I love Andrew Chafin. Full stop. The dude is an outstanding reliever, who only seemed to get better and better with the Cubs. And the dude is a fun as heck person, with a fun-loving, laid-back attitude that resonated with fans in Chicago.
This offseason, Chafin ultimately signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he came up, on a very reasonable one-year, $5.5 million deal, with a $7.25 million club option for 2024 ($750,000 buyout). He has put up a 4.19 ERA this year for the Diamondbacks, which is middling, but his peripherals are really solid (32.7% K, 12.0% BB, 8.4% barrel, 0.79 HR/9). No reason to think the 33-year-old lefty doesn’t still have it.
And apparently he’s available:
The Diamondbacks are obviously still competing for a playoff spot – in the Wild Card race, they’d be competing directly with the Cubs – but they’re trying to improve their team in other ways, so this is a mighty interesting situation.
The Cubs, as we all know, are looking for a lefty reliever to add to their late-inning mix, and our old friend Andrew Chafin would definitely fit the bill.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Craaaaaaaaaaaap. He’s going to the Brewers:
That is bad news in multiple ways. Chafin is good, and thus makes the Brewers better. And I like rooting for him, but now I can’t.
UPDATE 2: The Diamondbacks get a controllable reliever for Chafin, and one who isn’t actually that much worse than Chafin: