The Cubs announced that they’ve signed right-hander Kelvin Herrera and left-hander Matt Dermody to minor league contracts and assigned them to their alternate training site. The team’s 60-man player pool is now full. Herrera, 30, was recently cut loose by the White Sox after being designated for assignment. Dermody, also 30, had been pitching in the independent Constellation Energy League.
Herrera was once a high-end setup man and eventually a closer for the Royals. The hard-throwing righty was part of a juggernaut Kansas City bullpen that fueled the team’s 2014 and 2015 World Series appearances, pitching to a 2.75 ERA with 8.9 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 441 1/3 frames in parts of eight seasons with the Royals. He was eventually traded from K.C. to D.C. in a swap that sent minor leaguers Kelvin Gutierrez, Blake Perkins and Yohanse Morel from the Nats to the Royals.
Herrera’s time with the Nats didn’t go well, however. He missed time early with a shoulder impingement, and upon returning he suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot that ended his season. That was hardly an ideal run-up to his first foray into free agency, but Herrera’s standout track record still netted him a two-year, $18MM deal with the White Sox. The pact went even more poorly, though, as Herrera was shelled for 6.54 ERA in 53 2/3 frames with the South Siders before being released last week.
Dermody, meanwhile, has just 25 1/3 innings of big league experience under his belt — all coming with the 2016-17 Blue Jays. He’s spent his entire pro career in the Toronto organization prior to this season, during which time he’s posted a 4.12 ERA in parts of four Triple-A campaigns. His lack of track record may seem questionable, but Dermody has been lights out on the indie circuit this season, allowing just one earned run on 13 hits and six walks with 23 strikeouts in 17 1/3 frames. That showing clearly made an impression on the Cubs, who’ll now have Dermody on hand as a depth option should the need arise.
The Cubs have gotten out to a hot start, but their bullpen remains an obvious weakness. High-priced closer Craig Kimbrel has looked lost since signing in Chicago, and the team hasn’t spent on any other bullpen help in the past several years. They’re currently relying on a patchwork group that has seen Rowan Wick and the talented-but-inconsistent Jeremy Jeffress shoulder the bulk of the high-leverage situations as Kimbrel continues to struggle. Herrera is the second former AL Central All-Star on whom the Cubs are rolling the dice. They signed former Indians closer Cody Allen to a minor league deal and assigned him to their alternate training site last week.
Cubs starters rank first in the Majors in ERA (1.95), second in FIP (2.52) and sixth in xFIP (3.51). Their relievers, as a whole, rank 29th in ERA (7.20), dead last in FIP (6.90) and 23rd in xFIP (4.81).
Can’t get bullpen help fast enough. The Cubs are way to good to have that terrible of a pen.
2x All Star, solid move
I’m surprised the Rockies didn’t sign Herrera. They have already had th downhill slide of 2/3rd of that Royals end game trio with Holland and Davis. Herrera would have completed the set.
Or maybe they are just waiting for him to slide just a little further before biting.
Man did I call it or what!
“This has Theo written all over it”
Just about every fan of every team wrote something similar. One of you were bound to ‘nail’ it. But, I wouldn’t gloat. Wait until you see him pitch first.
Of course you called it——-it concerns the Cubs.
Exactly. One man’s trash…
Cubs really wanted Fulmer as their first choice, but he was snatched up too quickly.
The mistake the Chisox made, is that they didn’t at least use Herrera as a defensive replacement for the defensively challenged Eloy Jimenez. Eloy is gonna hurt himself out there.
How’s Quintana working out for you?!
He got hurt doing the dishes!
Ha! Ha!
Quintana has posted 4.5 bWAR in his time with the Cubs. Jimenez and Cease have posted a combined 1.3 bWAR with the Sox so far. Lots of time left for those two to significantly contribute to the Sox and change this narrative, but there are no guarantees in baseball – Cease looks more likely to be a bust than even a solid journeyman, and Eloy certainly has yet to live up to anything like a “can’t miss” label.
So far, the Cubs have gotten notably more out of this trade than have the Sox.
Every move the cubs make you call it dumpster divin theo. If they signed gerrit cole it would be dumpster divin theo for you.
Came here exactly to see this brand of lame, sophomoric, envious and moronic. Not leaving disappointed.
blah blah blah dumpster
That Constellation Energy League seems to be a popular place for former bad MLB players to congregate.
No major Leaguer is actually ‘bad.’ It’s insane how good you need to be to reach that level.
Bad is a relative term. Of course they are good compared to rec league softball players, but when compared to major leaguers, they are bad. Compared to 7 year olds most adults are great mathematicians, but most adults do not seem as great when pitted against Nobel Prize winners.
This is a great sign if he’s back to his 2016 form
Yes, the White Sox cut him because “he’s back to his 2016 form”. Maybe with work he can get there, but he looked terrible again this year. I actually thought he’d figured it out a bit in Sept last year, but his velo was down 3 or 4 mph and he just didn’t have the command at 94 to get anyone out consistently.
Who is Cubbies’ next opponent? St. Mary Of The Woods or Indiana Home For Criminally Insane?
I love this Cubbies signing of Kelvin Herrera maybe not as good as he once was. But still a nice power arm in the late innings to record outs. You can’t teach that.
The trend of baseball over decades has literally been teaching power arms to record outs. I dont understand your point. At all.
@cadagan- My point was a mid 90’s fastball, 12-6 curve is a god given gift. You either have it or you don’t. When you have a power arm it’s much easier to get outs or strikeouts as expected
Dumpster Divin’ Theo back in action.
Please stop saying that I really Hope Kelvin Herrera has something left in the tank at this point. Trying to be optimistic somehow for my Cubbies sake and Theo’s.
Did you give up on the Yanks already?
It’s a term of endearment. Theo’s pulled a few rabbits out of the hat over the years. Might as well give the wheel another spin. I have no problems with these sorts of deals. just had to add the obligatory mention.
Dumpster divin’ Theo for sure!
Herrera 15.43 ERA!!
Yeah I mean if the “great” Don Cooper couldn’t fix him what are the Cubs thinking
Only one of the six Sox who have started a game this year has an ERA under 5, and half of them have ERAs higher than 7.5. Their supposed brilliant young star starters look like total hot garbage now, and some are showing possible arm issues.
I wouldn’t be too quick to open my yap about how bad the Cubs are if I am attempting to defend the White Sox as an above average MLB team based on results instead of wishes.