Cubs and Arrieta Reunion is Happening
There is a report out there that is confirming that the Chicago Cubs and free agent pitcher Jake Arrieta are close to a deal. This will likely be a one-year contract, that will reunite the former ace and the Cubs.
Breaking: Jake Arrieta and the Cubs are getting close to a reunion
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 12, 2021
It sounds like Jake will get the most of any free agent pitcher they’ve signed this off-season, per Jesse Rogers.
Arrieta likely to get between $6.5-7 mil on a one year deal, per source.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 13, 2021
Let’s not get too excited about this reunion. Over the course of the last few seasons age and a touch of the injury bug have caught up to Arrieta. While he still has bullets left in the tank, the Cubs are looking to add pitching depth as opposed to top flight talent. I wrote earlier today on why that is an important thing for MLB teams to follow this season.
With pitchers maxing out at around 80 innings in 2020, now those same pitchers will be asked to throw near 200 innings. This is a huge toll for anyone’s arm to take. As research suggests, pitchers that have come back from injury which have shortens their previous season, 10 to struggle in the following season. A large part of that is because their arm isn’t properly stretched out nor use to throwing that many stressful innings.
Ultimately this is a good thing, not only from a nostalgia sake, but this adds to the depth in which the Cubs are looking for. I would expect somewhere between 8 and 10 pitchers to receive anywhere between 6 and 15 starts this season. That might not seem like a lot when you’re just looking at it from a high level overview, but teams traditionally don’t spread out that many starts across that many pitchers.
