Cubs catostophic free agent singings may not be so bad after all

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While Theo Epstein will be most remembered as the man who helped end the Cubs 108 year championship drought, a subplot to his Cubs legacy has been developing:.  missing on high dollar free agency signings.  Theo has taken a lot of heat for the signings of Jason Heyward, Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood and understandably so.  But things show signs of changing recently.  Those three have actually been contributing to the Cubs recent success.  I’ll start with Jason Heyward.

Is Jason Heyward more than a great motivational speaker?

I didn’t particularly like the signing initially.  I didn’t see the need for it and was afraid it would hamstring the Cubs down the road.  Heyward’s WARs for 2016-2018 are 1.3, 2.2 and 1.6.  Those numbers just don’t justify his contract.  Defense has been Jason’s calling card but last season his defensive WAR was only 0.1.  That was a clear regression.  This year his defensive WAR is a -0.4.  That will probably progress to mean.  Thankfully Heyward’s offensive WAR is 0.9 and his overall WAR is 0.6.  He actually looks hitterish.

Heyward’s home run totals from 2016-18 are 7-11-8.  So far in 2019 he’s hit five.  His OPS is currently 952.  His previous high in that category was .731 in 2018.  Heyward is signed through 2023.  It still looks like Heyward will be a bad signing, but bad is an upgrade from catastrophic.  

Is Darvish making a Yu turn?

Darvish is in the second year of a six year contract.  The bad news is he’s made one quality start in one plus seasons with the Cubs.  The good news is it was his last start.  Darvish does indeed seem to be getting better.  His stuff is electric.  He’s averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.  His command has been lacking.  He’s averaging 6.9 walks per nine innings.  Yu has actually won two games this season, establishing a new high with the Cubs.  I suspect he’ll actually help the Cubs this season.

 Is Chatwood no longer a millstone around the Cubs neck?

Tyler Chatwood has been the butt of many a joke (many of them mine) since signing with the Cubs.  To Chatwood’s credit, he took the ball when asked and filled whatever assignment the Cubs gave him.  He still needed a GPS to find the plate.  And then came last Sunday, April 21.  Suddenly the reasons the Cubs signed Chatwood came into focus.

Chatwood went six scoreless innings in a Cubs 2-1 win.  Tyler came on and pitched a scoreless inning Friday in a Cubs loss.  Then came last Sunday.  Chatwood came on and gave the Cubs 1.1 scoreless innings of extremely high leverage relief.  He also doubled to key the Cubs winning rally.  For the season, Chatwood has pitched 14 innings and walked 10.  That’s really ugly.  But the thing about it is he walked “only” three in his last 7.1 innings.

It may not be Carl Crawford 2.0 after all.

Tyler is signed through the 2020 season.  While it may not ultimately be a great signing it could eventually be at least useful.  It might be that the signing of Heyward, Darvish and Chatwood may not be such a great strain on Theo’s Cubs legacy after all.