The Cubs announced on Thursday afternoon that they have exercised the 2019 team option for right-handed reliever Pedro Strop.
Strop will make $6.25 million in a move that was considered a no-brainer heading into the winter.
Earlier this year, Cubs' President Theo Epstein was complimentary of Strop, who turned 33 in June and enjoyed a "breakout" season of sorts (even though he's been fantastic since putting on a Cubs uniform in the middle of the 2013 campaign) that ended in one of the most gutsy performances in recent memory while pitching through "severe pain" in the NL Wild-Card Game.