The Cubs and left-handed reliever Tyler Olson are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He’ll have a $650K base salary if he makes the club and will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Olson is represented by the Ballplayers Agency.
Olson, 30, rattled off 20 scoreless innings of relief for the Indians back in 2017 but hasn’t come close to replicating that success in the subsequent years. Over the past two seasons in Cleveland, he’s tallied 58 innings with a 4.66 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate.
Lefties have posted a miserable .210/.296/.341 slash against Olson in his big league career, which spans parts of five seasons and includes a total of 94 innings pitched and a composite 3.83 ERA (4.01 FIP). However, right-handed batters have teed off at a .309/.398/.487 clip, which doesn’t bode well in light of the impending three-batter minimum that’ll be installed for pitchers in the upcoming 2020 season. That said, Olson has a respectable track record both in the Majors and in the upper minors, and he’ll give the Cubs some affordable, no-risk depth to take a look at this spring.
Dumpster Divin’ Theo
Such a stale comment. We’ll see about the dumpster divers at the trade deadline trading their farm systems to get out of the NL Central basement
It’s funny to me that people find more joy in repeating unoriginal comments than rooting for their team and the game they presumably love. This site is growing tiresome.
Amen Ort.
It’s not the site. Just the comment section.
Some fans are fickle things.
It’s like they are upset that not every move is a “blockbuster” trade that sees your team move an old ineffective contract for an all star and elite prospects.
Some of the arguments I’ve seen over the years genuinely reminds me of entitled children.
I understand their frustrations sometimes, but you also can’t always get what you want in the real world.
Very true. And some deals that no one expects to work out, work out. I remember the Rangers, on that Dempster deal in 2012, throwing in a secondary player along with Villanueva to get it done. Player was Kyle Hendricks.
The best players in the league now can be crap the next year and the crap players last year can be great.
You can root for a team and still criticize them. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Spring training is a month away and the Cubs have done nothing of significance after losing a decent amount of talent . Castellanos, Russell, Zobrist, Hamels, Kintzler, Cishek, Brach and Strop are gone from their 2019 roster. They still have to reduce payroll and figure out CF and 2B.
Of course, some of this will be sorted out when Bryant’s grievance is settled. However, trading Bryant isn’t going to make them better in the short term or cover the amount of talent gone from the 2019 team that only won 84 games.
The cheating bats from 2019 will suck this year. No one to tip off what’s coming!
@Anthony, Amen
@CMurphy, prospects yes, but this is a 30 year old dude. Nice story but not quite apples to apples.
That’s accurate. I posted a sub comment after I posted that saying I still love MLBTR but the comment section is what’s becoming tiresome. It didn’t used to be like that.
How is repetitively saying “Dumpster Diving Theo” on every Cubs signing with no other comment even qualify as criticism. Its just being done to be annoying and say “look at me”. Whoever posted the “entitled children” comment is spot on. I’m fine with criticizing a team you root for, I do it all the time, but provide reasons why and comments of value. Or how you think they could improve.
Almost as cool as the Go Cubs Go guy.
Can’t think of anything to say from your own brain? It was already old by the guy who first started on here
Theo Epstein- leading the league in MiLB contracts to pitchers nobody cares about.
And to those crying about the negative comments, I am a huge Cubs fan- born and raised in the Chicagoland area.
We are angry bc Theo came in, tore it all down, built a winner from the ground up, all with the intention of competing every year for a championship, and then he pi$$ed it all away w bad trades and FA deals. He has painted the Ricketts’ into a corner, financially, and now a team that is supposed to be contenders is bargain shopping at the thrift store with a depleted farm system. Theo hasnt developed a SINGLE arm in his Cubs tenure. Not one.
oh give it up. Cubs ended that ridiculous championship drought and people are already rioting in the streets? the team has a top 3 payroll, several young stars, and is still a serious contender depsite some of the ill-fated contracts they signed. but yeah, poor you. go become a Marlins or Indians fan or something like that.
Dumpster Divin’ Jed
J Bates do you have any other comment or is that ever comment you ever have? Just two words? Pathetic
J Bates I am embarrassed for you
the real 2017 MVP
This move puts the Cubs over the Dodgers and Yankees
The Cubs AAA squad is going have 75 guys on it.
Say hello to 80 wins. That’s if things go right and 4th place.
Yawn….
You’re not even a real Cubs fan are you? All you do is take a big steamy scheisse on them.
Cool agency name.
I thought the same thing. Sounds like something out of the 1920’s.
Cubs are spending hundreds of thousands this winter! Why is everyone on their case??
If the league and ownership were doing their jobs at prevention, there would be no cheating and no need for an investigation. Drain the swamp!
Make Baseball Great Again!
Seems like an odd place for this rant
There’s my guy! Dumpster Divin’ Theo strikes again! Look NL Central, dem boys from Chicago are STACKED
you’re annoying with the anti north side rhetoric
He probably jumped on the bandwagon when the white Sox got Jimenez.
I welcome all newcomers to Sox fan club and the antiCub Club.
Welcoming yourself now are you?
Of course that makes no sense.
Grow up.
Now clean up the basement and then go collect your allowance from mommy.
You can be annoyed. I get it. However, the Cubs are in bad shape because of failures from Theo and the front office. Maybe if they developed 1 pitcher, they might still have Jimenez and Cease and a little more payroll flexibility. A team that lost Castellanos, Russell, Zobrist, Hamels, Kintzler, Cishek, Brach and Strop might have a difficult time matching their 84 wins from 2019. They still have to cut payroll and spring training is a month away.
Sad but true
J Bates beat you by 2 hours…be better.
This is why you make you son throw left handed…potential $650k paycheck even if your mediocre.