Cubs News: Epstein on possibly signing Jake Arrieta |
The Chicago Cubs are still looking for one more starting pitcher in free agency this season. Fan favorite
Jake Arrieta is still out there for the North Siders and reportedly has a four-year deal worth over $110 million to come back to Chicago.
“We have never ruled anything out with him,” Theo Epstein said at Cubs Convention on Friday night. “He earned the right to be a free agent. He gets the ability to talk with 30 teams. I am sure he has a number of suitors and this is a special time for him. He will take his time and find the right contract and right place. We wish him well. It is not that we have closed the door to him at all. We will just see where this offseason takes us.” Epstein thinks that Arrieta's agent Scott Boras would love his client's return to the Windy City. “I haven’t heard anything from Scott that he wouldn’t want to return if the deal was right,” Epstein said. “I am sure the door is open on both sides." In 2017, Arrieta had a 14-10 record with 3.53 ERA, 163 strikeouts, and 1.22 WHIP Epstein knows that this has been a very slow free-agent market and has been doing his due diligence. “Sometimes you just have to play along with the pace of play,” Epstein said of the sluggish free-agent market. “We are still working hard on a few different things. Our team is not done and we will keep working at it. We hope things work out well for the Cubs and well for the players as well. We are not really close right now. I am done predicting this offseason. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
