Chicago Cubs: Free agent relievers the team could look at

One of the biggest needs for the Chicago Cubs going forward is revamping the bullpen. The free agent market might have some answers for the team.

There is not a single Chicago Cubs fan who does not realize the bullpen is going to be one of the focus areas of this offseason. Least year the Cubs were among the leaders in blown saves and saw things get ugly right off the bat. Problems are easy to identify but solutions are not always so simple.

This is when Theo Epstein and company look at their options. Fixing the bullpen will require a combination of signings, trades and relying on some farm assets. Again, a very broad solution which will require a lot of work. Arguably one of the toughest jobs for a front office in baseball is building reliable bullpens every year because of how fickle relievers can be.

With that said there are some names on the market that could be brought in to help solidify the bullpen. One of the obvious goals for finding relievers should be getting some guys with more swing-and-miss stuff and/or better control. Both things that lacked last year. While some of the names are not particularly exciting there is reason to believe they could be potentially useful.

Chicago  Cubs: This experienced reliever would be a perfect fit

Will Harris has had himself a pretty solid run in his career. Since joining the league in 2012 he sports a career 2.84 ERA, 3.03 FIP, 1.1 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 in 419 games. He was an All Star in 2016 and is coming off a career-low 1.50 ERA season.

Harris is a cutter/curveball kind of guy that can generate some swings-and-misses and a good number of groundballs, which has worked well for him with the Astros infield defense. What is also nice about him is that he has been able to make 60+ appearances consistently without missing a whole lot of time due to injuries in his career.

As stated in previous articles, he fits a lot of what the Cubs would want to get. He may rely on some groundball contact but he gets a healthy number of strikeouts as well. Not to mention he has pitched a healthy number of postseason innings so he does not lack in experience in that department.

The Astros would certainly love to bring him back as other teams would like to have him. It seems like a long shot, but a shot worth taking.

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.