It’s finally over.
Jake Arrieta’s return to the Cubs was anything but a feel-good story, and after another embarrassing showing against the Brewers on Wednesday, the team placed him on unconditional release waivers, effectively ending his time in Chicago.
“After the game last night, Rossy and I sat down and talked to him,” president Jed Hoyer said. “Obviously, he was struggling. Not getting deep into starts and we’d sort of been patient and tried to get through it and hopefully he’d come out on the other side and pitch better, but we weren’t there.”
“Thought it was the right thing to do for him. If he can catch on somewhere, maybe a change of scenery would help him. For us, it just seemed like the right time.”
Arrieta was signed by the Cubs during the offseason with the hopes of reinventing the 2015 NL Cy Young winner, and with a 2.57 ERA over his first five starts in April it appeared things would end well. But that was the last of Arrieta’s successes this season.
The right-hander had just one start after May 1 in which he reached the sixth inning and sported a 8.35 ERA over that span. Things had gotten progressively worse as the season went along and over his last five starts, Arrieta was averaging less than four innings per start with a 14.09 ERA.
The writing was on the wall over the last three months of what needed to be done and even with his struggles making it harder to answer for each time out, the Cubs did everything they could to not make this the final outcome. Even going to a six-man rotation after the arrival of left-hander Justin Steele to keep Arrieta in the mix.
Whether it was the boos coming from the fans at Wrigley, the look of disbelief on his face or a harsh reality setting in, Wednesday’s start felt like the end and as it turned out, it was.
“It was a simple conversation,” manager David Ross said Thursday.
Arrieta didn’t have any answers for why things had gone poorly in his second go-round in Chicago. And there may not be a more fitting end to Arrieta’s season with the Cubs than his final press conference on Wednesday, giving a brief answer before walking out.
“I’ve got nothing for you, man,” he said. “I’m doing the best I can.”
That was exactly the problem. Performances like the one Arrieta gave in what turned out to be his final game in a Cubs uniform were his best. The Cubs finally decided that his best wasn’t good enough.
Arrieta’s release is a sad end to a chapter for one of the franchise’s most iconic players. While the season began with hope of what could have been a successful reunion, it ended with a disappointing conclusion.
“When you look at what the apex of his career was here, you could argue that he had as much influence in that or as much to do with that as any single player,” Hoyer said.
“It just stinks,” Ross said.”I try to forget stuff like last night. Looking at his numbers on the board, what he’s done for this organization, how consistent he’s been with the time I was on his team in ‘15 and ‘16. Those are the things I’m holding on to.”
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