Chicago Cubs: 3 trades to help bolster bullpen
By Ryan Heckman
1. Ian Kennedy, Kansas City Royals
One player the Cubs could opt to look at acquiring is someone they are recently familiar with. Ian Kennedy pitched in two of the four games against the Cubs last week and gave up four hits over 1.2 innings pitched, including a home run.
The 35-year-old Kennedy has been in the Majors for quite some time, dating all the way back to 2007. In those 14 seasons, Kennedy has pitched for four teams — which is quite impressive, considering the constant movement around the MLB when it comes to relief pitching.
Up until the 2019 season, Kennedy was a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and currently the Royals. However, back in 2019, Kennedy’s role was relegated to the bullpen.
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In 2019 during his first role as a reliever, Kennedy appeared in 63 games and made 30 saves. His ERA was a fairly modest 3.41, which is below his career average of 4.10. He is a little on the expensive side, so if the Cubs were to target Kennedy in a trade, Kansas City would likely have to eat some of the money to make it work.
But, if they did make it work, Kennedy would be a respectable addition to the Cubs’ pen — much better than some of the guys they currently have.