The Cubs are bringing a familiar face back to the bullpen, agreeing to a deal with Jesse Chavez, according to Mike Rodriguez of Univision. The righty first hinted at his Cubs reunion on Instagram. Chavez signed a minor league/split deal, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chavez is represented by Apex Baseball.
Chavez was an effective reliever in Chicago back in 2018 after being acquired mid-season from the Rangers. Since then, the 38-year-old returned to Texas for two seasons. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels back in February ’21, moving on to the Braves after failing to make the Halos’ Opening Day roster. The Braves selected Chavez’s contract in late June after he put in 20 innings for the Gwinnett Stripers. Chavez wasn’t used in high-leverage situations by the Braves, but still cracked their roster for all three rounds of the playoffs.
With a 91 mile-an-hour average fastball velocity, Chavez doesn’t throw as hard as most of his peers these days. Nonetheless, the 14-year MLB veteran still managed to post a 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings for Atlanta in 2021. That came with a better-than-average 27.1 K% and 8.3 BB%. Often prone to the longball – Chavez allowed one to every 13 batters or so he faced in 2020 – fortune broke his way as none of his flyballs left the yard in ’21. Though he’s not known for his velocity or spin rate, Chavez has generally been above average in preventing hard hits.
Chavez brings a veteran presence to a Cubs bullpen that recently took a big hit with the news Codi Heuer underwent Tommy John surgery. The club currently has Rowan Wick atop the depth chart, and is likely to bring in additional veterans.
The post-lockout free agent market has seen Chavez, Matt Strahm, Joe Kelly, Alex Colome, Jeurys Familia, Steve Cishek, Brandon Workman, and Juan Minaya leave the board in short order. Click here to see who remains – a group led by Kenley Jansen, Ian Kennedy, Brad Boxberger, Brad Hand, Andrew Chafin, Ryan Tepera, Yusmeiro Petit, Hansel Robles, Adam Ottavino, Richard Rodriguez, and Jake Diekman, among others.
bravesfan0618
Dang , he was a positive in Braves pen.
matthew07
A needed arm for the bullpen.
jollycharliegrimm
A needed “veteran” arm in the BP
Holy Cow!
Okay, I’m going out to shovel snow. No transactions until I get back.
Sherm623
Cubs are shoveling something, too
ChiSox_Fan
Dumpster divin’!
Mario93
The epitome of average. Jesse Chavez.
bravesfan
Nothing wrong with that… I’d gladly have that label to play as long as he has in the pros.
bravesfan
He was a key contributor to the braves and a World Series champ. His picture should represent himself as a brave until after the signing… he earned it
themed
Do the cubs still have that guy that annoyingly doesn’t know how to put his cap on straight?
Holy Cow!
DH, woo hoo!
rememberthecoop
No, thank goodness. Had some really strong years for the Cubs but would melt down in crucial situations especially his last couple of years. I don’t know where he is but he’s not with the Cubs. If only there was some way to find out..Too bad there isn’t this web-like entanglement of wires and computers with an ability to do searches…
rememberthecoop
Pedro Strop really got his arse handed to him by Bob Costas.
Holy Cow!
Bob Costas is an old fogey now.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
He’s not the bullpen arm I was hoping the cubs would sign. Is this a minor league deal?
Monkey’s Uncle
Split deal; I’m guessing that wasn’t in the article yet when you posted. As a backend bullpen guy with nothing guaranteed, you could do a lot worse.
jessaumodesto
Well f. There goes the A’s opening day starter
Monkey’s Uncle
I still remember Chavez as a Pirate, which seems like 30 years ago. Traded away for Akinori Iwamura, which at the time looked like a shrewd move but turned out to be anything but. Just some more historical evidence that the Pirates should never trade with the Rays.
mlb1225
It’s not like Chavez became an ace in TBR. He never even played a game there. Only thing to really come out of that trade was one good year out of Rafael Soriano because the Rays then flipped Chavez to the Braves for the closer.
JimmyForum
With this signing, the Cubs just issued a warning shot to the entire National League saying they’re all in.
User 163535993
Yeah Ricketts is all in. On saving every dime he can to buy his soccer team. Gooooooooaaaaaaaalllllllllll!
Cubsforever22
He was awesome a few years ago with us, welcome back!
User 163535993
Seriously? Well at least Gomes and Contreras won’t have to put down any fingers. He only throws one pitch. This makes zero sense to me. I hope there’s a better plan than this.
HubertHumphrey
I dig a good derp-face photo on the front page. Keep it up MLBTR! More of the same!
RandalGrichuksStubble
Chavez looking to play for all 332 MLB teams in his career
Dad
If I remember correctly he is a 91 mph slider guy?
Rsox
If you remember correctly he is 91 years old…
Rsox
Chavez must like to visit old haunts. The Cubs are the 4th team he has had multiple stints with
oldtimer
Cubs are really going places with moves like this. They might even be able to field a team now!