but there was nothing”immature” about the comment you responded to. Chicitys comment was a valid opinion and pretty respectful. “Far lessor team” your the one that sounds petty and really snobby. Stop being so defensive, everyone knows the cubs have a better team.
They have a closer already. Brandon Morrow. He just spent nearly half the season on the DL last year, but he should be good to go for next season.
With Morrow’s tendency to get shelved with an injury, I wouldn’t be surprised if Maddon goes with a round robin approach to closing this year. Strop, Edwards, Morrow, Cishek, and now Brach are capable of closing a game. I always thought that Morrow was better suited as the 8th inning set up guy.
Well megaj, you know what they say. If you have 2 closers, that means you don’t have any.
You do…know Morrow’s history, right?
Cubs bullpen isn’t the Yankees but I’d hardly call it a weakness. Strop, chisek, morrow and now brach are all solid veteran relievers. With Darvish healthy that puts monty another proven start/reliever back in the pen. I am sure they have a solid lefthander on their wishlist but Rosario wasn’t horrible last year. No clue what cubs plan to do with chatwood but he has nasty stuff if he can limit the walks.
“If Brach exercises his side of the option but the Cubs do not, Brach is still under team control for 2020 but at a lesser salary.”
That’s a pretty team-friendly clause!!
How do you figure? It’s better than a strict team option, at least this gives him a guarantee to be paid next year.
This really pisses me off. The Halos could have signed Brach instead of Allen and still had money leftover to sign a lefty. Now we are in a situation where we have pennies to spend, or need to move a contract to spend.
I like the move, it adds a little more depth to a quality bullpen at a fair price. I think Brach is an upgrade to other moves like keeping J. Chavez or getting Adam Warren again. Chavez pitched pretty darn good for the Cubs last year, but probably just an anomaly given his career numbers. Not a big move, but definitely fills a need nicely.
Good synopsis. I wonder if the Bote rumors have any merit. I’d be surprised if they don’t pick up another lefty for the pen. They may find a way to subtract Duensing or Kintzler as well.
I think Kintzler is moveable after he took the 5M option. A Bote/Kintzler trade could have some merit. Not sure how they can move Duensing though. Maybe he can turn it around this year?
Why not sign sipp?
^
This. I wish they signed Sipp.
You’re telling me the Red Sox couldn’t spend$3 million on him?
He brings experience at the end of games setting up and closing.
smh
Dumpster Divin’ Theo!
Brach is a nice pickup for the Cubs. Especially for the low money they got him for.