Chicago Cubs: Team going with quantity in building the bullpen

The Chicago Cubs haven’t added any big names for the bullpen for 2020. Instead, they’ve decided to pile up low-risk arms, hoping some work out.

We’ve already written plenty this offseason about how the Chicago Cubs have made no major moves as we get closer to the start of spring training for the 2020 season. The bullpen might be the biggest area of weakness heading into 2020, as the team is losing Steve Cishek (already signed with the Chicago White Sox), Brandon Kintzler, Pedro Strop, and David Phelps to free agency.

It’s looking more likely with every passing day that none of those pitchers will be coming back, as the team is standing firm in its unwillingness to spend more money this offseason. Yet, unlike with the other areas of the team, at least the Cubs have been willing to do SOMETHING when it comes to the bullpen for 2020.

On Friday, the Cubs added two more arms into the bullpen mix, signing Tyler Olson to a minor league deal and trading for Casey Sadler from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Again, these are not moves that are going to inspire much confidence in most Cubs fans. Yet it is indicative of the front office’s plan for the bullpen: stockpile as many arms as possible and hope that enough of them work out to build a decent group of relievers heading into the season.

Both Sadler and Olson have had success at the major league level. Sadler quietly posted a 2.14 ERA in 33 appearances between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019, while Olson pitched 20 scoreless innings for the Cleveland Indians in 2017. Olson hasn’t replicated that success over the past two years, posting a 4.66 ERA in 82 games over 2018 and 2019, but lefties are batting a career .210 against the southpaw.

Chicago Cubs: Looking at the other additions

Sadler and Olson are just the latest two minor additions that the Chicago Cubs have made to the bullpen mix for 2020. Even though it’s been to the chagrin of many Cubs fans, the team has been active this winter in making many such minor moves to improve potential bullpen depth. Consider these other moves that the team has made since the season ended:

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• The team brought back Brandon Morrow on a minor league deal. Morrow is a converted starter whom the Cubs brought in before the 2018 season to help lock down the bullpen, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field due to injury and missed all of 2019. When he did pitch from 2015 to 2018, he posted a 2.04 ERA.
• The team signed Dan Winkler, who had a 3.25 ERA for the Atlanta Braves between 2017 and 2018. (He had a 4.98 ERA in 2019.)
• The team signed Jharel Cotton, who made 29 starts for the Oakland Athletics between 2016 and 2017. He figures to be in the mix for a fifth rotation spot as well.
• The team signed Ryan Tepera, who posted a 3.49 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays in 193 games between 2015 and 2018. (He had an ERA of 4.98 in 2019.)
• The team signed Jason Adam, who pitched in 23 games for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019 and posted a 2.91 ERA.

No big names appear on this list, and many of these pitchers are bounceback candidates after a subpar 2019 season or injuries. Yet looking at some of these stats, there is hope that at least a couple of these pitchers could turn into effective bullpen arms in 2020.