Cubs Free Agent Target: Robert Stephenson |
As hard as it is to remain positive, one thing Cubs fans have is patience. When you look at how long this team went from winning a World Series, patience was brought to a new meaning as Cubs fans are some of the most patient fans, if not the most patient fans in the world. Even at that, their patience is starting to wear things this offseason as we are more than two months into the offseason, and the Cubs have yet to make any significant move to improve their roster.
At some point, you have to question Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins about their long-term outlook for this team, but if anything, they have earned some trust, so fans are trying to remain as positive as possible. Even with the Cubs failing to sign anyone up to this point, they continue to have their name linked to several free agents, and at some point, you have to think some of these names will sign with them. Right-handed reliever Robert Stephenson is one of those names and is a name the Cubs have been linked to for a while. Initially reported as an option the Cubs could pursue, the Stephenson market grew quiet for roughly a month until once again picking up steam this weekend. As expected, several teams are in on Stephenson, and yes, the Cubs are one of those teams, as they have been linked to him yet again. There may not be many top 50 free agents left on the market, but that doesn't mean there are no quality options remaining. Stephenson fits the quality option, and for a team that could use some added bullpen help, Stephenson is just what the Cubs could use for 2024 and beyond. Apart from Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr, the Cubs bullpen has more questions than answers, and at the very least, Stephenson could answer some of those questions. Primarily a journeyman pitcher for most of his career, Stephenson landed in Tampa Bay last season, where his career took a turn for the better. The biggest reason for that was having the Rays ditch his 87 MPH slider and instead incorporate an 89 MPH cutter. That cutter took over as his primary breaking pitch, and by the end of the season, Stephenson became one of the better relievers in the game. By September, Stephenson had completely ditched the slider and was leaning on the cutter almost three-quarters of the time. As hard as it is to imagine a guy throwing one pitch that often and having success, you can see why he stuck with it, as hitters made contact on that pitch just 41.4% of the time. With that, Stephenson also struck out 43% of the hitters he faced while holding them to a slash line of .138/.187/.300 batting line in 140 trips to the plate. Those would all be considered elite numbers, and had he done that all season, you could make the case that he would've been the best reliever in baseball. However, a shaky start to the season prevented that conversation from happening, but seeing how good he was late in the season has some wondering if this is the Stephenson you will see moving forward. Stephenson is no stranger to having the potential to be something special, as the former first-rounder has always had great stuff. To go with his lethal cutter comes a fastball that sits in the 96-97 MPH range, which is the combo he used to make him nearly untouchable for four months. Stephenson picked up swinging strikes on 28.7% of his offerings in Tampa Bay. Not only was that tops in the majors, but it’s nearly three times the MLB average and almost eight percentage points higher than second-place Felix Bautista. When you consider how dominating Bautista has been at times and how hard he throws, can you imagine the success Stephenson would have if he offered the same type of velocity? Even with his sheer dominance last season, it's hard to imagine him doing that again, as he would instantly become the game's best reliever and get paid to match that. Even if those numbers decline a little bit this season, he is still one of the better relievers out there and will continue to make life miserable for hitters. There will always be that question as to what he would cost, as last season would indicate a salary of 12-plus million per season. However, you also have to take into account what he did before arriving in Tampa, as that could affect what teams are willing to pay. Either way, Stephenson should have no trouble landing a two or three-year deal anywhere between 16-27 million based on the duration. That is not a bad price for a high-leverage reliever, especially one as dominant as he was last season.
