Cubs reportedly sign righty reliever

by Tony Crumpton - Senior Editor - Friday, January 25, 2019, 8:56 PM

The Cubs keep adding bullpen depth this week as veteran righty reliever George Kontos has agreed to a minor league deal which includes an invite to spring training as a non-roster player.

Kontos had a 4.39 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 28 appearances last season.

For his career, he has a 3.10 ERA with 288 strikeouts and 1.15 WHIP.

This is a quality low-risk, high-reward move by Theo Epstein and crew. The Cubs will take a long look at him during spring training and see if he can beat out anyone in the bullpen. If not, that's OK. You can never have enough arms hidden away in the minors to help out with bullpen depth during the season.

Kontos is from Lincolnwood, Illinois, so he was looking forward to moving back closer to home.

Chicago Cubs and reliever George Kontos in agreement on minor league deal. Kontos went to Driveline a Metrics / data driven pitching rehab destination . Kontos picked up 3 MPH while working there .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) January 26, 2019