Chicago Cubs: 3 free agent relievers who could make all the difference

While the Cubs should remain players for some bigger position players as well, there’s no reason to ignore the bullpen this winter. Though there were many positive developments in the bullpen, maybe more so than any other spot on the team, there are many relievers that will be on the market that could be had for a fair price and become valuable pieces.

Chicago Cubs: Mychal Givens presents a low-risk, high reward option

Though his 2021 season didn’t end in dominant fashion, Mychal Givens was a solid piece in both the Rockies and Reds bullpens last season. Givens has always been a very good strikeout pitcher, with a career rate of 10.6 per 9, and has a very solid 2.91 SO/W ratio. Those rates dipped a bit below his career averages, as well as having an ugly 1.5 HR/9 in Colorado before his trade, there’s reason to believe he’s worth the gamble.

For one, Givens is likely to be dirt cheap as his value almost certainly decreased over the last two seasons, and the Cubs were rumored to be interested in acquiring the righty when he was still with Baltimore. The veteran was a very underrated and overlooked reliever with the Orioles, and getting him out of two exceedingly hitter-friendly ballparks that he’s been in the last few seasons could potentially pay off in a big way, and give the Cubs a surprisingly useful high-leverage arm.

Chicago Cubs: A Blake Parker-Carter Hawkins reunion could make sense

Blake Parker pitched for the Cubs during the proverbial dark years of 2012-2014 and struggled to ever find success, but he’s since turned himself into a solid middle reliever, and would fit well into the Cubs bullpen. Coming off a solid 2021 campaign in Cleveland that saw him pitch to the tune of a 3.09 ERA and a solid 2.64 SO/W ratio, the right-hander would be a perfect piece to the Cubs bullpen puzzle.

As far as stuff goes, Parker is hardly working with shutdown stuff. Baseball Savant pegs him in the bottom 10 percent of the league in curveball spin rate, bottom seven in fastball spin rate and bottom 14 in fastball velocity. Still, across more than 300 career big league frames, he’s regularly gotten the job done – so maybe we shouldn’t look too much into the nuts and bolts of it all.

There may be a reason to believe the Cubs may be interested, as new Cubs GM Carter Hawkins was Cleveland’s assistant GM in 2021, and he may push for the team to sign an arm he’s familiar with. Parker is also likely to be inexpensive and would slot in perfectly to the middle relief role.