If you had the Chicago Cubs as the team reliever Rafael Soriano would sign with in your office pool, congratulations. (Some office out there was running such a pool, right?) As first reported by the Washington Post‘s James Wagner on Tuesday, the 35-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Cubs with a base salary of $4.1 million and an opportunity to double that total with contract incentives.
Rafael Soriano has a minor league with Cubs. It’s for $4.1M prorated base with up to $4M in bonuses for games finished & appearances.
— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) June 9, 2015
Soriano was still inexplicably available to be signed as a free agent, despite the constant need throughout MLB for late-inning relievers and a frequent desire for experienced closers. Last season with the Nationals, the right-hander notched 32 saves in 39 opportunities with 59 strikeouts in 62 innings. During the past three seasons, he averaged 65 innings and 39 saves while striking out eight batters per nine frames.
However, Soriano did have a rough second half of 2014, compiling a 6.48 ERA with 32 hits allowed in 25 innings. There seemed to be no noticeable decline in his velocity, yet opposing batters were teeing off on him, forcing Nats manager Matt Williams to replace Soriano with Drew Storen in the closer role. Between that performance and Soriano’s reported contract demands (the Nats declined his $14 million option for 2015, which he was presumably seeking to recoup in free agency), general managers weren’t interested until they absolutely had to be.
Evidently, the lack of interest frustrated Soriano to the point that he believed agent Scott Boras might be the problem. So the reliever fired Boras a couple of weeks ago, hoping it bettered his chances to pitch this season, rather than sit the year out. Would Boras have settled for the terms Soriano agreed to with the Cubs? It doesn’t seem likely, given that Soriano’s last two free agent deals were for $28 million and $35 million, respectively. But Soriano now has a job with a MLB team, something he hasn’t had since last October.
Two months into the season, MLB teams have a better idea of what their bullpens look like, who’s performing and who isn’t, and how they might upgrade. Soriano was an extremely appealing addition just waiting to be made, and at least three clubs were showing heavy interest. Our Liam McGuire made the case for the Blue Jays, but the Cardinals and Cubs were also in pursuit.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 05: Rafael Soriano #29 of the Washington Nationals adjusts his cap on the mound during the ninth inning, when he allowed the Philadelphia Phillies three runs to tie the game in an eventual 9-8 Phillies win in extra innings at Nationals Park on September 5, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)
Soriano almost certainly will take over as the Cubs closer. The team’s 3.68 bullpen ERA ranks 10th among NL teams, allowing a .238 batting average and .698 OPS to opposing batters. Cubs relievers have also blown eight saves, though that’s not always an indictment of a closer’s ability to finish games. Hector Rondon had been the ninth-inning man for most of the season, racking up 10 saves in 13 opportunities with a 2.96 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 24.1 innings. But manager Joe Maddon has also been using Pedro Strop and Jason Motte in the closer role recently.
Maddon is certainly familiar with Soriano, which may have been why the Cubs made the hard push for him. During his one season pitching for Maddon with the Tampa Bay Rays, Soriano compiled an AL-best 45 saves in 48 opportunities along with a 1.73 ERA. He’s also been the closer for the Braves and Yankees during his 13-year MLB career.
“The thing I always talked about with him as a closer was he was a guy that didn’t just throw the ball 100 mph,” Maddon told reporters when asked about Soriano last week. “He and I used to have a lot of conversations about how we attack certain hitters in a game, because he really sees things. He’d be in the bullpen, and he watches really well, and he’s got definite ideas on how to get out hitters. I’ve always appreciated his pitch-ability.”
However, if Soriano takes over ninth-inning duties for the Cubs, it won’t happen immediately. He’ll need time to get ready for facing hitters and pitching major league innings again. Even though Soriano has presumably stayed in shape while waiting for a team to call, the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Gordon Wittenmyer reports that the reliever will likely join the Cubs’ bullpen around July 1.
