On the one hand, there’s not too much of a mystery here: Chris Flexen is a 30-year-old starter who made 30 starts for the White Sox last season, earning a 4.95 ERA along the way. With his experience, that’s the platonic definition of a quality depth starter to have stashed in the minors. Plus, of course, the Cubs have dealt with some early-Spring injuries to starters Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell. So again, Flexen, on a minor-league deal, represents some perfectly fine depth to acquire at this point in the year. My only question (i.e. the aforementioned “mystery”) is why exactly did Flexen choose the Cubs?
Chris Flexen Signs Minors Deal with Cubs
Depending on health, Flexen will likely sit behind a pretty long list of starters before he gets his shot: Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Javier Assad (if healthy), Colin Rea, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, Cade Horton (?), Brandon Birdsell (if healthy). I’m sure he’ll have one (or multiple) opt-outs early in the year, so he might head back out to free agency before that ever matters. But it’s a little odd. I have to assume there were other teams out there offering him a more direct path to big-league innings.
Maybe he just really wanted to stay in Chicago after playing for the White Sox last year?
In any case, yes, the Cubs signed Chris Flexen to a minor league deal tonight, according to Sahadev Sharma and Ken Rosenthal.
If you’re like me, the name Chris Flexen is probably ringing a bell, but you just can’t place him right? Allow me to remind you:
It was 7-0.It’s not anymore ? pic.twitter.com/jfDDQMvk4K
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 12, 2023Setting that aside, Flexen did toss 11 quality starts in 2024, finishing the year with a 3.52 ERA over his final 8 starts (46.0 IP). He was also solid over 53 starts with the Mariners between 2021-2022 (3.66 ERA, 3.6 WAR). So there is a bit of a track record here to lean on.
It’s just that, after an offseason of whiffing on that final piece of the puzzle, landing a perfectly fine depth starter on a minor league deal isn’t all that sexy.
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