Chicago Cubs have decisions to make with these team options

Chicago Cubs: End of the road for the team’s former closer

Yes, Brandon Morrow still is a guy. The veteran rightly who has not pitched since mid-2018 has a club option of $12 million with a $3 million buyout in 2020. Morrow missed all of 2019 due to elbow issues which included surgery in November of 2018.

If he was still younger it could be a different story, his brief time as a Cub was very good. It included a 1.47 ERA, 2.96 FIP, 1.1 WHIP and 22 saves in 35 appearances in 2018 before the All-Star Break. However he has dealt with these injury issues for a while and is 35. $12 million for a very damaged arm is a big risk.

Last summer, Chicago went out and signed free agent closer Craig Kimbrel to a three-year contract, hoping to solidify the ninth inning moving forward. Morrow was never going to be a stabilizing force given his injury woes – and with the late-inning role off the table, there’s no way the Cubs pay this kind of money for a guy who hasn’t pitched in a year-and-a-half.

Do not count on Morrow’s option being picked up.