In the comments to my Saturday article suggesting the Cubs put the band back together and re-sign Andrew Chafin and Ryan Tepera, several people suggested trying to find the “next” Chafin or Tepera, rather than paying the money to bring those two back.
With that in mind, I set out to find free-agent relievers who might fit in that category. The criteria I used:
- The pitcher must be around 30 (or younger, if possible)
- The pitcher should have a good 95+ fastball (since the Cubs don’t have a lot of guys like that), and
- The pitcher must have had at least some MLB success.