Chicago Cubs Decline 2017 Option on Jason Hammel
By Tim Haberin
The Chicago Cubs have turned down their option on Jason Hammel for the 2017 season, making the veteran starting pitcher a free agent.
The Chicago Cubs have declined their $12 million option on starting pitcher Jason Hammel for 2017, the club announced. The right-hander will receive a $2 million buyout. Team president Theo Epstein thanked Hammel for his contributions to the franchise in a statement:
"“He was an effective, reliable starter the entire time he was a Cub, and this year he was an integral part of one of the best rotations in club history. We would not have been in a position to win the World Series without Jason’s terrific performance during the regular season.”"
The 34-year-old Hammel won 15 games for the Cubs this season with a 3.83 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 2.72 K/BB ratio. While he was by no means one of the team’s better starters, he did manage to provide 166.2 innings of slightly above average performance (105 ERA+). That was certainly acceptable for a back-end rotation arm.
This season was quite representative of the pitcher Hammel has been in recent years. Since 2012, he has posted a 3.88 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 3.01 K/BB for the Orioles, A’s and Cubs. He has also logged at least 150 innings each of the last three years.
Hammel didn’t appear for the Cubs during the postseason, partly because he experienced some elbow tightness in September, and also because they simply had plenty of better options in Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and company.
Epstein further explained that the organization’s decision to let Hammel go had more to do with assessing their other options than an indictment of his form on the mound:
"“While Jason is healthy and primed to have another effective season in 2017, we have decided to consider other internal and external options for our starting rotation next year. Our hope is that by giving a starting opportunity to some younger pitchers under multiple years of club control, we can unearth a starter who will help us not only in 2017 but also in 2018 and beyond.”"
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone; a desire to cultivate young, cost-controlled talent is very much in line with the Epstein philosophy of team-building. One of the pitchers who could benefit and receive more opportunities moving forward is 27-year-old Mike Montgomery. The lefty put up a 2.82 ERA over 17 appearances (five starts) after coming over from the Mariners in a trade. He tossed 4.2 frames of one-run ball in the World Series as well. Montgomery is not eligible for free agency until after the 2021 campaign.
In any case, the Cubs will likely be able to identify a satisfactory number-five starter, and they’ll save $10 million to spend elsewhere in the process.
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From Hammel’s point of view, he will suddenly become one of the more intriguing names on a very sparse starting pitching free agent market. Considering the way that average hurlers are sure to be overvalued, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him nab a decent deal for himself as a 15-game winner with a sub-4.00 ERA.