Chicago Cubs: Free agent relievers the team could look at

Chicago Cubs: An underrated asset who could fill a need

When Craig Stammen came up with the Washington Nationals in 2009, he was a starter that struggled over the next two seasons. When he made the switch to reliever he found his place in baseball. Since 2011 when he became a full-time reliever, Stammen sports a 2.92 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 8.5 BB/9 an 2.6 BB/9 in 384 games.

Last season he pitched to a 3.29 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 8.0 K/9 in 82 innings of work. Stammen has had very nice control only walking 32 batters the past two seasons (161 innings) and has recorded 70+ strikeouts in his past three seasons. Again, he is not a strikeout machine but he gets them. Kind of like the previous guys he gets a decent number of balls on the ground and uses his sinker more than any other pitch.

Stammen’s previous contract with San Diego was a two-year deal which saw him make $2.25 million last season. He is going not going to break the bank and the Cubs could get him at a very reasonable price. Since missing nearly two seasons he has given the Padres 60-76 games the past three years. This is the kind of pitcher that is nice to have available for multiple situations that are not necessarily back-end duties.