Just as it was a no-brainer to pick up the affordable 2019 option on left-handed starter Jose Quintana, the Cubs have made another easy decision today: exercising their 2019 option on right-handed reliever Pedro Strop:
The #Cubs today exercised their 2019 club contract option on RHP Pedro Strop. pic.twitter.com/qf20IhTZ3g
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 1, 2018
Strop, if you recall, signed an extension with the Cubs back before the 2017 season, which paid him $5.5 million that year and $5.85 million in 2018. Tacked onto the end of the deal was a $6.25 million club option (with a $500,000 buyout) for 2019, and that is what they exercised today. It’s a dang steal.
Strop has been one of the most consistent and impressive relievers the Cubs have had in decades, and, even at age 33, was a key component to the Cubs 95-Win season in 2018. Indeed, Strop took over for injured Cubs closer Brandon Morrow half-way through the year and finished the season with a stellar 2.26 ERA and 13 saves over 59.2 IP.
He may have gotten hurt, himself, near the end of the season, but that wasn’t really his fault (it happened while running to first base on a questionable Joe Maddon decision) and he even came back to pitch a clean, two-strikeout inning through severe pain in the NL Wild Card game against the Rockies.
In short: Pedro Strop is the man and will be back with the Cubs for at least one more season. He is a free agent after that, but for now … hats to the left.