So long to a legend: Chicago Cubs cut ties with Schwarber
Theo Epstein exited the Cubs as president of baseball operations on Nov. 17 with a World Series ring and a parting message.
“The organization faces a number of decisions this winter that carry long-term consequences,” Epstein said. “Those types of decisions are best made by someone who will be here for a long period, rather than just one more year. Jed (Hoyer) has earned this opportunity and is absolutely the right person to take over this baseball operation at such an important time.”
Hoyer, who replaced Epstein after spending the last nine years as the Cubs' general manager, made his first series of difficult roster decisions.
Right before Wednesday night's deadline to offer salary arbitration to eligible players, the Cubs announced Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ and Victor Caratini were their five arbitration-eligible players offered contracts.
That was expected news.
Kyle Schwarber was the wild card, and he was one of four players Hoyer and the Cubs opted to non-tender. Along with Albert Almora Jr., Jose Martinez and Ryan Tepera, Schwarber is now a free agent.
Every major-league team has poignant parting words for popular non-tendered players like Schwarber. The Cubs are no different.
“He's a Cubs legend, no question about that,” Hoyer said. “We'll definitely keep the door open. We'll continue to talk about ways to bring him back.”
While he'll never have to buy a beverage in Wrigleyville after hitting 5 home runs in the 2015 playoffs and coming off the couch and helping the Cubs win the World Series the following year, Schwarber was an obvious candidate to be non-tendered for two reasons.
First, the left fielder's offensive production has been noticeably slipping.
The 27-year-old Schwarber hit .188/.308/.393 with 11 home runs and 24 RBI over 59 games this season while tying for seventh in the National League with 66 strikeouts.
Schwarber did hit 64 home runs and had 153 RBI in 2018-19, but he batted .245 and struck out 296 times in 1,120 plate appearances.
After tearing up his knee early in the 2016 season before coming back and going 7-for-17 in the World Series, Schwarber was a combined 3-for-22 in the Cubs' last three playoff appearances, all first-round losses.
Second, Schwarber was in line to earn around $8 million next season if the Cubs offered salary arbitration. For a team looking to slash payroll even after making fans pay more for TV games by launching Marquee Sports Network, that was an obvious factor.
Almora's bat has also cooled in recent years, and he was non-tendered after hitting .167/.265/.200 with 1 RBI in 28 games this season.
“On the offensive side, I think we want to look and feel and perform differently than we have the last two years,” Hoyer said after taking over for Epstein. “The thing we're trying to figure out is why we struggle offensively given the players we have, so yeah, I think the offense will look different next year.”
The Cubs did agree to terms on 2021 contracts with Colin Rea, Dan Winkler and Kyle Ryan, avoiding salary arbitration with all three pitchers.
They also claimed Robert Stock off waivers from the Red Sox. In 10 relief appearances for Boston last season, the right-hander was 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13⅓ innings.