4 painful contracts the Chicago Cubs can't dump soon enough

2. Drew Smyly: $10.5 million

Southpaw Drew Smyly was also the victim of a sudden injury to his hip resulting in a trip to the 15-day IL this week. This roster move coincidentally came at a time when Smyly was struggling with a 4.97 ERA in his nine appearances out of the bullpen. He was replaced by Hayden Wesneski, who has been sharp in his small sample size in 2024. Starting the year with the Iowa Cubs, Wesneski had a 2.53 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 10.2 innings pitched. When he was initially called up last week, the 26-year-old kept the momentum going and dazzled in a four-inning relief appearance against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And that's kind of the rub with Smyly. The Cubs organization has better options like Wesneski, who is younger and has a much higher ceiling. With Cubs' starters struggling to go deep into games right now, Justin Steele still on the injured list, and the bullpen getting taxed heavily, the team can't afford to have Smyly giving up so many runs in relief. Like Hendricks, Smyly just doesn't have the stuff, the velocity, or the results to warrant the paycheck he's getting. I think it's safe to say that Smyly won't be back after his contract expires this year.