Chicago Cubs: The Cubs would be wise to bring back Justin Wilson

Chicago Cubs: For the right price, Wilson makes sense

One main reason the Cubs need to bring Wilson back is there isn’t a whole lot of help available on the market, especially when looking at left-handed options. Andrew Miller and Zach Britton are the two biggest free agents available, both of whom have been linked to the Cubs in the past as potential trade targets. However, each of them have had their own issues and fair share of injuries to deal with over the last two seasons or so.

If the Cubs were to land either, Britton is the better fit. The former O’s closer is the younger of the two and looked healthier during the 2018 season. He is not an overpowering pitcher by any stretch, earning the majority of his outs via the ground ball, but he posted a respectable 3.10 ERA.

Miller really struggled to stay healthy last season, landing on the disabled list on two separate occasions. While dealing with injuries, Miller posted a 4.24 ERA and saw his K/9 rate drop significantly. In 2016, Miller had a career-high 14.89 K/9 while last season it dropped to just 11.91.

Aside from Miller and Britton the free agent market consists of Tony Sipp, Oliver Perez, Zach Duke or Jake Diekman. Sipp and Perez both had bounceback campaigns but are up there in age. As for Duke and Diekman, they both underperformed and had down seasons in comparison to their respective careers.

Based on Wilson’s solid campaign and the options available via free agency for the Cubs, the easy decision is to bring the lefty back. Miller and Britton are both upgrades but I don’t think they are worth overspending for when Wilson will come at a much more reasonable price.

Other than those two, he is the best left-handed relief pitcher on the market and the Cubs would be smart to keep him on the North Side.