Cubs sign Brad Brach - 1 Year / $3M

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Ken Rosenthal

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#Cubs in agreement with free-agent reliever Brad Brach, pending a physical, sources tell The Athletic.

 

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Brach guarantee with #Cubs will be more than $3M, source tells The Athletic. Includes buyout on club option for 2020.

 

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To clarify: Brach salary for 2019 is $3M. Buyout will add to that.

[KeithStone53151]

I'm a bit annoyed that the Cubs got such a good deal on Brach. He's a very good pitcher, has been good for a while in a tough environment and hasn't really showed signs of slowing down.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

That is a great deal, especially is second year is a club option.

[Madhawk23]

Yeah, shocked at how cheaply they got him for a 1 year deal. What's the reason for this? Are teams just gun shy with relievers this winter after getting burned last winter by all of those relief pitcher signings? at 1 yr, 3M - I'm a bit upset that we didn't get involved with that. I know we might be set out there, but you can never have enough good arms in the pen.

[xisxisxis]

Yeah, shocked at how cheaply they got him for a 1 year deal. What's the reason for this? Are teams just gun shy with relievers this winter after getting burned last winter by all of those relief pitcher signings? at 1 yr, 3M

Brachs on the wrong side of 30 (a few days shy of 33 on opening day), had his best season at age 29 and has been getting worse each year. Typical Cubs buy of an aging reliever that has low upside, but high floor. Is he better than Matt Albers? Absolutely. Is he better than anyone else in the Brewers bullpen? nope. Given that the Cubs can't afford anything else, it's probably their best option.

[KeithStone53151]

Yeah, shocked at how cheaply they got him for a 1 year deal. What's the reason for this? Are teams just gun shy with relievers this winter after getting burned last winter by all of those relief pitcher signings? at 1 yr, 3M

Brachs on the wrong side of 30 (a few days shy of 33 on opening day), had his best season at age 29 and has been getting worse each year. Typical Cubs buy of an aging reliever that has low upside, but high floor. Is he better than Matt Albers? Absolutely. Is he better than anyone else in the Brewers bullpen? nope. Given that the Cubs can't afford anything else, it's probably their best option.

 

I think you guys are underestimating Brach a bit. He's pitched in the AL east and in a very hitter friendly park the last 4 years. Career ERA 3.08 with more than a K per inning. Down the stretch for Atlanta he rocked a sub 2 in a pennant race. I would argue that Brach is a better pitcher than Jeffress, only behind Hader and Knebel in our bullpen.

[xisxisxis]

I think you guys are underestimating Brach a bit.

You're right, he's probably better than Jacob Barnes too...

 

Brach's K/9, BB/9, FIP, xFIP, and pitch velocity are all trending worse the last few years. Sure, he could find some adjustment that might give him some more velocity or not walk 4.5 batters per 9 IP, but all of those metrics state this is a player in decline. The Brewer's approach of finding RP who are just entering their prime has risks, but so does signing pitchers that are in decline... Would I take Brach over Albers? In a second, but that's a time travel issue. WRT Jeffress, he actually picked up about 1 MPH on his pitches last year compared to 2017 and that was part of the reason he had such a good year (xFIP, FIP, K/9, BB/9, ERA all better than Brach).

[JohnBriggs12]

Yeah, shocked at how cheaply they got him for a 1 year deal. What's the reason for this? Are teams just gun shy with relievers this winter after getting burned last winter by all of those relief pitcher signings? at 1 yr, 3M

Brachs on the wrong side of 30 (a few days shy of 33 on opening day), had his best season at age 29 and has been getting worse each year. Typical Cubs buy of an aging reliever that has low upside, but high floor. Is he better than Matt Albers? Absolutely. Is he better than anyone else in the Brewers bullpen? nope. Given that the Cubs can't afford anything else, it's probably their best option.

 

I think you guys are underestimating Brach a bit. He's pitched in the AL east and in a very hitter friendly park the last 4 years. Career ERA 3.08 with more than a K per inning. Down the stretch for Atlanta he rocked a sub 2 in a pennant race. I would argue that Brach is a better pitcher than Jeffress, only behind Hader and Knebel in our bullpen.

 

He's 33 and allowed 72 Hits in 62 2/3 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.596 for the year. Jeffress' WHIP was 0.991 last year.

 

Brach was better in Atlanta but not as good as his ERA. He allowed a hit an inning and walked 9 in 23 innings.

 

That's not to say he won't bounce back and be solid as relievers are known to, but it explains why his price tag wasn't very high.

[StearnsFTW]

Would've loved him at that price.

 

His wife is from Chicago. Could've been a factor.

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

Pretty low risk signing for them. I wouldn’t have minded us doing it. Feel like we could use 1 more experienced arm in the bullpen. His velo ticked back up in Atlanta. I wouldn’t pick the Cubs bullpen over ours but it will probably be pretty solid again this year like it was last year and even a little underrated. Strop, Cishek, Edwards, Brach, Kintzler and Montgomery is a pretty solid core to start the year with and Morrow is back in May or June I think. They could use another lefty but I think a few of the RHPs have good lefty numbers.

[KeithStone53151]

He's 33 and allowed 72 Hits in 62 2/3 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.596 for the year. Jeffress' WHIP was 0.991 last year.

 

Brach was better in Atlanta but not as good as his ERA. He allowed a hit an inning and walked 9 in 23 innings.

 

That's not to say he won't bounce back and be solid as relievers are known to, but it explains why his price tag wasn't very high.

 

You could say literally the exact same thing about Jeffress after the 2017 offseason. 73 hits in 65 innings. 1.638 whip. 5.24 FIP. You want to broaden the sample a bit with relievers. I can understand some of the concerns on Brach, but he's had such a lengthy history of success(and he's not really THAT old for a reliever)...that I suspect he'll adjust this offseason and bounce back just fine.