Chicago Cubs: Five noteworthy free agents who remain unsigned

While we await the start of the baseball season, there are still some free agents that the Chicago Cubs might consider once play resumes.

Even though teams aren’t able to complete transactions right now, once play resumes, the Chicago Cubs may still be looking to add some depth to their roster. We know that the Cubs were bargain shoppers this past offseason, and if they’re looking to continue that trend, there are still some free agents out there that could likely be had for cheap. Here we look at five of them.

Chicago Cubs: Arodys Vizcaino

We’ll start with an arm that could be worth taking a chance on for the bullpen in Arodys Vizcaino. The 29-year-old right-hander was actually in the Cubs’ system from 2012 to 2014. In 2012, the Cubs acquired him from the Atlanta Braves when they sent Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm the other way. He got into five games with the Cubs in 2014, giving up three runs in five innings, before he was traded back to Atlanta for Tommy La Stella.

Vizcaino had a nice run in Atlanta from 2015 to 2018, pitching 168 innings and posting a 2.79 ERA while collecting 49 saves. However, after getting into just four games to start 2019, he had to undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the season. The Braves later traded him to the Seattle Mariners, though he saw no action with them.

Vizcaino has always had a rather high walk rate, though he’s consistently struck out more than a batter per inning throughout his career. His average fastball velocity, before last year, was between 97 and 99 MPH. If the Cubs are looking to add even more bullpen depth, they might want to take a flyer on their former farmhand.

Chicago Cubs: Pat Neshek

The Cubs have added a lot of names to their bullpen mix for this season. Yet they could certainly use an established veteran bullpen presence as their current group of relievers is lacking in them. One cheap, bounceback candidate option could be the well-traveled, 39-year-old sidearmed right-hander Pat Neshek.

Neshek has had a great career as a middle reliever. He’s made 544 career appearances, all in relief, and boasts a career ERA of 2.82. As recently as 2017, he pitched 62 1/3 innings between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies, posting an ERA of just 1.59. As his career has gone on, he’s been stingy with walks; since 2014, he’s only allowed 1.5 free passes per nine innings.

For Neshek, injuries have been a big problem, as he missed significant time each of the last two seasons. Last year, with the Phillies, he only pitched 18 innings with an ERA of 5.00, tied for the highest ERA of his career. He missed a good chunk of 2019 with a hamstring injury.

For this reason, Neshek would probably come cheap, maybe even on a minor league deal. If so, the Cubs might want to take a flyer on him. Of course, at 39 years old and with all the injury issues, he could be washed up. Yet it would be a low-risk chance to take. The upside would be that he regains his form from a few years ago and provides a solid middle relief veteran presence.

Chicago Cubs: Andrew Cashner

Diehard Cubs fans might remember Andrew Cashner from when he was with the team back in 2010 and 2011. He was the Cubs’ first-round draft pick (19th overall) in 2008 and posted a 4.80 ERA in 54 1/3 relief appearances for the team in 2010. Then in 2011, he won a spot in the starting rotation, but he only made one start before going down with a shoulder injury.

Cashner came back and pitched several games out of the bullpen at the end of the year. Then, before the 2012 season, Cashner was the key piece in the deal in which the Cubs acquired Anthony Rizzo from the San Diego Padres. Since then, the 33-year-old right-hander has also made stops in Miami, Baltimore, and Boston.

Cashner hasn’t had a bad career – he’s made 300 appearances, including 188 starts, and posted a 4.10 ERA. Yet he’s had an up-and-down career, and 2019 in itself was a tale of two seasons. He made 17 starts for the Orioles and posted a 3.83 ERA before the Red Sox acquired him, and he struggled in Boston, mostly in relief, posting a 6.20 ERA. A big part of the problem was control, as his walk rate went up dramatically in Boston.

The Cubs already have a few candidates for the fifth starter’s job, yet Cashner could be thrown into that mix if the Cubs were interested in bringing him back. If nothing else, he’d add some veteran depth.

Chicago Cubs: Yasiel Puig

We’ll end with the premier free agent still on the market in Yasiel Puig. I know that the thought of Puig on the Cubs’ roster probably makes a lot of fans cringe. After all, he’s had a lot of off the field problems and plays with, well, let’s say an eccentric personality. Yet given his track record as a hitter, he at least warrants being mentioned.

Though Puig has developed more home run power in recent years – he’s hit over 20 each of the past three seasons – he’s not the all-around hitter he was when he first came onto the scene in 2013 and 2014. Batting average and OBP have both trended downward. Meanwhile, he’s posted a negative defensive WAR each of the last three seasons.

Defensively, Puig might not fit on the Cubs. He’s basically a right fielder at this stage of his career, and that spot is already taken by Jason Heyward, as mentioned earlier. Heyward could move to center field, but we know that’s not his strong suit. And Puig probably wouldn’t want to come to the Cubs for a part-time role; he’s likely going to want to play every day.

Besides all that, we know that Puig is one of the game’s most controversial players. Would the Cubs really want to have to deal with the headaches he might cause? Probably not.

So, it appears that Puig would not be as good of a fit for the Cubs as some of the other players mentioned above could be. But again, given that he’s by far the most prominent name left, he was at least worth addressing.