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Chicago Cubs: Michael Fulmer could be another bullpen weapon

Once upon a time, Michael Fulmer was the hottest trade chip on the market. In 2017 Fulmer was coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016 and was having another great season in the Detroit rotation and teams were offering ridiculous packages that would be inconceivable today to try and pry him away from the Tigers.

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The Chicago Cubs were one such team, offering Javier Baez to Detroit in an attempt to get Fulmer in Chicago. Luckily, the Tigers refused and after regressing hard in the years after, Fulmer now has been put in the bullpen where he has experienced a career rebirth.

Jed Hoyer was a part of the front office that tried to get Fulmer to Chicago, so there’s likely still to be some interest there. Fulmer has been one of the several closers the Tigers have used this season and he has excelled in the role. Since being moved to the bullpen early in the year, Fulmer’s SO/9 has jumped to 11.1 and he’s walked just five batters in 24 1/3 innings out of the pen. He also has an ERA of just 2.96 and his advanced metrics have been pretty good as well.

Obviously, the bullpen has not been an issue for the Cubs, but why not make your strength almost impossible to beat? Replacing someone like Dillon Maples with Michael Fulmer gives you an extra higher leverage arm as opposed to someone you’d only use when a game is out of reach. Fulmer would make the Cubs bullpen a monster of a challenge to score off of, and he probably won’t cost much to get.