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3 early free agent busts the Chicago Cubs were smart to stay away from
Jed Hoyer and the front office stuck to their plan and avoided some major missteps in free agency last winter.
On the heels of signing Craig Counsell to the richest managerial contract in MLB history, Chicago Cubs fans expected some major dollars to be thrown around in free agency. Jed Hoyer made two major moves, the first being the signing of Shota Imanaga, which has gone better than anyone could have anticipated, and won the waiting game with Cody Bellinger, bringing last year's NL Comeback Player of the Year back into the fold.
There were other additions, including veteran reliever Hector Neris and Michael Busch, who came over along with Yency Almonte from the Dodgers via trade. But, by and large, the team avoided long-term commitments and stuck to its usual approach of flyers on a ton of fringe arms and running it back with a roster that missed the postseason by just one game last fall.
Meanwhile, several guys connected to the Cubs in rumors last offseason have crashed and burned in the early going. That's not to say Hoyer pulled all the right levers by any means, but things could be worse - especially when it comes to these 3 players.
Aroldis Chapman has been a total disaster in the Pirates bullpen
Inked to a one-year, $10.5 million deal last winter, Aroldis Chapman was supposed to team up with All-Star David Bednar to give the young Pittsburgh Pirates a powerful 1-2 punch in the late innings. Instead, the veteran left-hander has looked like a shell of his former self, battling a sky-high walk rate and diminished velocity on his once lethal fastball.
Chapman has lost more than 2 MPH on his four-seamer this year, which hasn't prevented him from ranking in the 99th percentile in strikeout rate. The problem has been his walk rate, which ranks in the bottom 1 percent of the league. He's walking more than 11 batters per nine, more than double his career average.
The Cubs could undoubtedly use more answers in the bullpen, but Chapman isn't the presence he once was. He's been all over the place and you're flipping a coin every time he takes the mound as far as what the outcome might be. Hoyer was right to pass on his former closer last winter as the lefty's early-season struggles may signal the beginning of the end.
Jorge Soler hasn't brought the power the Giants were hoping for
If there's one thing Jorge Soler has always done, it's hit the ball with authority. He's not without flaws, but the former Cubs outfielder has put up some impressive home run totals in his big league career.
The San Francisco Giants added Soler on a three-year, $42 million deal last winter, looking for him to replicate his impressive 2023 campaign in which he blasted 36 home runs for the Miami Marlins. But in the season's first two months, Soler hasn't slugged at all, with his slugging percentage down more than 100 points year over year.
His average exit velo, barrel rate and hard-hit rate are all down sharply and he's essentially been a league-average bat with a 101 OPS+. With Jung Hoo Lee done for the year with an injury, the margin for error in San Francisco is narrower than ever to make the postseason. If Soler doesn't get back on track at the dish, this could be a contract that feels burdensome over the next couple of years.
2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell has been a disaster so far
Hindsight is 20-20. The Cubs' signing of Shota Imanaga looks like the steal of the offseason now, but heading into spring training, Hoyer faced a lot of criticism for not going out and adding a top-of-the-rotation arm in free agency.
One of the biggest names available was Blake Snell, who won the second Cy Young Award of his career last season. The left-hander eventually signed with the Giants in mid-March, inking a two-year, $62 million deal with an opt-out after 2024. If current trends continues, though, there's no chance he'll opt out.
Snell has made only four starts to this point and they have not gone well. His strikeout rate is down nearly 10 percent from last year and his wOBA ranks in the bottom five percent of the league. He hasn't finished five innings in a single outing and given the price tag he came with, it's safe to say the Giants hoped for far more when they made this signing.
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