It’s a very lukewarm Friday, apparently.
One of the Chicago Cubs’ few free agent targets this offseason, Brandon Webb, is set to make his decision in the next few days.
Free-agent pitcher Brandon Webb is likely to pick a team within the next couple of days, a source told FanHouse.
Multiple teams remain in the mix for the former Diamondbacks ace, among them the Nationals, Rangers and Cubs.
Webb, 31, has not pitched in the majors since Opening Day 2009, so any deal would likely be incentive-laden. He underwent shoulder surgery in August 2009 and was able to return to the mound for a brief stint in the instructional league this year. MLB FanHouse.
There are enough teams in on Webb that it seems likely he’ll be able to choose his preferred location, and he might even get a couple/few million bucks guaranteed. Neither seems to favor the Cubs, who’ve got a glut of starting pitchers (making Webb’s return path a little more difficult), and few dollars to go around – at least until the team unloads a contract or two.
I don’t think the glut of starters should matter to Webb. If he is healthy enough to pitch, and of course still effective, the Cubs will find a spot in the rotation for him.
Sure, if and if. But if, on the other hand, he’s simply healthy enough to be mediocre, he’s more likely to meet incentives (always based on innings/starts) with a crappy, small-market team with obvious holes in the rotation.
Wow. That would be perhaps the shrewdest baseball decision I have ever heard of: “I chose the Nationals because I might not be good enough to earn my contract’s innings-based incentive with the Cubs.”
Eh, I really wouldn’t rule it out. Plus, the broader point: wouldn’t most guys rather pitch on a team where they know they have a better chance of seeing 30 starts rather than fighting for 15? (this all assumes health, as he is no doubt assuming of himself)