This huge Cubs' offseason regret looming larger with each passing day

When the Chicago Cubs signed veteran right-hander Phil Maton to a two-year deal, I had two immediate reactions.

1. Holy cow, they actually did it - they gave a reliever a multi-year contract!
2. Let's check out his Baseball Savant page and see what we're working with here.

Remember, this marked the first multi-year deal Jed Hoyer had given to a relief pitcher since taking the reins from Theo Epstein following the 2020 season. The last reliever to get multiple years from the Cubs? Craig Kimbrel, who got three years and $43 million in June 2019 as Chicago looked to pry its contention window back open and shore up the pen mid-season.

Knowing that, I was particularly excited after taking a quick look at his Baseball Savant page. Maton was elite in just about every way a pitcher can be elite with the exception of throwing one of the slowest fastballs in the league in 2025. Even so, 63 appearances, a 2.79 ERA and 1.06 WHIP speaks for itself - this guy was good last season, and had all the makings of an important bullpen piece for the Cubs heading into 2026.

But as Bleacher Report pointed out in a new piece highlighting an offseason move each of the 30 MLB teams regrets, the early returns on Maton have been anything but pretty for the North Siders.

From elite to unusable, Phil Maton's spin is now a Cubs' problem

Entering Saturday's contest, Maton has allowed multiple runs in six of his 16 appearances - giving him an unsightly 8.40 ERA on the year, with ghastly metrics to match. As scorching hot as his Baseball Savant page was last year, it's equally chilly through the first month-and-a-half with the Cubs.

He's supposed to be a guy who thrives by utilizing spin. Except, all of the sudden, the spin isn't doing much of anything. Maton isn't missing barrels, home runs have killed him and opponents are teeing off against his curveball, a pitch he threw nearly 40 percent of the time last year, with great success.

Given the injuries that have rocked the Cubs' staff, Hoyer isn't about to eat the $14.5 million he paid to bring Maton into the fold. The front office has to hope he settles in, identifies the cause(s) of his struggles and becomes a reliable reliever because there is a complete lack of backup plans at Craig Counsell's disposal.

There's a lot of baseball left, but it's safe to say that, between Maton and Hunter Harvey, Hoyer's two big bullpen additions have been nothing short of a disaster to this point.

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