{"id":27874,"date":"2025-01-20T22:21:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T22:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27874"},"modified":"2025-01-20T22:21:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T22:21:50","slug":"cubs-moving-on-to-next-free-agent-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=27874","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Moving on to Next Free Agent Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>After losing out on Tanner Scott to the Los Angeles Dodgers the Chicago Cubs are now moving their attention to free agent closer Carlos Est\u00e9vez.<\/p>\n<p>The Cubs reportedly did go out of their comfort zone when pursuing Scott, who ultimately signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Dodgers. The Cubs, who have not signed a free agent reliever to more than a three-year contract since Craig Kimbrel in 2019, are said to have offered Scott a $66 million deal over four years.<\/p>\n<p>Now that Scott is off to LA, the Cubs are shifting their focus to Est\u00e9vez, the 32-year-old righty who has 57 saves in the past two seasons. MLB Network\u2019s Jon Morosi, who was all over the recent interest by the Cubs in Tanner, reported on Sunday that Est\u00e9vez is on the Cubs\u2019 radar.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<p>Carlos Est\u00e9vez\u2019s free agent market is intensifying, following the Tanner Scott and A.J. Minter signings in recent days.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays and Cubs \u2014 both of whom had interest in Scott \u2014 are among several teams pursuing Est\u00e9vez.@MLBNetwork<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 19, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Est\u00e9vez began his MLB career with the Colorado Rockies, pitching for the NL West club from 2016-22. The right-hander has found recent success, posting a 3.22 ERA from 2023-24.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, Est\u00e9vez recorded a 2.45 ERA in 54 games between his time with the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies. He lowered his walk rate, which was at 11% in 2023 and sits at 9% during his career to 5.7%, which is good to see. However, the strikeout rate also decreased, as Est\u00e9vez ended the season with a 23.6 K%.<\/p>\n<p>There should be no issue fitting Est\u00e9vez into the Cubs\u2019 payroll in 2025. He was projected to sign a three-year, $27 million deal by MLBTR and Fangraphs also estimated a $9 million salary for Est\u00e9vez at the start of free agency.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div>\n<p data-video_id=\"vZlcSvlH2dY\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Carlos Estevez 2024 Highlights!\" src=\"about:blank\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vZlcSvlH2dY?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Besides Est\u00e9vez, the Cubs have also had interest in veteran closers Kirby Yates and Kyle Finnegan this offseason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After losing out on top free agent closer Tanner Scott the Cubs are now moving on to their next offseason target.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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