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MRI Negative On Left Wrist Of Nelson Cruz

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TODAY: The MRI came back negative, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press was among those to report on Twitter. Cruz is hoping to avoid an IL trip altogether.

YESTERDAY: Twins slugger Nelson Cruz left Sunday’s game due to soreness in his left wrist, and he will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the nature of the problem.  (MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park was among those to report the news.)

Cruz’s injury didn’t seem to stem from any specific incident, as the veteran indicated to reporters after the game that he had been dealing with nagging wrist soreness, and the issue became worse after taking a swinging strike.  As Park notes, Cruz’s wrist seemed to be visibly bothering him after swinging at a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Cruz took one further plate appearance in the game but was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Even as he approaches his 39th birthday on July 1, Cruz is still producing at a high level, with a .270/.354/.508 slash line and seven homers over his first 144 plate appearances as a Twin.  Cruz’s still-potent bat has been a big reason behind Minnesota’s surprising surge to the best record in baseball, and obviously any type of IL stint for the veteran designated hitter would be a blow to the Twins’ lineup.

If Cruz’s status wasn’t enough of a concern for the Twins, Martin Perez was also an early scratch from Sunday’s game, as the starter was removed after being hit in the left ankle by a Nicholas Castellanos line drive in the sixth inning.  This injury (diagnosed as a left foot contusion) doesn’t appear to be as serious, however, as Perez told Park and other reporters that he doesn’t think he’ll miss his next start.

Central Notes: Fulmer, Wood, M. Perez

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Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer was one of the majors’ hardest-throwing starters from 2016-18, but his velocity has been anything but imposing early in 2019. As has been the case throughout the spring, Fulmer’s fastball sat in the 88 to 92 mph range during a 44-pitch outing Saturday, leading Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press to note that the soon-to-be 26-year-old “didn’t look right.” The Tigers aren’t confident Fulmer’s velocity will return, writes Fenech, which is an eyebrow-raising observation given that he’s one of the rebuilding team’s most valuable players and trade chips. But it’s worth noting Fulmer’s still in the early stages of his comeback from right knee surgery, and he and pitching coach Rick Anderson expressed confidence Saturday that his velocity will return, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News relays. If so, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year figures to stand a far better chance of rebounding from a disappointing, injury-shortened 2017 – a 132 1/3-inning campaign in which he logged career-worst numbers (4.69 ERA/4.52 FIP with 7.48 K/9 and 3.13 BB/9).

More on a couple other hurlers from the majors’ Central divisions…

  • While Fulmer’s velocity has gone in the wrong direction this spring, the uptick Twins southpaw Martin Perez has experienced has impressed scouts, Dan Hayes of The Athletic notes (subscription required). As a member of the Rangers from 2012-18, with whom he had an unspectacular tenure, Perez’s average fastball clocked in at 93.5 mph. This spring, though, it has consistently reached the mid- to upper 90s – including across four shutout innings against the Pirates on Saturday. The increase may be attributable to a mechanical change the Twins made with Perez, whom they signed to a one-year, $4MM guarantee over the winter. The Twins have pushed Perez to incorporate his hips more into his delivery, Hayes details, and he has taken their advice. “All in from Day One,” assistant pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told Hayes. “He’s a joy to be around. One of the hardest workers we have.” If Perez’s velo gains stick, he could end up as a steal for the Twins, and may finally begin delivering on the hype he had during his days as a prospect.
  • Reds left-hander Alex Wood, who has been dealing with back issues over the past couple weeks, suffered a setback after throwing a simulated game Friday, according to manager David Bell (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Wood hasn’t pitched in a Cactus League game since Feb. 25, and it could be at least another week before he makes an appearance, Nightengale suggests. Although Bell said Wood’s injury isn’t “a major concern,” the skipper’s nonetheless unsure whether the winter acquisition will be ready for the start of the season.  Having picked Wood up in a blockbuster trade with the Dodgers, the Reds are counting on the 28-year-old to serve as one of the anchors in what they hope will be a vastly improved rotation.

Twins Sign Martin Perez

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8:07pm: The Associated Press reports that Perez’s contract has a $7.5MM option for a second season that comes with a $500K buyout, bringing his actual guarantee to $4MM.

Furthermore, MLBTR has learned that Perez will earn an additional $100K for reaching each of 135, 145, 155, 165 and 175 innings pitched. His option value would rise to $8MM if he reaches 170 innings and to $8.5MM upon reaching 180 innings.

Jan. 30, 5:34pm: The Twins have announced the signing.

Jan. 19, 5:04pm: Perez’s deal is worth approximately $3.5MM, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

3:01pm: Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Twins have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent lefty Martin Perez.  The deal reportedly includes a club option for 2020.

Martin Perez

Perez, 27, appeared in parts of seven seasons with the Rangers, posting a career 4.63 ERA/4.44 FIP/4.51 xFIP in 761 1/3 IP. A once-prized farmhand under the guiding hand of former Rangers assistant GM (and current Twins GM) Thad Levine, Perez dealt with an assortment of injuries during his tenure with the club, and never quite fulfilled the tantalizing bat-missing potential he displayed in the minors. Perez’s 5.46 K/9 ranks as one of the league’s lowest during that span, and it isn’t much offset by a career 3.19 BB/9, which swelled to 3.80 in 2018.

Perez, though, has long hung his hat on his knack for inducing the ground ball. Indeed, his 50.9% career grounder rate places 12th among all starters with at least 700 IP from 2012-18, aided in large part by a heavy sinker that hasn’t much slowed down despite recent-season struggles. His worm-burning tendencies, too, have helped him keep the ball in play – a 0.96 career HR/9 (even with last season’s 1.69 homer-per-nine anomaly) ranks, when adjusting for the homer-happy confines of Arlington’s Globe Life Park, as one of the league’s best of the decade, and should play very well within a park around which the club has a tailored a lineup rife with right-handed power.

2018 was an awful one for Perez, as the lefty posted career worsts in walk rate, HR/9, ERA (6.22) and FIP (5.72). He was demoted to the bullpen in late summer, where he still struggled with command, eventually making his $7.5MM option a foregone rejection. Both Steamer and ZiPS though, remain mostly on board, with the former projecting a 4.48 FIP and the latter a 4.51, each of which rated around league-average in the decidedly hitter-friendly environs of Texas.

Perez will join a rotation that includes Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi, and the rehabbing Michael Pineda, and figures to have inside track for the rotation’s fifth and final spot at current. Lefties Stephen Gonsalves and Adalberto Mejia will contend, and the club could also look to Zack Littell, Kohl Stewart, or Fernando Romero, should injuries surface.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Santana, Marlins, Happ, Gray, Reds, Perez, Boras

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Carlos Santana in a Marlins uniform?  Surprising at it may seem, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) reports that Miami was in talks with the Mariners about the veteran first baseman before Seattle flipped Santana to the Indians as part of a three-team deal with the Rays.  It’s been a quiet offseason for the Marlins as they continue their rebuild and weigh J.T. Realmuto trade offers, though since their past fire-sale moves have cleared a lot of future payroll space, there have been indications that the Fish could use this room to potentially to add future trade chips.  The Marlins had interest in free agent D.J. LeMahieu, and Santana is owed $35MM over the next two seasons.

Between the Marlins’ flexibility and Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto’s creativity in swinging deals, any number of scenarios could have been floated.  The most obvious offer could have been a “buying a prospect” type of trade, where the Marlins absorb a big chunk of Santana’s salary if the Mariners added some minor leaguers along in the deal.  If not a prospect, perhaps the M’s could have included a Major League player along with Santana in a package to Miami, potentially a needed reliever or a left-handed bat.  Whatever was discussed, Seattle ended up preferring the return from the three-team deal (a Competitive Balance Round draft pick and $10MM in salary relief), though the Marlins are certainly emerging as a possible trade partner for teams trying to unload an ill-fitting contract.

Here’s more from Rosenthal’s latest set of notes from around baseball…

  • The Reds were willing to offer J.A. Happ a three-year contract and give him more in guaranteed money than the $34MM he received from the Yankees in a two-year deal (with a $17MM vesting option for 2021).  New York’s offer, however, included a higher average annual value than Cincinnati’s offer.  Rosenthal speculates that Happ could have based on his decision on a desire to return to a contender, or perhaps the fact that pitchers are generally wary of the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark.
  • The Happ situation could be a reason the Reds are looking to work out an extension with Sonny Gray before acquiring him from the Yankees, a tactic that Rosenthal says has surprised some rival agents and executives.  While Gray’s success outside of Yankee Stadium has made him a popular bounce-back candidate on another team, Rosenthal wonders if the right-hander might want to lock in a multi-year payday now in the wake of his 2018 struggles.  Gray might welcome a chance to avoid a free agent market that has become less friendly to veterans, and Cincinnati offers him a familiar face in pitching coach Derek Johnson (Gray’s former coach at Vanderbilt).
  • Rosenthal’s piece also offers a broader overview of the Reds’ offseason, which has seen the club try to make significant upgrades even while still looking like postseason longshots in the competitive NL Central.  Cincinnati has been willing to trade some second-tier prospects to add established Major League players, while resisting moving any of its top minor league talents (such as Nick Senzel or Taylor Trammell).
  • The Astros and Mariners both had interest in left-hander Martin Perez before Perez agreed to join the Twins yesterday.  Perez picked Minnesota since he wanted to be a starting pitcher next season, which likely gave the Twins the edge over the Mets, though the other suitors might have had more room in their rotation.  The Astros are thin on pitching, though since Houston plans to contend next season, it might have been a taller order to assign a starting spot to a pitcher who struggled as Perez did in 2018.  The Mariners have a full rotation plus Justus Sheffield waiting in the wings at Triple-A, though more room could have made for Perez — Felix Hernandez’s health and future as a starting pitcher is questionable, and Mike Leake has been the subject of trade rumors this winter.
  • Scott Boras has been vocal about what he sees as a lack of competitiveness around baseball, and has made several suggestions (though not yet officially to the league or players’ union) about ways to better motivate teams to win games — and, of course, have more incentive to spend money on Boras clients in free agency.  The list includes such concepts as extra playoff teams, cash bonuses to teams that reach the postseason, and draft pick compensation for teams that sign a veteran free agent or win a draft lottery for passing various wins thresholds.  Boras also proposes an anti-tanking rule that would prevent teams from receiving a top-five draft pick if they win 68 or fewer games.  “Our system is like a restaurant saying, ’If I can’t be an elite, fine-dining restaurant, I am no longer going to make a good hamburger. I’m just going to give poor meat to my clientele,’ ” Boras said.  “Which results in fewer patrons, a downturn in (overall major-league) attendance three years running.”

East Notes: Rays, LeMahieu, Realmuto, Braves, Mets

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Count the Rays among the teams that chased second baseman DJ LeMahieu during his trip to the open market, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Before LeMahieu joined the division-rival Yankees on a two-year, $24MM guarantee, Tampa Bay was “very much in on” him, Topkin writes. Now, with spring training approaching, it’s possible the Rays’ roster may be set, suggests Topkin, who runs down the team’s options at each position. However, Topkin still doesn’t rule out further moves, including a trade for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, who has garnered serious interest this month from the Rays and several other teams.

More from the East Coast…

  • With the Braves looking for help in the grass, general manager Alex Anthopoulos revealed Saturday that there are “probably” three outfielders available who fit what the club is seeking, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Anthopoulos added one or more of those players has been in trade discussions but has not made it into the rumor mill, per O’Brien, who surmises that free agents A.J. Pollock and Nick Markakis and Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta could make up at least a couple of the Braves’ targets. The Braves have been connected to all three throughout the winter, and the easiest to acquire would likely be Markakis, who capped off a four-year run in Atlanta with a solid showing in 2018. But as a 35-year-old corner outfielder with an unspectacular resume, it’s obvious Markakis – unlike Pollock – is not a candidate to land a long-term contract.
  • Before he agreed to sign with the Twins on Saturday, left-hander Martin Perez drew interest from the Mets, Jon Heyman of Fancred relays. However, the Mets wanted Perez as a depth piece, which helped point him to a better opportunity in Minnesota, Heyman reports. Coming off a miserable 2018 in Texas, Perez wouldn’t have been a clear upgrade over anyone in the Mets’ rotation – a group that features reigning NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Jason Vargas. The Mets’ top depth starting possibilities include Seth Lugo, though he may be too important to their bullpen to move to the rotation if a need arises, and recent minor league pickup Hector Santiago.
  • Back to the Braves, who should get back a couple of their own key pitchers in time for spring training. Both starter Mike Soroka and reliever Darren O’Day are on track to return after injury-shortened seasons, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution details. The 21-year-old Soroka was terrific during a five-start, 25 2/3-inning major league debut in 2018, but he last took the mound June 19 on account of shoulder inflammation. He’s now a favorite to win a starting spot in Atlanta heading into 2019, Burns observes. O’Day, meanwhile, underwent season-ending hamstring surgery in late June, but the Braves nonetheless took him from the Orioles a month later in a deal headlined by Kevin Gausman. The 36-year-old O’Day had been amid another quality season before he went down, continuing a long run of effectiveness. With a $9MM salary, he’s currently the Braves’ most expensive reliever.

Pitching Rumors: BoSox, Ottavino, Giants, Kikuchi, Rangers

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It’s “believed” that free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino is near the top of Boston’s bullpen wish list, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. The same is true of the previously reported David Robertson, per Heyman. With closer Craig Kimbrel and setup man Joe Kelly as their best remaining free agents, it’s no surprise that the world champion Red Sox are exploring the top of the market for bullpen help. Those two led full-time Red Sox relievers in innings pitched last season, and Kimbrel was particularly effective. The 33-year-old Ottavino may have been even better, though, as the former Rockie was among the game’s elite relievers in 2018 despite having to pitch his home games at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Ottavino placed fourth among relievers in average exit velocity against (84.9 mph), sixth in fWAR (2.0), 11th in K/9 (12.98, against 4.17 BB/9), 13th in innings (77 2/3) and 17th in ERA (2.43), putting himself in position to score a lucrative contract in free agency.

More on the pitching market…

  • Free-agent left-hander Yusei Kikuchi “really likes” San Francisco and “might” have the Giants atop his list of preferred teams, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hears. The Giants, for their part, seem interested in landing the 27-year-old Kikuchi, who’s poised to immigrate to the majors after starring in his native Japan. Kikuchi’s soon-to-be former employer, the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, posted him for MLB clubs Dec. 2, giving him until Jan. 2 to sign. The Giants look like as logical a fit for Kikuchi as any team, given the short- and long-term uncertainty throughout their rotation.
  • As the Giants wait to see what happens with Kikuchi, they’ve “checked in on” free-agent righty Tyson Ross, Schulman tweets, though he suggests a signing is hardly imminent. The Bay Area is familiar to Ross, a Berkeley, Calif., native who pitched for the Athletics earlier in his career. The 31-year-old divided last season between San Diego and St. Louis and posted a 4.15 ERA/4.39 FIP with 7.34 K/9, 3.73 BB/9 and a 45.9 percent groundball rate in 149 2/3 innings (31 appearances, 23 starts). It was Ross’ first fairly healthy season since he underwent the dreaded thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in 2016.
  • The pitching-needy Rangers have interest in re-signing lefty Martin Perez and righty Adrian Sampson, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. Texas moved on from both hurlers last month, at least temporarily, as it declined Perez’s $7.5MM option in favor of a $1MM buyout and non-tendered Sampson. Perez, 27, has been a passable back-end starter at times, but he endured a horrid 2018. Sampson, also 27, hasn’t experienced much big league success over a limited sample of work (27 2/3 innings). He spent most of last season at the Triple-A level.

Rangers Decline Club Options Over Chirinos, Fister, Moore, Perez

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The Rangers have declined club options over catcher Robinson Chirinos and pitchers Doug Fister, Matt Moore, and Martin Perez. That’s a surprising move on the veteran backstop, though all three hurlers seemed destined to be sent onto the open market.

The Texas organization has also announced a long list of players who were outrighted from the 40-man roster. Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Clayton Blackburn, Brandon Mann, Carlos Perez, and Ryan Rua are all weighing outright assignments after seemingly clearing waivers.

Chirinos, 34, had seemed a fairly easy choice to remain behind the dish in Texas. His option had risen in value to $4.5MM due to plate-appearance escalators, Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes on Twitter, but the team will pay him $1MM just to walk away.

While Chirinos is not noted for his skill behind the dish — in particular, he slipped to dreadful framing ratings in 2018 — he’s a highly respected player. And he also has consistently delivered much more offensive than the average catcher, with a .233/.324/.438 career slash and 35 home runs over the 735 plate appearances he has accrued since the start of 2017.

All three pitchers will be looking for bounceback opportunities after forgettable seasons. Fister will receive a $500K buyout; his option was priced at $4.5MM. The Moore deal included a $750K  buyout, which he’ll take home in lieu of a $10MM payday. Perez, meanwhile, gets $1MM in total buyouts as the club passes on its chance to keep him in 2019 ($7.5MM) and 2020 ($9MM).

Latest On Rangers’ Offseason Pitching Plans

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With the Rangers currently thin on internal options for the 2019 rotation,  the team will likely be active in free agency this offseason, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. General manager Jon Daniels tells Wilson that the “concept of layering in a quality free agent addition, that’s appealing.”

That said, as Wilson notes, the team isn’t likely to pursue top-of-the-market options like Dallas Keuchel and Patrick Corbin. Rather, a less substantial investment — something along the lines of last winter’s Mike Minor signing (three years, $28MM), perhaps — could be in the cards.

Of course, that assumes not only that the Rangers will be able to offer enough money, but also that they’ll be able to woo an appealing hurler to join a roster that likely won’t be expected to contend immediately. Of course, the very same uncertainties also make the Texas club “a pretty attractive destination” for pitchers who are “willing to compete for innings in Spring Training,” as Daniels put it.

Even if the Rangers end up making a reasonably splashy acquisition, they’ll surely be looking for other arms to battle it out in camp. After all, there are slim pickings on hand.

Beyond Minor, Adrian Sampson, Yohander Mendez, Ariel Jurado and Eddie Butler all possibilities in 2019. Edinson Volquez, too, could be in the mix at some point as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. Wilson notes that Yovani Gallardo would like to return to Texas as well, while the door also seems open for Martin Perez to come back even if his option is declined (as probably ought to be expected).

While it’s true, then, that there are possibilities on hand, that group of hurlers is not exactly overflowing with MLB accomplishment and promise as compared with most staffs around baseball. Neither would the above-suggested reunions clearly move the needle. Given Gallardo’s extraordinary decline and poor results in 2018, for instance, a minor-league deal seems appropriate. It’s also questionable whether Perez is worthy of an MLB pact, though he has youth on his side and has been useful at times in the past.

Clearly, then, Daniels is to be taken at his words regarding the clear-cut openings in the rotation. The situation could very well hold appeal to starters who know they’ll need to win jobs on non-guaranteed pacts in Spring Training.

The veteran executive notes, too, that the organization is open to being “a little less traditional” in how it structures its staff, perhaps opening the door to some creative options in structuring a staff. Bold thinking may well be necessary; barring some unexpectedly consequential acquisitions via trade and/or free agency, after all, the expectations will likely not be terribly lofty for the Rangers’ 2019 rotation.

Rangers Move Martin Perez To Bullpen

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The Rangers have moved left-hander Martin Perez to the bullpen for the remainder of the season and have informed his camp that the team is not currently planning on picking up his $7.5MM club option for the 2019 season (Twitter links via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan quotes Texas GM Jon Daniels on the matter (Twitter link):

“We told Martin that if the decision had to be made today, we probably wouldn’t exercise the option. It’s possible we could still work something out for him to continue his career here. We want to take this time to evaluate him in a bullpen role.”

It’s not hard to see why the Rangers are strongly leaning toward paying Perez a $750K buyout, as the lefty has been rocked for a 6.95 ERA in 68 2/3 innings this season. The 27-year-old also missed a significant portion of the season while recovering from surgery on his right (non-throwing) elbow that he underwent this past offseason.

Perez does have somewhat of a track record in Texas, having pitched to a 4.37 ERA over the life of 638 innings from 2013-17. But while Perez was a source of serviceable innings prior to the 2018 season while earning a relatively modest $16.8MM during his current contract, he’s also never lived up to the fanfare that led to him widely being considered a top 50 (and, at one point, top 20) prospect in the game.

Perez has made just six relief appearances in his career — all coming back when he was a rookie in 2012. It seems unlikely that a month of relief work, no matter how encouraging, would convince the Rangers to pay that fairly hefty sum. Perhaps, however, an encouraging performance could lead the two sides to hammer out a new contractual arrangement that would give Perez the chance to remain in the organization at a lower rate. If not, he’ll reach free agency for the first time this winter, albeit on the heels of the worst season of his seven-year career in the Majors.

Quick Hits: Donaldson, Holliday, Rangers, Perez, Cubs, Hamels

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Injured Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will be eligible to go on August trade waivers if he embarks on a rehab assignment, but “it appears unlikely” that’s going to happen, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Donaldson has been out since the end of May with a calf strain, which has stopped the out-of-contention Blue Jays from dealing him as he closes in on free agency. If Toronto’s unable to trade Donaldson this month, it’ll have to keep him through season’s end and then decide before the market opens whether to issue the soon-to-be 33-year-old a qualifying offer (worth $17.4MM last winter). Donaldson was among the majors’ best players as recently as last year, which suggests the Blue Jays will tender him a QO, though multiple DL stints this season have limited him to 36 games and an unspectacular .234/.333/.423 line in 159 plate appearances.

More from around the game…

  • First baseman/outfielder Matt Holliday went without a contract until July 28, when the Rockies signed him to a minor league pact, but he did garner offers before then. It seems the 38-year-old held off on signing because he wanted to join a team with which he had a “personal connection,” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. With that in mind, Holliday said Friday he’d have been open to offers from the Rockies, Cardinals, and perhaps the Yankees – all teams he has played for – as well as certain other unnamed clubs. After a brief and highly successful run at the Triple-A level with the Rockies, Holliday’s back in Colorado, which selected his contract Thursday. On Saturday, in his fifth at-bat of the year, Holliday victimized the Cardinals with a pinch-hit, 448-foot blast to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. The Rox ended up rolling to a 9-1 win to climb within a half-game of the Cards for the NL’s top wild-card spot.
  • Texas will have to decide after the season whether to exercise left-hander Martin Perez’s $7.5MM option for 2019 or buy him out for $750K. Even though $7.5MM isn’t a bank-breaking number and the Rangers are hard up for pitching, Perez is not making a strong case to stick with the club, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram observes. Perez gave up four earned runs in five innings during a loss to the Giants on Saturday, raising his ERA to 6.95 over 68 2/3 frames this year. Because of Perez’s struggles, it’s possible the Rangers will take a page from the Rays’ book and use an “opener” in front of him in his next scheduled outing, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. In doing so, they’d hope to mitigate Perez’s issues against the top of teams’ lineups, as Grant explains in his piece.
  • Conversely, Cubs lefty Cole Hamels – one of Perez’s former teammates – is making a real argument for his employer to pick up his option after the season, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times points out. At $20MM, Hamels’ price tag is far higher than Perez’s, but the former has pitched like someone worthy of an exorbitant salary since the Cubs acquired him from Texas last month. The Cubs have won all five of Hamels’ starts, during which he has totaled 34 innings of .79 ERA ball and posted 30 strikeouts against eight walks. With the NL Central-leading Cubs primed to play into October, Hamels will have time to keep stating his case to remain in Chicago, and he seems hopeful the union will continue. “That’s obviously something that I know [team president] Theo [Epstein] and the ownership and I think [manager Joe] Maddon will have to think about,” Hamels told Wittenmyer in regards to his option. “My job is to obviously make them think a little bit harder.” In the event the Cubs decline Hamels’ option, they’ll walk away scot-free from his $6MM buyout – which Texas will have to pay.

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