The Cubs have begun to fill out their bullpen. And right-hander Brad Boxberger’s signing follows a pattern the Cubs are expected to embrace again this offseason.
Boxberger and the Cubs have agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million contract, a source confirmed Thursday. Boxberger, 34, posted a 2.95 ERA with the Brewers last season.
Boxberger has closing experience, and with the Rays in 2015 led the American League in saves (41). But he battled injuries the next couple years, limiting him to 57 appearances in the 2016 and 2017 seasons combined.
He’s found consistency in the past couple years in Milwaukee, playing 70-plus games each season while logging five saves and a 3.15 ERA.
Boxberger adds a veteran presence to a Cubs bullpen that lost just that at the trade deadline last year. That loss was part of a cycle the Cubs have found success with in recent years.
The Cubs fill out their bullpen with veteran relievers on short-term deals, relying on the club’s pitching infrastructure to get the most out of at least a handful of them. Then, at the trade deadline the last two years, the Cubs have traded those experienced back-end relievers to teams in the playoff hunt. The Cubs receive prospects or young major-leaguers, and the veteran relievers use their time in Chicago as a springboard.
Right-handers Chris Martin and David Robertson were both on that plan this past year, pitched in the playoffs with the Dodgers and Phillies, respectively, and then signed more lucrative deals this winter.
Whenever the Cubs return to playoff contention, they can hold onto those relievers in the second half and reap the benefits of their first-half progress down the stretch and into October.
