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Chicago Cubs: Theo Epstein’s made few mistakes in Chicago
Cubs sign Veras as closer to a one-year, $3.85 million +$150k buyout
The Cubs were slowly turning the corner and the signing of Jose Veras was an upgrade over Kevin Gregg from the year before. Yes, Gregg turned out to be one of the “better” pickups for Epstein, and his replacement one of the worst. But it was apparent in Spring Training that Veras didn’t have that closer mentality he showed in Houston. It only got worse once the games counted.
It took less than 10 days for Veras to lose his job as closer. Walks and home runs plagued him. In 13 1/3 innings, he posted an 8.10 ERA with 12 ER and 11 walks. A trip to the DL with an oblique strain was likely just to buy time for the Cubs to try and figure a way out of this mess. But it was clear, there wasn’t one. Veras was DFA’d on June 3 and the damage was done. The Cubs would owe him the remainder of his contract PLUS his $150k buyout.