Cubs reportedly sign pitchers Jackson and Villanueva – MLB News
The efforts have paid off. The deal has materialized.
The Chicago Cubs on Thursday, December 20, agreed to terms with the pitchers Edwin Jackson and Carlos Villanueva, adding more strength to the rotation. The reports surfaced on Thursday, and were confirmed by Comcast SportsNet Chicago, CBSSports.com, and
MLB Network simultaneously.
According to Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Jackson and the Cubs have agreed on four-year, $52 million deal. The Cubs were in pursuit of free-agent Jackson for a while, and there were signs that their hunt would bear fruit.
On the other hand, Villanueva is reportedly signed to a two-year $10 million contract. With this, the Cubs now have a number of choices available to them as far as the starters are concerned.
After the Cubs signed Scott Feldman and Scott Baker – and with Matt Garza available there, pursuing two other starters was attributed to the Cubs’ plans to have more pitching depth. Also, importantly, since Garza and Baker come with the recent history of
respective injuries, adding two more arms to the mix seemed inevitable.
Besides that, the Cubs seemed to have enough money available to invest; albeit invest prudently. General manager Jed Hoyer had shed light on this subject before as well.
"We try to think of it as, ultimately, we're investing money, and that's what we're doing in players, and if you can't find a wise investment, hold off and there will be other times to make a wise investment," Hoyer had said.
"You try to be patient, and it's not a s**y thing to talk about, being patient, but I'll feel a lot better about that than making a big splash about somebody you don't feel convicted about. You'll probably regret that move more later than if you're keeping
your power dry and finding a lot more prudent way to spend it."
Spending on the pitchers of this calibre – so it seems, is a prudent move by the Cubs. Signing them will have a huge impact on the Cubs’ rotation and it will be a relatively better and stronger pitching lineup than the one in the past season.
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