The Cubs have agreed with left-hander Matthew Boyd on a two-year deal that will guarantee him $29MM, per a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal includes $1MM in performance bonuses that could take the total guarantee to $30MM over two years.
Boyd, 34 in February, made his big league debut with the Blue Jays back in 2018 but established himself in the majors as a member of the Tigers the following year. From 2016 to 2020, Boyd served as a slightly below league average starter for Detroit with a 4.75 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.54 FIP in 727 innings of work. The southpaw at times flashed exciting peripherals, such as the 2019 season when he punched out 30.2% of opponents in 185 1/3 frames while walking just 6.3%, but his overall body of work cast him as more of a solid back-of-the-rotation arm than anything else. Boyd’s time with the Tigers came to a close when he required surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon late in the 2021 campaign, which left him limited to just ten relief appearances as a member of the Mariners. He returned to the Tigers in 2023 but made just 15 starts to lackluster results before going under the knife a second time, this time due to Tommy John surgery.
Once again a free agent coming off major surgery, Boyd remained unsigned headed into the 2024 season before eventually landing a big league deal with the Guardians back in June. The lefty didn’t make his season debut until mid-August after building up to game readiness in the minor leagues, but once he suited up for Cleveland he looked quite good with a 2.72 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 39 2/3 innings of work across eight starts down the stretch. He struck out 27.7% of his opponents while walking just 7.3%, which would have given Boyd one of the better K-BB% figures for a starter in the sport this year if he had pitched enough innings to qualify. The lefty built on that solid regular season performance with a strong showing during the Guardians’ run to the ALCS. He pitched 12 innings for the club across four appearances (three starts), and struck out 28% of opponents while posting a dazzling 0.75 ERA.
That strong finish to Boyd’s season left the southpaw poised to garner plenty of interest in free agency this winter, even in spite of his checkered injury history. MLBTR ranked Boyd as the #23 free agent in this winter’s class on our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, and predicted a two-year, $25MM guarantee that comes in just below the pact he ultimately landed with the Cubs. Boyd becomes the fourth starting pitcher to sign a multi-year deal this winter, joining Yusei Kikuchi’s three-year pact with the Angels, Blake Snell’s five-year contract with the Dodgers, and the two-year agreement between Frankie Montas and the Mets that was reported earlier this evening.
Notably, all four hurlers were unencumbered by draft pick compensation in a pitching market where plenty of borderline candidates such as Nick Pivetta and Luis Severino were extended the Qualifying Offer by their clubs. Each pitcher has landed a deal that come in above expectations, though only Montas did so by a significant amount. Even so, that seems to have pushed clubs that aren’t interested in signing a qualified free agent to act quickly, and while the calendar has only just flipped to December the market is already beginning to thin in terms of starters who aren’t attached to a Qualifying Offer. MLBTR predicted multi-year deals for just four more free agent starters who aren’t attached to draft pick compensation this winter: Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Jose Quintana. Outside of that quartet, clubs will either have to forfeit draft picks and bonus pool money in order to sign a qualified free agent, take a look at a rebound candidate like Max Scherzer or Walker Buehler, or explore the trade market in order to upgrade their rotations.
Turning back to the Cubs, the addition of Boyd adds another capable veteran arm to a rotation that already features lefties Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga as well as right-hander Jameson Taillon. Adding a starting pitcher to the rotation has been a well-established priority for the club this winter, though early reports of plans to shop for a top-of-the-rotation arm eventually gave way to the suggestion Chicago could instead look for arms a tier or two below that pedigree. Boyd fits the latter description given his roughly league average work throughout his career and his recent struggles with injuries. The lefty has been limited to just 202 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2021 season, and in that time he’s posted a 4.04 ERA (105 ERA+) with a 3.97 FIP and a 23.2% strikeout rate against an 8% walk rate.
While Boyd may not necessarily profile as a front-end starter, it’s still not hard to imagine him providing an upgrade to the Cubs’ rotation when healthy. After all, the lefty was legitimately impactful for the Guardians this year in both the regular season and the playoffs, and that success being a late-career step forward rather than a simple hot streak can’t be ruled out for a pitcher who has long shown flashes of dominance throughout his time in the majors. What’s more, Chicago is perhaps uniquely well-equipped to handle any absences caused by future injuries thanks to a deep group of young arms that includes Ben Brown, Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Hayden Wesneski who can step into the rotation fairly seamlessly if needed.
For the time being, that quartet appears likely to vie for the fifth spot in the club’s rotation this spring, with Assad as the early front-runner after a generally successful (3.73 ERA, 4.64 FIP) season as a starter in 2024. RosterResource currently projects the Cubs for a $176MM payroll in 2025, and the Boyd deal should move that up to the $191MM range. That still leaves a bit more than $20MM of breathing room relative to the club’s 2024 Opening Day payroll, which Cot’s Baseball Contracts notes sat just over $214MM. It’s not impossible to imagine the club pursuing another starter to strengthen their rotation through either free agency or trade this winter with the financial flexibility the club has remaining, but given the club’s needs at catcher and in the bullpen it seems those funds will likely be used elsewhere—at least unless a trade of Cody Bellinger clears some additional money off the club’s books.
The Hot Stove is On Fire! (Odd timing late Sunday/Early Monday)
Congrats to Boyd. I didn’t want him back as he earned a contract out of what we should pay him. Hope Bieber is gone next. Good luck to Boyd in Chicago. It’s a good story.
39 innings pitched last year, 71 innings pitched in 2023..and 13 in 2022. Was he turned into a reliever at one point? Cause I swear I thought he was a starter? With the contract given to Montas by the Mets, and this one given to Boyd by the Cubs, pitching will be very expensive this offseason to say the least. Wow..
Just because teams are paying a lot for players now doesn’t mean it’s going to continue. I have a feeling the patient mid market teams are the ones who are going to clean up after the big market teams have their fun. And that’s good because that will help with some of the competitive imbalance that is MLB in this day and age.
Well it’s not Tanner Scott but it is a reasonable facsimile. It’s decent Closer or late inning money or if Hodge and Little prove they can get the job done then he be a long man or turn into a starter. makes the Pitching Staff more versatile. Not the guy I wanted but I’m all for it. Nice job Jed. Keep up the good work.
There is some upside here but gosh that’s a lot of money. I gotta believe he’s headed to the rotation not the pen.
One thing we know is if you give Counsell quality arms he knows what to do with them. nice to know Jed has figured out his mistake the last 2 years and is building a deep pitching staff in case of injuries. They’ve started out slow the last 2 years and it’s cost them. 1 more quality Bullpen arm, A decent C, And figure out if they have the reserves they want , Chase Sasaki, Not much left to do really.The rest is gravy, Building a deeper team. You can never have enough.
I think the Cubs need more than 1 more quality bullpen arm. That and catcher are really their only weaknesses at this point. And while I think some of the predictions for how much the Cubs have to spend this offseason made by this site were incredibly aggressive, as usual, they still have money to spend and a good amount. Not to mention they have prospects to trade if needed.
I would be asleep if not for some stomach problems. Talk to you tomorrow.
I am quite sure he signed as a starter.
263 IP going back to 2020 gets you almost 15 million a year as a starter, I just don’t get it anymore!
If the plan is to use him in the bullpen it does. It’s enough money that he can’t complain about being a late inning guy and also can get him some starts if needed. The key is his versatility. That’s worth the money.. Innings? Who cares?
Good gosh he turned 8 good starts into 29 million dollars good for him. Look at those career numbers it’s not impressive.
Every Pitcher wants to start. If you want a guy to relieve you have to make it worth his while and overpay him. It’s not a contract you’re going to regret a whole lot, And will keep him happy being in the pen. What’s not to like? Tanner Scott would have wanted more and for 3 years probably and they’re pretty similar.
The Cubs were looking for rotation help last time I checked. He was a starter last year. Why are you so sure he’s headed to the pen?
If they wanted a reliever they could have signed someone like Scott like you mentioned. He probably would cost a similar amount and has a better track record of performance. The difference with Boyd is he’s a starter he can pitch more innings.
The Cubs were looking for rotation DEPTH not a front line starter. Cubs have 4 good starters, Steele, Tallion, Imanaga and Assad. Then you have Brown, Horton, Wicks, Killian, Birdsell and Noland at AAA to fight it out between them this spring. If they can get a guy like Buehler, or trade for Crochet or even get Sasaki all the better. Can’t wait for the Winter Meetings this week to see what’s next. If they can move Belli’s 27 million opens up even more possibilities. I like the move.
I don’t hate the move but I don’t like it either. I think the Cubs need pen help more than anything. I also don’t think they needed another lefty starter. Having 1 or 2 is good having 3 or 4 is not imo. He’s very risky yes there is upside and yes the Cubs have depth if he doesn’t pan out but it’s a lot of money.
We were talking earlier about a Bellinger for Castillo trade. That’s a move I think makes a lot of sense even if the Cubs included Wicks or something like that to get it done.
Steele
Castillo
Imanaga
Taillon
Boyd
That’s a scary rotation
It’s weird. I wouldn’t say the cost is too high, it’a reasonable enough, but yet if you’re a cubs fan you probably feel like it’s just a tiny bit high lol. But when healthy, I think he’s worth this for sure
The nature of FA is highest bid wins. 29 other teams said too much. Boyd is a bulldog. Chicago fans are going to like him. Check out his charity. He’s a great person!