Chicago Cubs Rumors: Padres non-tender Tyson Ross; Cubs a suitor?

The Chicago Cubs were looking at a weak free agent pitching market–and it technically still is. But the late addition of Tyson Ross to the mix could be an intriguing one.

Back in 2015, the Chicago Cubs made a solid effort to acquire Carlos Carrasco of the Indians and Tyson Ross of the Padres at the deadline. Clearly, neither deal materialized for many reasons. For the Padres, it seemed they were unaware of their direction–or what they wanted fo Ross. On Friday, the Padres non-tendered Ross, making the 29-year old pitcher a free agent. Do the Cubs still have interest?

Last season, Ross made just one start before going on the disabled list. He underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in October. It’s a four-to-six month recovery time, which means he should be ready for Opening Day. So why did the Padres non-tender him? His medicals will be out there for everyone to see, so was it his progress–or lack of? Or was it the $10+ million he was likely to make in arbitration? The latter is likely as A.J. Preller and the Padres are having to regroup after he went “all-in” during the 2014 offseason. It failed, and the Padres are in limbo.

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Should the Cubs entertain the thought of signing Ross? It’ll depend on the cost. Thoracic outlet syndrome is not only rare but very difficult to recover from. Some of the names that it has cut careers short of? Chris Carpenter, Josh Beckett and Shawn Marcum. And while these names were a bit older, age doesn’t seem to be relevant to recovery.

Chris Bosio has been great with pitchers coming back from injury. But there’s no guarantee that Ross will come back the pitcher he was before the surgery. Bosio is great, but what will he have to work with?

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With the talk of the Cubs wanting a young, controllable pitcher it’s hard to say they would pursue Ross. But the rumors of the Rays’ Chris Archer have come with a hefty price tag. Jorge Soler, Carl Edwards and more have been rumored. Archer is 28, Ross 29. Clearly, health is a big difference–but career numbers have been similar. So at the least, Ross will offer the Cubs an interesting option this winter.