The Chicago Cubs will continue to add to their bullpen group this offseason – maybe even from the upper-tier of the free agent market – both because of an acute need, and also because they ALWAYS add lots and lots of different types of pitchers to the Spring Training mix (and then well into the season, too). If you bring in enough options, and if you’re good at selection and refining and game-planning, the Cubs have found that they can pretty much always net out three or four useful relievers from an otherwise unexpected pool of players.
Via The Athletic, it sounds like one arm the Cubs have their eye on is a guy who was formerly a tip-top reliever, but who is now recovering from June Tommy John surgery. Evan Phillips was just non-tendered by the Dodgers, and now he’s on the Cubs’ radar:
“Evan Phillips, for example, became a free agent when the Los Angeles Dodgers declined to offer him a contract through the arbitration system. The right-handed reliever is recovering from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in June, a timeline that could put him back in action around the time that playoff contenders are searching for bullpen help at the trade deadline ….
While far from the only reliever on Chicago’s radar, Phillips profiles as the type of pitcher the Cubs have successfully identified and incorporated into the bullpen. Among pitchers, Cubs manager Craig Counsell has an excellent reputation for keeping their health at the forefront of his decisions.”
Kinda feels like there might be something preliminary cooking there.
Evan Phillips, 31, was for a couple years there one of the best relievers in baseball, though a bit unheralded in a crowded Dodgers bullpen:
(via FanGraphs)It’s hard to say what Evan Phillips would’ve been in 2025 if he’d stayed healthy, or whether the downward drift was related to the elbow injury that ultimately felled him. If so, you could be optimistic about his return, though it’s worth keeping in mind that, even for relievers, they sometimes need a half season of competition before they return to feeling and performing like their full selves. That’s why you often see, in cases like this, teams try to sign guys to one-year deals with club options for a second year. I have no doubt that it’s what the Cubs would prefer, all else equal, but landing that deal might depend on how much interest there is in Phillips.
For as much as the Cubs clearly like – and feel confident in – targeting pitchers who’ve recently suffered an injury, they actually haven’t signed a lot of guys who are in active rehab and won’t return until sometime into the season. We see these types every offseason, and just about every offseason, the Cubs decline to go this route.
Whether it’s not wanting to hold the 40-man spot until the end of Spring Training (at which point the player can go on the 60-day IL (arguably not an issue this offseason with so many open 40-man spots)), or whether it’s simply having a preference for guys who’ve already recovered and just need to work on the baseball part of coming back, I couldn’t say. I’m just saying that signing guys in Phillips’ precise situation is not something the Cubs have done much of, outside of minor league deals.
But, hey: the Cubs also don’t sign relievers to multi-year deals, and they just did it with Phil Maton. So maybe a lot of old standbys are going out the window this offseason.
For the Cubs, it’ll probably come back to the money, since they will forever operate with a budget that makes guaranteeing a large chunk of money to a guy who cannot play for you until midseason a risky business. I hate it. You hate it. But it’s the reality.
If the money does work out, however, then I’d love for the Cubs to go this route. Sure, maybe Phillips doesn’t make it back to anything close to what he was at his peak, but even if he were a decent middle innings contributor from July on, that’s a hugely valuable piece to have available. Consider that the Cubs just this past season had to trade multiple prospects to land guys who could help them in the second half out of the bullpen. It’d be nice to have one of those guys simply appearing on your roster for nothing more than the money you were already paying him.
For what it’s worth, Phillips was projected to make about $6 million in arbitration, so that might be close to the figure he’d be looking for on a 2026 guarantee, especially if he were going to give up a team option for 2027.
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