It’s looking more and more like the Cubs are going to re-sign former star pitcher Jake Arrieta to a one-year deal, somewhere between $6-7 million a year. Arrieta has spent the last three years playing in Philadelphia, which is not exactly conducive for a pitcher’s health.
Still, Arietta is not the same pitcher he was when he left the Cubs at the end of the 2017 season. His velocity has declined on most of his pitches. Although, the quality of the changeup has improved. Arrieta’s time in Philadelphia was pretty uneven. His first year there in 2018, he put up a 3.86 ERA which is actually pretty good considering that not much stays in the ballpark there. The next two years were not kind and it’s not worth going into ERAs of near five and over.
On the surface, I’m not a big fan of the signing even though I was a huge fan of Arrieta from 2014 through 2017. In the World Series, I thought he was the unsung hero of keeping the Cubs in the series. He also threw 2 no-hitters and had one of the most dominant runs in MLB history in the second half of 2015 through the All-Star break of 2016.
For the Cubs to sign Arrieta, they must think that they can make him into a dependable starter. I’m wondering if he’s going to be competing for a starting spot or he’s already been given one? If this is a nostalgia/farewell trip, I’m just not into that. If they can build around his change up and use the pitch lab to generate either some different movement via different grips, then I’m all for making him into a new type of pitcher who relies on movement and location.
I would hate to see him come back and just get shelled every five or six games. That would not be good for anyone.
Cubs Central 
[…] Cubs continued to make mostly small moves (aside from Jake Arrieta) this week including adding OF Jake Marisnick, who should be a nice addition to the bench as he can […]
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