The Cubs have positioned veteran reliever Drew Smyly on waivers, reviews Bob Nightengale of USA Right this moment (X hyperlink). Smyly has not been designated for project and might proceed to play for Chicago pending decision of the waiver course of. The position is irrevocable, nonetheless, so Smyly would land with one other crew within the subsequent two days if anybody locations a declare.
In conditions like this, the crew is hoping that the participant can be claimed to dump the wage. That’d be a giant ask on this case. Smyly is enjoying on a $10.5MM wage. There’s round $1.9MM remaining. The deal additionally features a $2.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual possibility for subsequent season. A claiming crew would want to imagine the whole lot of that sum. It quantities to just about $4.5MM for one month plus potential playoff work of Smyly’s providers.
The 35-year-old southpaw has turned in stable leads to his first full season as a reliever. Smyly carries a 2.84 ERA over 50 2/3 frames. His 20.4% strikeout charge and 10.8% swinging strike proportion are pedestrian, however he has stored left-handed hitters to a .226/.293/.310 slash in 92 plate appearances.
There’s not a lot draw back for the Cubs in gauging if a contender is keen to tackle Smyly’s cash to strengthen their lefty reduction group. Chicago is 5.5 video games out of a Wild Card spot with 4 groups to surpass. They’re a postseason lengthy shot. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer confirmed final week that the crew is on tempo to exceed the $237MM luxurious tax threshold (hyperlink through Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic). It’s not clear how far over the edge they’re, however RosterResource’s unofficial estimate of the crew’s payroll has them lower than $500K above the road. If they might shed what stays of Smyly’s wage, it’s attainable that will suffice to get beneath the CBT mark.
If Smyly goes unclaimed, the Cubs can hold him within the bullpen for the rest of the season. They don’t must launch him or try to outright him to the minor leagues.
