Who says the Cubs aren’t getting in on the early free agency action?
The White Sox may have tried to spend $120 million of Jerry Reinsdorf’s money on pitcher Zack Wheeler, but the Cubs spent some actual money Friday on a right-hander for 2020.
How much? Try $750,000. If he’s in the majors.
Who? Dan Winkler (no relation).
Again, who?
Consider the split-contract signing of the former Braves reliever from downstate Effingham another low-risk, potentially strong-upside depth piece for the Cubs’ bullpen as they look at bigger moves heading into next week’s winter meetings.
Winkler, 29, has a career 3.68 ERA the last five seasons with the Braves, finishing last season at Class AAA after going to the Giants organization in the Mark Melancon trade.
His best season came in 2018 for the Braves’ National League East champion, when he went 4-0 with a 3.43 ERA in 69 appearances (he did make the Braves’ postseason roster). He had a 4.98 ERA in 27 games this season for the Braves before a demotion to the minors a few weeks ahead of the Giants trade.
Winkler has a minor-league option remaining, which means the Cubs can keep him in the wings as AAA depth if he doesn’t make the opening roster.
The Cubs move comes a week after the Cubs claimed left-hander CD Pelham off waivers from Texas and two weeks after sending $100,000 to the Athletics in a trade for right-hander Jharel Cotton.
Whether they’ll get around to addressing more serious deficits in the outfield and rotation – and to what degree – likely depends on how much salary they can move from a stretched payroll budget.
Meanwhile, the Cubs on Friday also officially announced the hiring reported last month of former A’s assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz as the new vice president for scouting.
The also announced the hiring of amateur scouting analyst Jasmine Horan, who most recently worked last season with the Yankees front office (after two summers interning with the A’s analytics department).
