Kevin Gregg Could Still Impact the Cubs Bullpen
No, the Chicago Cubs have not re-signed free agent Kevin Gregg, so you can relax in that regard. The reason Gregg may yet have an impact on the Cubs bullpen is because of where he’s headed – Toronto, where possible Cubs target Jason Frasor currently pitches.
Toronto’s signing of former Cubs closer Kevin Gregg to a $2.75 million, one-year deal might lead to more talks between the Jays and Cubs about Oak Forest native Jason Frasor.
The teams have had casual conversations about trades over the past two months, but now with the signing of Gregg, they may take on a more serious tone. ESPN Chicago.
Frasor, as we’ve discussed at length, fits the classic Jim Hendry mold: a middle reliever in his 30s who had a career ERA hovering around 4 until he put up a career year in 2009. He’s set to make some $2.6 million in 2010, so the Cubs would have to be creative to add him, and may even have to trim some salary to do so.
As for what it would take to get Frasor, the name previously discussed was Cubs reliever Angel Guzman. While Guzman may make some sense in a deal for a young guy like Luke Gregerson, he makes zero sense in a deal for a guy like Frasor given his lower cost and similar role.
The 2009 Chicago Cubs: Recalling Those “Worst Case Scenarios”
Oh those Chicago Cubs. They are, as always, predictably unpredictable – with the exception that they are predictably disappointing. Now, with the advent of 2010, we can finally reflect dispassionately on the 2009 Chicago Cubs.
The 2009 iteration of the Cubs was no exception in the disappointment department. We didn’t quite know how things would play out, but we knew it would end with us nestled up to a gutter, clinging to our hopes for next year like a vagrant clings to his dwindling bottle of booze – to which we are also clinging.
Still, we didn’t think it would be quite this bad. The 2008 Cubs, after all, had been the best in the National League, and the team had added a full year of Rich Harden and a new, stellar switch hitter in right field. But a certain level of skepticism was necessary for protection from heartache. To that end, we had this to say:
We know, intellectually, the 2009 season will not play out as we project. Seasons never do. However, we assume that it will play out closer to the averages, to our expectations, than something else.
But what if that something else happens? What if – God, yes God, forbid – the worst happens? Not just for a couple players, but for every single Chicago Cub. What would that season look like, and would you survive it?
And with that, we laid out the worst case scenarios for the 2009 Chicago Cubs – never believing, of course, that the foreboding predictions would prove closer to reality than the outlandish fiction they were supposed to approach. Like a certain episode of the Simpsons, we thought, certainly something bad could befall one of the Cubs. Maybe even two. Maybe even three Cubs would struggle for various reasons. But all of them (except Homer)? Surely that’s the stuff of fantasy.
Or nightmare. Because those “worst case scenarios” absolutely became our hellish reality in 2009. Enter the nightmare, after the jump.
Matt Capps is Expected to Decide Between Cubs and Nationals Today
Multiple reports suggest that free agent reliever, and current Chicago Cubs top target, Matt Capps will be deciding between contract offers from the Cubs and the Washington Nationals later today. The values of the contracts are unknown at this point, but if I had to guess, Capps is likely deciding between a one-year deal and a chance to close with the Nationals, and a two-year deal and a chance to win with the Cubs.
Capps’ former bullpen-mate John Grabow has been on the horn, trying to sway Capps’ decision.
“I basically told him about the organization and how the guys are in the clubhouse,” Grabow said Tuesday from his Arizona home. “If he comes to the Cubs, he’s coming to a contender.”
The Cubs starting pitchers do go deep in games, which, Grabow said, could mean a lot of meaningful innings for Capps. The difference could come down to what Capps wants to do. The Nationals are looking for a closer, while the Cubs already have named Carlos Marmol as their closer. Marmol took over in mid August for Kevin Gregg, and went 11-for-11 in save situations. Marmol also walked a lot of batters.
Grabow said Capps is exactly what a manager wants — he’s durable and throws strikes.
“I told him, if you come to the Cubs, you might not close right away but things happen,” Grabow said. “[Capps] is a great guy. He’ll take the ball every single day. He’s a bulldog. He’s the sort of guy you want in your bullpen.” Muskat Ramblings.
Oh, well if he’s a bulldog…
I’ve probably been too hard on Capps given how tremendously good he was prior to last year. If he pitches like he did from 2006 to 2008, we will all be thrilled with this signing. My gripe is less with Matt Capps being signed, and more with the idea that the Cubs apparently have such limited funds, and are spending $8, 9, 10 million to add to the bullpen.
That all said, boy howdy was Capps bad last year. The articles you read that report his ERA last year (5.80) really only tell you part of the story. Prior to last year, his career WHIP (walks and hits per inning – gives you an idea of how many batters he lets on base per inning) was hovering around a very, very good 1.000, but last year that number exploded to 1.656. That’ll happen when you give up 12 hits per 9 innings, and your walks per nine doubles from where it had previously been.
Some of the comments have suggested that Capps was dealing with injury issues last year, so let’s hope that’s all 2009 was: an injury-wrecked aberration.
No Surprise: Cubs Don’t Offer Arbitration to Harden, Others
As we noted yesterday, the Chicago Cubs were not expected to offer arbitration to any of their free agents – including pitchers Rich Harden and Kevin Gregg, and outfielder Reed Johnson – and today, they didn’t.
I won’t rehash my disappointment and confusion with respect to the decision not to trade Rich Harden at the deadline, and then the decision not to offer him arbitration. Suffice it to say, the Cubs will get no additional compensation for Rich Harden, and he will depart from the team.
Tuesday is the Arbitration Deadline – Cubs Plan No Offers
Tuesday is the deadline for Major League teams to offer arbitration to their free agents. If the player accepts, he will get a one-year contract at a rate determined by an arbitrator (if necessary), and that rate almost always represents a raise over the prior year’s salary. If the player declines and then signs elsewhere, the player’s original team will get draft pick compensation if the player was one of the top players in the league at his position. “Top players,” is of course subject to some debate, but a formula at the Elias Sports Bureau makes the evaluation – you can question the utility of a formula and procedure that designates Matt Holiday and Kevin Gregg as equivalent free agents, but whatever.
On to the news:
The Cubs were not expected to offer arbitration to Kevin Gregg, Rich Harden, Reed Johnson and Chad Fox by Tuesday’s deadline. Muskat Ramblings.
With respect to Gregg, Johnson, and Fox, this is no surprise. Rich Harden is also not a surprise, but a mind-bogglingly frustrating non-surprise.
Harden, a Type B free agent (signing team would not have to give up a pick in order to sign Harden, but the Cubs would get a sandwich pick between the first and second round of the draft), made $7 million in 2009, and would thus likely receive around $8 or 9 million in 2010 through arbitration. Still, the Cubs are apparently unwilling to take the chance that he accepts such a one-year deal – you know, when there are plenty of teams likely willing to offer him a multi-year deal.
That said, not offering Harden arbitration, alone, is not an indictable offense. He’s got a rickety shoulder, and does not manage to go deep into games. Arbitration would be, at least, a small risk.
But if the Chicago Cubs knew they were not going to re-sign Rich Harden when the season ended (and they did), and if they knew they were not going to offer him arbitration (they should have known), then why in the WORLD did they not trade him at the trade deadline or the non-waiver trade deadline this year for whatever they could get? Harden was claimed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins, and they wanted him as late as the non-waiver trade deadline at the end of August – when everyone could see that the Cubs were out of the race. And even if the Cubs believed they weren’t, Harden made just three more starts for the Cubs after that date.
As I see it, there are only two remote, but reasonable explanations – which must be offered simultaneously for me to accept them – for not trading Harden AND not offering him arbitration:
1.) Jim Hendry believed Rich Harden was healthy, and would dominate in September, leading the Cubs back into the race; thus, he refused to trade him; AND
2.) Between August 31 and today, something critical has changed: either Rich Harden’s shoulder profoundly deteriorated or was discovered deteriorated (which would mean the Cubs repeatedly lied as the season wound down), or the Cubs’ finances changed so dramatically that the risk of Harden accepting arbitration would crush the team’s plans.
Together, it all seems like a stretch. What is more likely is a mealy-mouthed, half-assed combination of the explanations – gee willackers, well I thought the Cubs might come back in September, and the offer for Harden wasn’t very good, and gee willackers, I didn’t really think ahead about the likelihood of re-signing Harden versus offering him arbitration, and what the market for a pitcher like him would be like this off-season.
Gee willackers, indeed.
Kevin Gregg is a Free Agent
Kevin Gregg has officially filed for free agency. The Chicago Cubs are not expected to re-sign him, or even offer him arbitration despite his Type A designation. Carlos Marmol is expected to take over as the closer next year.
Rich Harden and Reed Johnson are Free Agents
It certainly didn’t take long for Chicago Cubs pitcher Rich Harden and reserve outfielder Reed Johnson to file for free agency. Thursday, the day after the World Series concluded, was the first day that players could file for free agency – they have 15 days to do so. Harden and Johnson clearly hate the Cubs, because they filed immediately.
I kid, of course, though neither is expected to return to the Cubs in 2010. The Cubs have an exclusive 15-day window in which to negotiate with their free agents, which includes relievers John Grabow and Kevin Gregg, in addition to Harden and Johnson.
Lastly, because I am an immature child, I would like to once again say Harden and Johnson. Come on, it might be the last time I get to say it.
Cubs Free Agent Classifications Are Now Official
The free agency classifications are out, and there are no surprises. Relievers John Grabow and Kevin Gregg are Type A free agents (first round compensation) and Rich Harden is a Type B free agent (sandwich pick compensation). These classifications are interesting in that they demonstrate the one major flaw with the free agent compensation system. As you’ll recall, classifications are based on the player’s performance relative to the rest of baseball at his position. The top 20% are classified as Type A, and the next 20% are Type B. Sounds reasonable.
But the big fat flaw? It doesn’t take into account the fact that all positions are not created equally. Is there anyone out there who would not rather have a top 20% starting pitcher than a top 20% reliever? Come on. That’s just silly.
That said, the classifications are probably of no moment as far as the Cubs are concerned. They still intend to blindly resign John Grabow to a two-year deal as rapidly as possible, instead of simply offering him arbitration – in which case, they either get a pick, or he accepts, and they get him for one year instead of two at the same rate they’re offering him now.
The Cubs are unlikely to offer Harden arbitration, and almost certainly will not offer it to Kevin Gregg.
