The Chicago Cubs and Brandon Morrow sever ties

The Chicago Cubs have released Brandon Morrow. To be honest? It was fitting that they did that. He hasn’t pitched since the first-half of 2018.

The Chicago Cubs have released Brandon Morrow. It’s to be expected. He hasn’t pitched since the first-half of 2018. But he was good. Damn good, at that. In 30 2/3 innings, he racked up 22 saves and a whopping 31:9 K/BB ratio. He had a 1.47 ERA, the best of his career.

He only expected to be out a minimal stretch–but that wasn’t the case. He had his worries, and he couldn’t get past the arm issues he had in his young career. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers who he caught fire with, and the Cubs gave him a two-year, $21MM deal. He pitched half of that and was shut down.

He didn’t pitch in 2019 and signed a minor-league contract through 2020. He was released from that, and now he’ll find a new home. But he has type 1 diabetes, so he’d be able to take the year off and heal. 60-games, plus playoffs? No. But he was stellar. I’ll give you that.

https://twitter.com/pitchingninja/status/999481995997609984?s=21

By now, he’s weighing his options as far as opting-out. Type 1 diabetes is severe, and he shouldn’t chance it by playing. He should opt-out, make a run at it next year. And who knows? He might catch on elsewhere, but they won’t need him for setup man or closer. There you go. A setup man or a closer is a hot commodity, as far as the ‘backend’ of the league.

Morrow should be ‘happy’ he was released. The Cubs probably wouldn’t call him up, and he has the opportunity to catch on somewhere else. Tampa Bay? Baltimore? Wherever it is, it isn’t Chicago. And pretty soon? They’ll have options as good as the Cubs or better–if they dismantle the core.