Chicago Cubs Rumors: What will become of Cubs’ 2018 acquisitions?

Brandon Kintzler

Injuries and poor performance were the headlines swirling around the Cubs bullpen during the 2018 season. The team was expected to acquire at least one top-level reliever at the deadline.

It turned out that Brandon Kintzler was the only bullpen arm they would trade for when the team acquired him from the Nationals. The Cubs only gave up a low-level reliever in the trade and got some help in middle relief in Kintzler.

There were a lot of rumors around why the Nationals traded Kintzler even though team officials said they wouldn’t be selling at the deadline. Word around baseball was that Kintzler was the player that leaked stories about negative experiences in the Nationals clubhouse.

While that report has never been proven, many Cubs fans were worried that Kintzler would impact team chemistry negatively. That didn’t appear to be the case, but he didn’t exactly shine down the stretch. He ended up with a 7.00 ERA at the end of the season.

Kintzler has a team option on his contract for $10 million, and I would be shocked if the Cubs picked that up. The team is obviously still in the market for bullpen insurance after closer Brandon Morrow went down for the season with an injury last year.

There is definitely a chance that Kintzler will be on the roster next season. If the Cubs decline his team option, it converts into a $5 million player option that Kintzler could accept to stay with the team.

While the reliever may try and get more than just $5 million in free agency, there’s a chance he plays it safe and sees if he can perform better in a true contract year. Kintzler would be a nice piece to have for cheap, but he’s the least valuable of these three acquisitions in my opinion.