As expected, the Cubs have this week declined their $10 million club option on reliever Brandon Kintzler (AP). In turn, Kintzler now has until Friday to decide whether he wants to exercise his $5 million player option in the unique pact he signed with the Nationals.
My current bet is that he takes it.
The 34-year-old righty is coming off a season that saw him dumped by the Nationals for more or less nothing under questionable circumstances, and then post a 7.00 ERA with the Cubs, who left him off their Wild Card roster. Kintzler, whose thing is getting soft contact on the ground and allowing no walks, gave up three homers and a whopping nine walks in his 18.0 innings, and his soft contact rate slipped under 20%.
It was a terrible stretch for Kintzler, and it came ahead of what would be a huge free agent class for relievers. This is not a year to be a 34-year-old, non-strikeout reliever trying to get a multi-year deal in free agency. Getting what amounts to a one-year, $5 million deal to try to re-establish yourself is probably the best situation Kintzler could hope for.
So, like I said, my bet is that he’s going to take his player option. From there, the Cubs will have to hope that an offseason to reset after a tumultuous year, and perhaps a larger sample size, will help him rebound in their bullpen. For all but one full season of his career, Kintzler has been a good, productive, middle-ish reliever. That’s a fine guy to have. Maybe the second half last year with the Cubs was a Justin-Wilson-esque fluke, and Kintzler will be in a better place for a full year with the Cubs. Maybe. Hopefully. Since the ball is now entirely in his court, hope is pretty much the approach for the day.
Which is not to say that even a $5 million contract should guarantee him a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, nor should the Cubs plan their bullpen like they’ll have an effective Brandon Kintzler in there. They don’t have the same luxury of offseason hope that fans have. They have to make offseason plans.
UPDATE: As expected:
Cubs news: Not a surprise, reliever Brandon Kintzler will be exercising his $5 million player option for 2019 after the Cubs declined a $10 million team option on him for next season, per a source.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) October 31, 2018