Remember that time we let ourselves believe that Drew Smyly was going to be the secret weapon for Joe Maddon out of the Cubs bullpen heading into the postseason in 2018? OK, maybe you didn't think that, but some fans did and well that's the fondest memory of the Smyly era with the Cubs.
On Friday, the Cubs officially picked up Cole Hamels' 2019 option worth $20 million. At the same time the Cubs also traded Smyly to the Rangers.
So, those moves are official, but we'll still find out the players to be named later, well, later. This was really a solid trade for everyone involved. The Cubs bring back Hamels to at this point be the number five starter in 2019. Not bad at all. The team also sheds $7 million off their payroll from Smyly's deal and Smyly actually gets a good shot to earn $6 million more in incentives with the Rangers. There simply wasn't enough room on the Cubs' roster for Smyly to crack the rotation to reach those incentive goals. Plus, the Rangers get a solid asset in Smyly, who if he comes back strong from Tommy John surgery, could potentially provide them with a trade piece in the summer. The alternative was the Rangers having to take on the $6 million buyout of Hamels and get nothing, while Hamels and the Cubs could have worked out a separate deal. Where does this leave the Cubs now in terms of payroll? Well, with Hamels and his $20 million on the books for 2019, the Cubs will definitely go beyond the second tier of the luxury tax penalty, but will they go beyond tier three?
It's pretty safe to say that Cubs fans have been looking forward to this offseason because the expectation has been that the front office would be aggressive going after Bryce Harper, or Manny Machado. I still expect them to, but it might take a few more trades to get that done. That's going to be tough, considering the big contracts you'd prefer to move, like Tyler Chatwood's $25 million over the next two seasons, isn't something that other teams will be attracted to. But again, I'll stay optimistic. I won't accept the Cubs being passive this offseason regardless of how tight the money appears to be. For now, let's enjoy the official return of Hollywood!
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