CUBS PULL OFF FREE AGENCY COUP! Chicago Lands All-Star Reliever David Robertson in Massive Move
The Chicago Cubs have split their four-game domestic opening series of the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks after dropping both games in Japan to the Los Angeles Dodgers, bringing their record to 2-4 early on this year.
While a road split is not the worst result at the end of the day, it should have been a series victory. The way the Cubs imploded on Sunday afternoon could be a troubling sign of things to come.
Going into the year, many felt Chicago did not do enough in terms of spending money to address the pitching staff, and more specifically, the bullpen.
Entering the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead, new superstar Kyle Tucker gave the Cubs three insurance runs with his second homer of the series. Chicago went into the bottom half with a four-run cushion.
It turned out that wasn’t even close to enough for the bullpen put together by Jed Hoyer that likely was due to financial restrictions from ownership.
What followed was a complete meltdown by free agent signing Caleb Thielbar and trade acquisition Eli Morgan as an eight-run inning for the Diamondbacks resulted in a losing a game the Cubs were six outs away from winning.
All too often it’s been proven the mark of a championship team is an elite bullpen, though if Chicago gets performances like this regularly from its relievers, the idea of a championship won’t even be anywhere in the lexicon and the Cubs will miss the playoffs once again.
These are the kind of losses that add up and impact the standings late in the year when the margins between contention and elimination are so razor thin.
However, there is a veteran reliever out there who would give Chicago an instant upgrade after he is coming off a productive season.
While David Robertson is just over a week away from turning 40 years old, he is still one of the better relievers in all of baseball.
In 2024 with the Texas Rangers, he produced a 3.00 ERA and 1.111 WHIP, striking out 99 batters in 72 innings pitched.
Robertson performed very well in his half-season with the Cubs in 2022 before they traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ben Brown, pitching to a 2.23 ERA over 36 appearances with a 1.041 WHIP.
Understandably, Chicago — and any other team — should be hesitant to hand over a multi-year deal to someone on the doorstep of turning 40.
However, there is absolutely no reason why the Cubs cannot make it worth Robertson’s while on a one-year deal which would get him into the clubhouse this very week.
This is a team that saved $25 million from a Cody Bellinger salary dump with the New York Yankees, yet instead of re-investing it into the roster, those savings have sat simply as a means to balance to budget and allow ownership to stay in the green.
After seeing the absolute disaster the financially handcuffed bullpen had on Sunday afternoon, perhaps Hoyer can get the go ahead to make an obvious move like adding Robertson, which would provide an instant upgrade.
