Cubs Reportedly Negotiating with Lance Lynn on 1-Year MLB Deal
The Cubs are reportedly going back to the Brownsburg, IN well, but they aren’t hiring me or scouting my son. According to Bob Nightengale, they have entered into negotiations with 37-year-old free agent righty Lance Lynn on a one-year MLB contract. This seemed like a longshot when reports surfaced last week that the Cubs were among teams keeping tabs on Lynn and fellow central Indiana native Kyle Gibson, but perhaps the calculus changed.
Unless Javier Assad‘s oblique injury is much worse than expected or Lynn is willing to sign a 45-day advance-consent form, I can’t figure out how to make sense of this. Said form would allow the Cubs to terminate the contract within 45 days for anything other than injury and pay only the prorated portion for the time the player was employed. Doesn’t sound like something Lynn would be amenable to, but I also didn’t believe the Cubs would have seriously considered signing him in the first place.
Maybe Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins felt the roster was still a little too young and that they didn’t have enough starters who throw 92 mph. Lynn feels sort of like the second coming of John Lackey; he’s a hulking former Cardinal with a gruff demeanor who enjoys his beer and exclaiming loudly after strikeouts. But where does he fit on the roster?
The Cubs already seemed to have decent rotation depth, and those players are all much younger and more dynamic than Lynn. The former Indiana Mr. Baseball said he’s lost 20 pounds since last season, bringing him down to a svelte 260 ell-bees. If eating more salads reduces stress on his knees and back gets him back to his salad days, this could be a good deal. Trouble is, we’re talking about him having to turn back the clock several years.
I actually like the general concept of adding a dude like Lynn to a team that really just needs that grit to serve as a reagent of sorts. As it is, though, I don’t see how Lynn improves this roster. Unless Nightengale is wrong, which is always a possibility, this deal will require a roster spot. My immediate thought is that the Cubs will part ways with Keegan Thompson to clear a spot, with Gavin Hollowell and Tyson Miller likewise at risk of being DFA’d to clear room for Matt Shaw and Brad Keller.
My next thought is that the possibility of a six-man rotation is much more likely than it had been previously. The Cubs are already putting more stress on the pitching staff with the early start to the season, then you figure they can only count on a maximum of 120 innings from Matthew Boyd with very optimistic projections. While he could exceed that mark, it’d be the first time he’s done so since 2019. The lack of stamina and velocity makes for a shaky situation that cries out very loudly for a sixth option.
Should the Cubs opt against using Ben Brown in a starting role, Lynn (92.3 mph) is the hardest thrower in the rotation. Yeah, you read that right. Between Justin Steele (91.6), Shōta Imanaga (91.7), Jameson Taillon (92.3), and Boyd (92), the velo is as pedestrian as it gets. Throwing hard isn’t everything, but the front office appears to be reveling in the notion of creating as little room for margin as possible.
But hey, maybe Lynn absolutely shoves over 30+ starts and 200+ innings and I look like a big dumb-dumb.
