In another expected options decision, lefty reliever Andrew Chafin will not pick up his half of the mutual option with the A’s (which was in the contract the Cubs traded at midseason – the Cubs chipped in some cash in the trade that brought them Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia, so it’s kinda like they’re helping out the final $500,000 that goes to Chafin as a buyout). The mutual option was worth $5.25 million, so basically this is Chafin saying confidently that he can do better than $4.75 million for 2022 in free agency. Which, yeah, he can.
The 31-year-old lefty found another gear with the Cubs, where he seemed to unlock a new sinker that, in conjunction with his four-seamer and slider, made him impossible to square up. It was an interesting transition, because his strikeout rate sank dramatically, but so did his walk rate and his hard contact rate. There was probably some good fortune in his 1.83 ERA, but a lot of it was just him keeping hitters off-balance and missing barrels.
It wasn’t quite a one-year wonder for Chafin, who’d been pretty darn good for many years with the Diamondbacks, but it does leave open the question of which version of Chafin you’re getting for the next two or three years. I could see him getting one of those really sizable setup contracts (three+ years, $7+ million AAV) if a team is buying his transformation.
As much as I’d love to see Chafin back with the Cubs – the guy was not only really good, but he was fun and funny as hell – I don’t see them splurging on back-end relievers this offseason. They have in-house candidates to give looks there, and are no doubt confident in their ability to keep finding the “next” Chafin types in lower-cost free agency.