Chicago Cubs Should Kick Tires On Former Giants Starter in Free Agency
The Chicago Cubs are searching for rotational help after losing Marcus Stroman to free agency following his surprising opt-out after the season.
What possessed Stroman to opt-out of the final year of his three-year, $71 million and forgo his $21 million salary is beyond me considering his historic regression in the second half of 2023. But now the Cubs will have to look for options to replace innings.
Currently, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks are expected to head up the rotation. Steele was a Cy Young candidate, Hendricks was a nice surprise in his return and Taillon has proven to be a dud in the first year of his contract.
While the pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Blake Snell may end in success, perhaps one under-the-radar move would be for former San Francisco Giants starter Sean Manaea.
The 31-year-old has shown glimpses of great quality, his 2018 season with the Oakland Athletics highlighted his ceiling when he produced a 3.59 ERA in 160.2 innings pitched.
Since then, he has failed to recapture that success, but has still put together respectable campaigns if viewed as a back of the rotation starter.
Last season, Manaea threw 117.2 innings for the Giants and posted a 4.44 ERA. Much of those innings were out of the bullpen but he did get some rotation work in September.
Chicago has shown that they can bring players in who once found success, fell off the map, and bring them back to life. The prime example is Cody Bellinger in 2023.
Manaea would be a cheap option to bring on and could help log and eat innings. He is a veteran starter, but the ceiling is still there that he could end up being a productive member of the rotation. Perhaps even more so than Taillon.
It's worth a gamble in this case.
