These telling details show the Cubs were wise to steer clear of David Robertson

The Chicago Cubs are going to be buyers at the deadline. They're going to look at trading for reinforcements for their bullpen, if the right deal comes along. David Robertson was not the right deal.

After sitting out most of the 2025 season, Robertson finally made a move, throwing for interested teams on Saturday and signing with the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. While some Cubs fans might be a bit angry at Jed Hoyer for losing out on the reliever's sweepstakes after he had a successful run in Wrigleyville in 2022. However, with the details that have come out since his signing, Hoyer made the right call.

Chicago Cubs skip David Robertson signing over cost and velocity concerns

The detail that likely saw the Chicago Cubs back away quickly was the money the Phillies were willing to pay. Robertson was signed to a pro-rated one-year, $16 million contract, meaning he'll make around $5.5 million for a few months of work.

As much as Cubs fans would like it to not be true, Chicago clearly has a fairly strict budget it needs to stick to, and considering all the talk that the team needs to get another starting pitcher and possibly a new third baseman, that $5.5 million can be better spent elsewhere.

Reports also confirm he'll need to ramp up and start facing live batters. He'll need at least a couple of outings in the minor leagues and won't be able to join the Phillies until at least the end of the week. The ideal situation has him coming up next week. Considering where the Cubs are in the pennant race, paying nearly $6 million to a reliever to pitch every now and then over the last 50-some games of the season sounds even more outrageous.

Then there's the most concerning detail. It's said that Robertson's velocity was around 88-91 miles per hour. That's a rather precipitous drop from the average of 93.7 MPH he posted in 2024. He was close to that in 2023, as well.

Part of the reliever's ramp-up may be finding some more speed on his pitches, but that would be quite the climb. Perhaps the Chicago Cubs checked into things, and his drop in velocity was enough to stay away. Whatever the reason, it was the right choice.