Dec 24: The Cubs have officially announced the signing of Smyly. To make room on the 40-man roster, pitcher Erich Uelmen has been designated for assignment, according to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Dec 22, 8:01pm: The deal also allows Smyly to opt out at the end of next season, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Smyly will have to weigh a return trip to free agency against the $11MM remaining on the contract next offseason.
7:52pm: The Cubs are bringing back Drew Smyly, agreeing with the free agent starter on a two-year deal. It’s reportedly a $19MM guarantee for the Frontline client. Smyly will make successive salaries of $8MM and $8.5MM, and the contract contains at least a $2.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2025 campaign.
Smyly returns after spending the 2022 season in Chicago. It was technically his second stint as a Cub, as he’d previously been a member of the organization in 2018. He spent that entire season rehabbing from a previous Tommy John surgery, though, and the Cubs dealt him to the Rangers over the 2018-19 offseason. After three years elsewhere, he returned to Chicago last winter on a $5.25MM guarantee.
The left-hander had a decent showing in 2022, working to a 3.47 ERA through 22 starts. He lost a month in the middle of the year to a left oblique strain but otherwise stayed healthy and absorbed 106 1/3 innings. He struck out a career-worst 20.4% of opponents but only walked 5.8% of batters faced. Smyly held opponents to a meager 86.7 MPH average exit velocity and induced swinging strikes on a solid 12.4% of his offerings. That quality per-pitch swinging strike rate could portend a future uptick in strikeouts. Smyly has punched out 23.2% of opponents over the course of his career, although he’s seen his lowest marks in the last two years.
Smyly doesn’t have eye-popping velocity, and his below-average ground-ball numbers have contributed to home run troubles in prior years. The longball wasn’t much of an issue this past season, though. He absolutely stifled left-handed opponents to the tune of a .191/.277/.326 line with two homers allowed through 101 plate appearances. Righties gave him some more trouble, taking him deep 14 times and posting a .258/.301/.448 mark in 346 trips to the dish.
The 33-year-old has had some injury troubles throughout his career, including the aforementioned Tommy John procedure. He’s spent time on the injured list each year since 2016, failing to reach 130 innings in any of the past six seasons. Smyly is not a prototypical innings eater, but he’s pitched to a decent 3.96 ERA in 259 1/3 frames going back to the start of 2020.
That solid rate production clearly appeals to president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his front office. Smyly finished the 2022 season strong and earned a multi-year deal as a result, with the guarantee narrowly topping the $17MM contract Jordan Lyles received from the Royals this week. The starting pitching market generally has been quite strong, and Smyly continues that trend with a $9.5MM average annual value to slot at the back of the Chicago rotation.
The Cubs signed Jameson Taillon to a four-year deal earlier in the offseason. He’ll join Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele and presumably Smyly as locks for the season-opening starting staff. Kyle Hendricks figures to have a rotation job whenever he’s healthy, although his status is somewhat up in the air after his 2022 season was cut short by a shoulder issue. Players like Keegan Thompson, Hayden Wesneski, Caleb Kilian and Adrian Sampson could be in the mix throughout the season as depth options. Thompson held his own over 17 starts this past season, while Wesneski and Kilian are among the better pitching prospects in the Chicago organization.
Tacking on Smyly’s $8MM salary to the 2023 payroll ledger brings the team’s projected payroll around $179MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. They’re now around $107MM in guarantees for the ’24 campaign. Chicago isn’t quite back to the $200MM+ range they reached towards the end of the last decade, but they’re notably past the $140MM – 150MM range of the last two seasons. The deal adds $9.5MM to the club’s luxury tax ledger in both 2023-24; they’re now up to approximately $213MM in CBT spending for next season, $20MM shy of the $233MM base threshold.
Jesse Rogers of ESPN first reported the Cubs and Smyly were closing in on a deal. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Cubs and Smyly had agreed to a two-year, $19MM contract and specified the financial breakdown.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Fans are not so smiley now after finding our the contract details
I wonder who will pitch more innings this year and next… deGrom or Smyly?
You didn’t mention anything about runs allowed. I wonder why
@degrom TX ranger- Because when a starting pitcher only pitches 60 innings, does it matter how good they are while only doing 1/3rd of their job??
Would you rather pay $35.5m for 11 starts, 64.1 IP, 3.08 ERA and 5 wins?
Or $5.25m for 22 starts, 106.1 IP, 3.47 ERA and 7 wins?
$1.05m/win or $7.1m/win? I’m guessing you like spending a lot more money to get the hardly better results…
The only surprise to me was the choice of Uelmen being the guy to go. I thought there were a lot of other guys who could be sent off.
There’s just so many on the cusp guys hanging around the back end of the 40-man roster. Sometimes in an organization that 40th man who’s gonna get cut to be replaced by someone else is so obvious, but in cases when it isn’t, it’s not worth doing all the gymnastics. The front office is going on their own and the coaching staffs experience with all these players. They have way more info than we do. Also, the GMs also know who in their system has been asked about by other interested teams. They get to hear the things we have no idea about. Whether it’s a players great or poor attitude, or another teams interest in certain players, I’d bet that plays a little part in who they decide to place on waivers and also when…
LOL, as a Cub fan I’m very pleased with Smyly and the contract. The Cubs are loaded with pitching with a dozen decent starters, so all they needed was a good complimentary arm to add some more experience to the rotation. With the exception of bringing in another guy as closer that Cub pitching staff is set.
Loaded? Lol
I don’t know if loaded is the right word but they have a lot of quality starting pitching and 2-3 prospects on the verge. They are pretty deep
Yeah. Who you root for, the WSox?
Why the hell should fans care about his salary? They scream when the owner doesn’t spend, then cry about the amount of dollars after they spend. Ricketts has $$$ to burn!
It was meant to be a pun. I’m not mocking the Cubs. Look at Martin Perez’s salary, Jon Gray’s salary, and Semien’s salary. I’d take this contract over those any day. It’s just supposed to be a pun. And, yes, I still think it’s an overpay. It’s not my money, but still my opinion
Yes, loaded. We see Assad on the depth chart but that’s not even figuring how lights on Caleb Killian was until nerves got the best of him at the Show. He’ll be another Steele/Thompson when they ease him back in via the bullpen. Ben Brown is’nt even on the depth chart either and Sampson was throwing like a very good #3 last year.
I’ll channel Kap and curse THeo still for trading Cease away since not sure if any of these guys are a bonafide ace still, but yes, loaded is a good word, oh yeah and who knows about the wild card Brailyn if he ever stays healthy.
That’s a discount, we gave him 11M to give up bombs to the opposition.
He actually had a really solid season last year. Lowered his ERA just over a full run from ATL to CHC.
Was it? I hope, I thought some of his peripherals weren’t the greatest indicating a bit of luck. But the whole staff should be highly improved now with this defense. I must be one of the few hoping they nab Hosmer too. Not sure what they’re waiting on.
You’re the only one who wants Hosmer. Word on the Street is even his relatives don’t want him home for Christmas. And the holdup is that Hosmer still thinks he’s good and is waiting on an MLB contract instead of the minor league deal with an invite to spring he’s going to settle for, Somewhere else of course.
I’m good with this. Still think the Cubs need a real ace.
‘Ol Drew, still drawing a decent paycheck, good for him.
At the end of his stint with Atl, he was getting bombed more than Charlie Sheen…
Curly are you able to post? Or are comments down site wide?
TJ-new handle?
My internet was down for many hours yesterday, so I gave up & cut some zzzzz’s
Probably due to the extreme cold.
Yep, they need an ace. And he will miss time. But as a back of rotation/relief pitcher last season he delivered for the Cubs. A sub 3.5 era in 22 starts and was lights out in August. Say what you will, but in this current market this deal has real value.
Yes cubs definitely need a real ace. That will not be happening in the 2023 season unless a guy like Justin Steele steps up and takes it. Otherwise, I think that will be at the top of their list for the next offseason’s team needs.
Before getting an “ace” they need to extend Stroman or they will need a one and a two after next year…..Stroman needs to be a priority NOW…..
They don’t need to extend Stro. He’s not gonna help them win much further down the road. He’s too costly for what will be a back of the rotation arm by then.
Don’t sleep on Steele
I don’t know about Steele, But what I do know is the Cubs have an Ace in their system, The only question is who is it? Wicks, Thompson, Steele, Brown, Horton? Someone will step up. As far as Stroman goes, Let it play out. In 2024 they will have a lot of internal options. If he opts out, They can try and re sign him or not, But at least you’ll have all this year to figure it out and 21 million more off the 2024 payroll. Was Strider Ace material before this year? Did anyone outside of major league scouting depts and ATL know him? I didn’t.
Degrom & Sale are aces!!! how did that work out for their teams.
They should pick up Bauer.
@chrismilwaukee—- F NO!!
well that was a smack in the face…lol
Gosh, he bounced back after Atl but his ball is so flat is hard to under why. I didn’t see him pitch hardly at all last season, looks like he’s improved a few things
With all the free agents being signed, the Cubs will have to move two guys off the 40 man. I wonder if a Madrigal trade is coming. He’s basically LaStella with no power at this point.
Leiter, Rucker, probably Wick, Mastrobuoni, McKinstry can probably all be exposed with little risk of losing them…and if so, not earth shaking. May want to hold onto Roberts and stash on 60 day when spring training starts…but that is too far away now.
Leiter seems like an easy decision. He was solid last year but a 32 year old without great stuff.
Let’s hope so. To Chisox, do the Sox have a comp pick for Abreu? That’d work.
I checked on Wikipedia and they don’t have a comp pick for losing Abreu.
The Cubs would be foolish to trade Madrigal… as you said, “he’s basically Tommy LaStella”… LaStella provided the Cubs with great value as a situational pinch hitter and a guy who was able to step in from time to time to cover an injury.
Given his skill set, late in a tied game/down a run, one out, runner on third, teams fireball closer on the mound, how many players do you want more than Madrigal? You don’t need a hit, you need contact, a guy that can put the ball in play, hit and run.
Regardless wether or not Madrigal bounces back and becomes the guy the Cubs thought he would be, that is a skill-set worthy of a roster spot. He’s also a quality defensive second baseman and Hoerner can basically play anywhere… if Nico needs to bounce some place to cover an injury, Madrigal and step in.
With all that said, the Cubs off-season has been so uninspiring. I like Bellinger despite the massive amount of money we gave him, I like Swanson, the pitching moves however leave a whole lot to be desired and they still need another impact bat in the line up badly. Tallion isn’t bad, Smyly isn’t bad, but neither, imo, are worth keeping Wesneski or Thompson or Alzolay out of a potential rotation slot. Assad, Brown, Wicks also are intriguing for me in the event none of those guys stick. As people say, we still lack an ace. Steele pitched like one in the back half of the season but we still needed a one and not a bunch of good 3/4s.
The Cubs have spent a lot of money this off-season on minima improvement. I don’t consider the loss of Contreras particularly hurtful given the boost we will get from the pitching with Gomes, Bellinger is an improvement over cf, Swanson is an improvement over Madrigal but we are looking at maybe a six game improvement, maybe and there is still no long term solutions on the horizon.. even if the Cubs win 82+ games next year, we will walk into a weak free agent class with multiple holes to fill
So you don’t think Bellinger, Swanson, Tallion, Boxberger and Barnhart and hopefully Mancini are an improvement over Rivas, Hermisillo, Ortega, Schwindel and 30 games of Madrigal and Miley huh? Wow. I suppose you wanted to spend 80 million dollars for 15 games of deGrom and a 40 something year old Verlander? Because deGrom hasn’t started all that many games lately in case you didn’t notice. This club is deep in pitching and defense which never is a bad way to go and I’m happy they didn’t play in the stupid money contracts and saved their money to pay their own guys later. If you thought you were going to get Judge you’re just fooling yourself.
Lipstick on a pig at this point.
Agree with you uncle—-whether it translates into 2, 6, 14 more wins next season the roster is much better than in 2022. And more importantly these moves give another year of development for guys like PCA, Canario, Caissie, even Mervis, Wicks, Killian, etc that will offset that weak free agent class next year that drasco refers to.
Sometimes adding is great….but subtraction is greater…knowing that Hermosillo, Ortega, Schwindel, Rivas, and so on are not on the roster anymore let alone starting six times a week automatically makes the Cubs better.
The way I see it, If everyone is healthy at the end of spring, The Iowa rotation will be Brown, Wesneski, Wicks, Killian and Asad or Sampson if they get him through waivers. There are teams right now that would probably take that for their Major League rosters.
Guess you just read a little bit of what I wrote and got butt hurt per usual. Not even worth addressing your post (again, per usual).
Still sucking at the teets of the Madrigal-Happ brigade huh? You’re just jealous that I can say more in two sentences that make sense and you ramble on and on about nothing. They could trade Happ and Madrigal tomorrow and they’d be fine, But I feel your shrink would get a daily workout for about 2 years.
I do love you internet tough guys. So brave and mouthy behind your keyboard.
Well if pointing out your foolishness makes me a tough guy, Then who’s butt is really hurting? Although I agree with you on one thing, Responding to people who say dumb things can be taxing and pointless.
Well it’s come to that point. The point of, The Cubs have 40 men on the 40 man and still have to make room for at least Barnhart. They have
Hoerner and Morel that can play 2B. Then you have the odd trio in Madrigal, Mastrobuoni and Mckinstry. As far as I’m concerned they can all go but the only one you’d get anything for is Madrigal. Why these guys are still here is a mystery to me. Unless they just cut bait on Amaya which wouldn’t be a huge loss either, But I’m just betting they won’t do that.
Last three “full” season ERAs: 3.47, 4.48, 6.24, 4.88
Not a guy I’d give a multi-year contract.
That’s four, your welcome.
His welcome what?
Actually 3!!!
2020 was not a full season, Your welcome.
MY math was never very good. Thanks!
Your math was fine kiddo. Someone thought they were smarter than you until it was bounced back on them.
Amen, JockStrap
*you’re. You’re welcome.
I wasn’t strong in grammer but decent in math.
TWO years… Oh no… So many years!!
Pretty sure the Os are looking for a veteran LH SP so Smyly was in play. 2 yrs plus a third mutual op level probably scared them off thus there pivot to interest in Rich Hill.
That’s a real solid rotation the cubbies have. They’ll go a strong 76-86.
Considering there’s also Hendricks, Stroman, Taillon, Steele, Wesneski… Well… why waste my time with a troll like you?
They’re a .500 team at best.
They have enough depth now for their rotation to withstand multiple simultaneous injuries to their starters. That’s a good thing. Hopefully the younger pitchers continue to develop and fill in admirably when they’re called upon.
@coup——admittedly not as good as your Astros but probably better than 76 wins all of a sudden.
Good signing.
Yup… gives the Cubs an experienced depth guy. Pitching will be strong for them in 2023.
Bounced back pitching in the NL Central, unbalanced scheduled against the Pirates, Reds, Brewers. He got some bugs outs for us during the WS run I will give him that but he was hammered as a starter. Back of the rotation number 5 on a competitive team. Fastball is flat and guys lean back and launch.
*Big Outs.
Bigger fan of Guy Smiley.
Another upgrade for the Cubbysl, next move is first base, I like Smith or Mancini!
Works for me. The years and money are about right. Now they don’t have to rush the young starters. And another LH arm. Iowa should be stacked to start the season. For once it won’t be littered with old reclamation projects but actual prospects.
A lot of you say Cubs need an “ace”
Going out on a limb here, due to another MLBTR post and say Trevor Bauer might be available at a discounted rate….
**just sayin’……
I think he’ll end up signing with the Yankees.
Cubs getting serious last 2 weeks.
cubs should trade for bauer on the cheap
We liked this guy on the Giants. He’s a good pitcher
Good depth in the rotation. Most are pitch to contact guys so the D up the middle is a really big deal and the Cubs look good there. An arm or two for the bullpen would be nice and maybe another bat would be nice. Otherwise this club is taking shape to hopefully compete for the division. I believe they could be a fun team to watch if you like fundamental baseball as I do. Hopefully Mervis can come up and rake at some point, that could be what could bring this club into a winner. Bellinger is onviously a crapshoot with the bat now but u never know. A shoulder injury is one of those, “never the same after” injuries alot of times but time will tell.
Smyly has had a career seemed destined for the npb
Wow!! DFA’d on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas Erich Uelmen.
He’s gonna be picked up probably by the Yankees, before New Years.
Uelmen was inconsistent but I think he has a chance to be a useful reliever. Felt like he struggles repeating his mechanics.
Smyly is okay. He was pretty solid last year but he is hurt often and the Cubs have a lot of backend alternatives already – is he even better than Sampson?
Feel like Cubs have done well ensuring the team isnt awful in 2023 but havent done much to actually have a good team either.
As the news broke on the contract becoming official,
Drew was all
SMYLY
If Harris was all that determined to sign an ex-Tiger lefty, why Boyd instead of Smiley who is a much better pitcher and easier to flip at the trade deadline if that’s the plan with a second year? Good luck flipping Boyd, wonderboy…he’ll be on the DL by June, same old deal.