Cubs: Is Zack Wheeler a realistic option in free agency?

With Cole Hamels departing via free agency, the Chicago Cubs have an opening in their rotation. Might they look at Zack Wheeler in free agency?

Tight on budget this offseason, the Chicago Cubs will have to make their free-agent signings count. That being said, there’s no greater value than a starting pitcher in the rotation, especially one that features an aging Jon Lester and an up and down, Jose Quintana. Yu Darvish showed what he can do when healthy last year, particularly in the second half and should be a front-runner to be the team’s ace heading into 2020.

Another player that was finally able to stay healthy is Met’s starting pitcher, Zack Wheeler. The former sixth overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft was drafted by the San Francisco Giants but was sent to New York in exchange for Carlos Beltran during the 2011 season. Wheeler, 29, missed all of the 2016 and 2017 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery but posted a very nice 2018 season in which he had a 3.31 ERA in 29 starts.

He was able to follow that up with a 3.96 ERA in 31 starts this past season. Wheeler tossed 195.1 innings with 195 strikeouts and just 50 free passes. He’s displayed a great four-seam fastball that rode up in the high 90’s and produced an opponents’ slugging percentage of just 0.336 last year. He made $1.9 million in 2018, $5.9 million last year, and is projected to receive north of $23 million per year in free agency. That number seems a bit inflated as he’d be earning more than both Lester and Darvish per year.

Still, the Cubs need a fifth starter and I use that term loosely because Wheeler is anything but. The Cubs could definitely look within their organization for options in Adbert Alzolay, Tyler Chatwood, and/or Alec Mills but I’m not sure if anyone is excited by the prospect of that happening. Wheeler appears to be past his injury issues but the threat of those returning will always be there.

Luckily for the Cubs, Wheeler is not represented by Scott Boras so they should be able to sign him to a four-year deal under his projected value but he’s definitely not going to be cheap. With Quintana and Lester off the books after the 2020 season, the Cubs will need to have the next wave of pitchers to carry the team. Wheeler could be one of those guys for the next four seasons.