Through the first three weeks of the offseason we've seen rumblings on both sides with some suggesting that the Chicago Cubs won't be spending too much money in free agency because of the looming work stoppage, while others pointing to a more aggressive approach relative to previous years. Well, the Cubs reportedly signed their first major free agent of the offseason and it's certainly broken a pattern, especially from a Jed Hoyer led front office in Chicago.
Bleacher Nation's Michael Cerami first broke the news on Friday night as the Cubs have agreed to terms on a deal with right-handed reliever Phil Maton. The 32-year-old pitcher split time with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers in 2025, and is coming off the best season of his nine-year MLB career. Maton recorded a 2.79 ERA in 61.1 innings and struck out 81 batters. His 32.7 K% was tied for 15th best among 147 qualified relievers last season.
For his career, Maton has been a decent to good bullpen arm as he's posted a 3.98 ERA in 478 games. Since 2022, Maton has recorded a 3.33 ERA in 257 innings with a 27.0 K% and a ground ball rate of 43 percent.
The way the Cubs have operated for a while and this goes back to the Theo Epstein days is that they simply don't sign free agent relievers to multi-year contracts. And this is why the Maton signing is different because the Cubs are being way more aggressive now as they've reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with the reliever that also includes an option for a third year.
Now, that may not be Earth-shattering news compared to some of the big closer contracts that we'll see, but this is the first time since 2019 that the Cubs have signed a free agent reliever to a deal longer than one year. The last time was Craig Kimbrel, who signed until June.
The Cubs have a lot of work to do to replenish their bullpen, but this was certainly a good start and shows a more aggressive nature, which is hopefully a great sign for what's still ahead.
Maton isn't going to blow hitters away with high velocity and at first when you see his averages you'll be stunned to see that his fastball is only at 90mph. However, Maton throws a cutter and actually increased his velocity two mph from 2024. That's his main weapon, while also mixing in a sinker, slider and curve ball.
He misses bats, doesn't give up hard contact, gets ground balls and has done a great job of keeping the ball inside the ballpark.
The Cubs were reportedly interested in signing Maton the previous two offseasons, but the right-handed reliever ended up with the Tampa Bay Rays and Cardinals instead. Maton has been traded mid-season in each of the past two years.
