ORLANDO — After signing veteran reliever Phil Maton, team president Jed Hoyer says the Cubs remain interested in adding another high-leverage reliever.
“We’ll be in that market,” Hoyer said. “Whether we end up signing someone or not, I don’t know. Depends how other teams value them. I think we’ll definitely be in that market, and we’ll obviously sign more relievers this offseason.”
Based on information from league sources, the Cubs showed interest in Emilio Pagán late in the process before he signed a two-year, $20 million deal to return to Cincinnati. The Cubs remain interested in a potential return of Brad Keller. Pete Fairbanks is someone they’ve kept tabs on as well. Elsewhere, the Cubs briefly checked in on Devin Williams before realizing they wouldn’t be close financially.
When asked if Maton could be considered as a ninth-inning option, Hoyer deferred to manager Craig Counsell and suggested that he would be an “out-getter,” a favorite term by Counsell. He wouldn’t rule out the possibility of bringing in a reliever who would go into the season expecting to close out games.
By signing Maton to a two-year, $14.5 million deal last month, Hoyer broke with his recent trend. It was the first time he’d handed out a multi-year deal to a reliever since taking control of baseball operations before the 2021 season.
“I always said I’m not totally against it,” Hoyer said while meeting with reporters at the Signia by Hilton in Orlando. “Given the volatility, I think it’s the right place to take a volume approach, use our pitching guys on guys they can get better and try to develop those guys as well as possible. I’d rather spend our resources on areas of less volatility, honestly. But at the same time, bullpens are really important.”
Hoyer pointed out that the reliever market was moving quickly, which led to pouncing on a reliever they had good reports on and had targeted to be a high-leverage arm for them. He pointed out that he’d offered multi-year deals to relievers in the past but just hadn’t gotten to the finish line until Maton. To add a legit closer to pair with Maton in the late innings, he’d almost certainly have to give out another multi-year contract.
Maton has proved durable of late, reaching at least 60 appearances and 60 innings in each of the last five seasons. After an offseason during which he improved his slider shape and added a couple of ticks of velocity on his cutter and sinker, Maton’s strikeout rate jumped. He still barely sits at 90 mph, but he struck out opponents 32.7 percent of the time last season while not seeing a significant rise in his walk rate (9.3 percent).
“We had a lot of velocity last year when our bullpen was really effective,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think about velocity as much as swing and miss. Do guys get strikeouts? It doesn’t matter how you strike a guy out. A ball in play is random. We relied heavily on our defense last year. Obviously, we’re gonna have a really good defense, but I’d love to rely less on it. It just takes some of the randomness out of the game.”
On the season, the Cubs were 15th in baseball with a 22.7 percent strikeout rate from their bullpen. That number rocketed up to 28.4 percent following the trade deadline, third in baseball over that span. That was largely due to the acquisition of Andrew Kittredge, Keller taking his game to another level and veteran Drew Pomeranz staying healthy and finding more whiff on his breaking ball. Since the start of the offseason, Kittredge has been traded to Baltimore, and Keller and Pomeranz are free agents. Maton is a good start, but there is a lot of work to do to get the bullpen to where Hoyer wants it.
Hoyer has been clear that the team trusts its defense to elevate its pitching. In the same breath, he’s been honest that adding strikeouts to the staff is imperative. The front office will continue to mine free agency for non-roster invites, minor-league free agents and less-heralded, one-year deals. The Cubs are less hesitant than winters past to allocate real resources in building out a trustworthy, impactful bullpen.