The Chicago Cubs filled their biggest remaining hole on Friday by agreeing to hire old friend Jake Arrieta, whose advantage is no longer an ace, but who could provide much-needed entries in the rotation (not to mention his leadership and confidence veterans). But that does not necessarily mean that they finished making additive movements before the start of spring training later in the week.
By Bruce Levine, the Cubs still hope to add a second base with a left-handed stick, as well as a reliever:
The Chicago Cubs are one of several teams that attended pitcher David Robertson’s sessions last week. Adding a veteran bullpen is a priority. Chicago hopes to add a left-handed infielder hitting for second-round platoon purposes.
– Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) February 14, 2021
It’s been a long time since we’ve been talking about second base, and all the while, the infallible second base options have left the board. At this point, among the leftist options, you are looking at a reunion with Jason Kipnis, to see what happens in Eric Sogard or if he has anything left in Neil Walker. I think there is also a guy like Jake Lamb, that you have to hope he can recover from and you would have to try to see if he can play second base.
These are types of minor league businesses, and while Cubs should certainly take one if they want, I don’t know if you can say that it is for sure an upgrade over the internal options. With all the love for these guys, I don’t want to see the Cubs flogging them with Nico Hoerner (whom I would probably like to see at AAA to open the season anyway). Give David Bote a full-time opportunity to win or Ildemaro Vargas to pop, or decide that you’re just going to try to develop Hoerner’s bat in the big leagues.
That said, if you want a guy like Kipnis back for his left-handed baton off the bench and veteran leadership, well, fine. See what he has in Spring Training and evaluate his options from there. It doesn’t have to be about hiring a guy now to join a platoon.
On the pitch side, there are still a lot of good options out there (including a guy like Jeremy Jeffress), but I tend to think the Cubs are just going out to see if they can get another secondary league deal on a guy who can contribute. The bullpen is certainly not loaded in the traditional sense, but the Cubs have been very good at getting the most out of recovery weapons, and they already have a ton of these guys signed up (not to mention last year’s transfers). I kind of like the bullpen competition as it is now. But, hey, if Jeffress wanted to come back, I certainly wouldn’t complain.
As for Robertson, specifically, the 36-year-old righty was not only good from 2011 to 2018, he was dominant. In 2019, however, his elbow burst and he had to have Tommy John surgery. He recently played for teams and, although it is unclear what remains in the tank, several teams are likely to be happy to try the advantage, especially if it comes in the form of a minor league agreement.