Cubs reportedly sign righty reliever |
| - - Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 5:05 PM |
The Chicago Cubs have signed former Seattle Mariners reliever Shae Simmons to a minor league contract with a spring training invite according to multiple reports.
Simmons is another very low-risk, high reward player as the Cubs will stash him in Triple-A if he doesn't make the ballclub out of Spring Training. You literally can't have enough bullpen depth during a long major league season.
If Simmons makes the major leagues, his deal is worth $750,000 while a minor league season will be worth only $120,000. The transaction will not be official until he passes his physical with the Cubs.
The 27-year old righty had a 7.04 ERA with eight strikeouts, and 1.04 WHIP last season as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery that he had in 2015. For his short MLB career, he has a 3.50 ERA with a save, 34 strikeouts, and 1.11 WHIP. He had an excellent 2014 season going 1-2 with 2.91 ERA (3.13 FIP) with an impressive 25.8% strikeout rate in 26 appearances.
The Atlanta Braves drafted him in the 22nd round of the 2012 MLB draft out of Southeast Missouri State University.
