Kelvin Herrera is another one of those free agents in whom the Cubs had trade interest at some point in the past, but in whom the Cubs generally did not seem to have free agent interest. In Herrera’s case, the nosedive in his peripherals the last two years, the decline in velocity, and the serious foot injury to end last season all combined to make me, personally, not super interested in a Cubs pursuit anyway.
That is to say, I am very fine with this news, and I say good get for Herrera coming off foot surgery:
Reliever Kelvin Herrera and the Chicago White Sox are in agreement on a two-year, $18 million deal with a vesting third-year option, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 7, 2019
For the White Sox, it’s a pretty healthy outlay of cash, and a sign that (1) they believe Herrera, 29, is going to be healthy, and (2) they really do want to compete in the next two years. Good for them. Even if they aren’t quite there yet, they could try to turn him into a trade piece if he’s looking really, really effective.
I wouldn’t say this contract would have any bearing whatsoever on their pursuits of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, so move along on that front.
Instead, the main impact here for our purposes is the further trickle of the relief market. The Cubs may have to move money to make a signing (🙄), but as we discussed earlier, it might take much of the market signing up for the Cubs to finally move on a bargain in the remainder. So, move along, market. I guess.