Chicago Cubs: Saying goodbye to familiar faces as they move on

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Cubs haven’t had a great offseason, they have lost some the talent that has helped them prevail in games both in pitching and in the field.

The Chicago Cubs began the offseason by firing their manager Joe Maddon shortly after their 84 wins, third-place finish this past season. That started a toll of players leaving the windy city and going to other teams across the Major League.

Some of the former players went to our crosstown rival the Chicago White Sox and a couple of big names is the Cubs’ organization went to the heavy bidding Cincinnati Reds. There were some we wish didn’t leave, but we all know sometimes it’s for the best. Below is a recap of those we saw leave the Cubbies this offseason.

Chicago Cubs: The loss of power on the mound

One of the significant losses the Cubs took this offseason is when the left-hander Cole Hamels went to free agency and signed a one-year $18 million deal with the Atlanta Braves. In the only two seasons spent in Chicago, he went 11-10 with a 3.30 ERA in just 39 games.

Last season Hamels had 143 strikeouts in 1412/3 innings. During his 27 games, he averaged 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. This is a massive loss because he was a staple in the Cubs’ rotation along with Jon Lester and Yu Darvish.

Pedro Strop, Chicago Cubs (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: A trio of Cubs lost to free agency

The Cubs’ bullpen took a significant hit as a trio of veteran Cubs setup men hit the open market. That trio happens to be Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek and Brandon Kintzler. Strop spent seven years in the Cubs organization as he could close out the game or step in the middle or late innings and help the Cubs.

Although the 2019 season wasn’t his best as he went 2-5 on the season, he did do great when he was a part of the Cubs in that magical 2016 season. Strop, however, did sign with a central division rival the Reds in late January in which added to the Cub’s bullpen problems.

Cishek came to the Cubs back in 2018. Like Hamels, he only spent two seasons in Chicago, but he was a great option to have in the bullpen. His 8-9 record the past seasons doesn’t look good on paper, but its what he did during the late parts of games that helped Cubs escaped close calls.

His 2.55 ERA with Chicago was excellent as he struck out most to the batters he faced. Cishek signed a one-year deal with our crosstown rival, the White Sox.

Like Cishek, Kintzler was another option in the bullpen for the Cubs. Kintzler this past season pitched in 62 games, which gave him an even 3-3 record and a 2.68 ERA, which improved from the previous 7.00 ERA. Kintzler signed with the Marlins also in late January.

(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Chicago Cubs: Couple of the other guys

A couple of other relief pitchers went to different teams this offseason that were apart of the Cubs during the season, including Derek Holland, David Phelps, and Alex Wilson. Holland acquired from San Francisco during the season; he only pitched in 20 games producing a 6.08 ERA and giving up 12 runs in his 15 2/3 innings pitched. He isn’t a significant loss for us as he signed a minor league deal with the Pirates.

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Phelps also left the Cubs as he also signed with a divisional rival, as the Brewers picked him up for $1.5 million. Phelps only pitched in 34 1/3 innings in the majors ending his stint with the Cubs by having a 1.398 WHIP. Wilson who spent most of his time in Iowa, but did have 13 games with Chicago, he signed a minor-league deal with the Tigers.

Filling a hole in the infield

The Cubs lost a couple of big names who became free agents this season, Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist, and Jonathan Lucroy. Russell, who spent his whole career in the Cubs’ organization, was great during his first couple years in the majors. Still, his offseason trouble led his downfall, and eventually, the Cubs opted not to tender infielder Russell. He did hit .237 in the 82 games he did play this season.

Zobrist joined the Cubs in 2016 and helped provide some support in their title run back in 2016. Like Russell, Zobrist did have some offseason problems that altered his playing time, but in his 176 plate appearances in 47 games, he did hit for .260 batting average while driving in only 17 runs.

It was rumored that Zobrist was going to join Maddon in Los Angeles with the Angels but no word on if that is true just yet. Lucroy only appeared in 27 games for the Cubs after spending most of the season with the Angels. Lucroy decided to go to free agency, and he is unsigned to a new team.

Chicago Cubs: The loss of power and speed in the outfield

As the Chicago Cubs tender contracts to Albert Almora Jr. and Kyle Schwarber, we did see a late fan favorite Nicholas Castellanos decide not to return to Chicago. Castellanos came to the Cubs via trade with the Tigers earlier in the 2019 season. During that time, he appeared in 51 games. During his time with the Cubs, he hit .321, which is huge for them. In his 212 at-bats, he smashed 16 home runs.

The loss of Castellanos hits the Cubs hard as they now have Jason Heyward, Almora Jr., and Schwarber as key points in the outfield. On January 27th of this year, Castellanos did sign a five-year deal to join the former Cub pitcher Strop as a Red.

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All in All the Cubs lost some great talent but did pick up some talent along the way. It will be interesting to see how they respond during this year as we are only 18 days away from our spring training opening matchup with the Athletics on February 22nd.

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