Chicago Cubs sign RHP Marcus Stroman to three-year contract

Update 7:28pm: The terms of the deal have been updated via Jeff Passan, and it will be a three-year deal worth $71 million.

The Chicago Cubs proved on Wednesday that a looming lockout wasn’t going to keep them from bolstering their roster. After adding veteran catcher Yan Gomes, and outfielder Clint Frazier to the team on Tuesday, they’ve made one more big move on Wednesday evening with the signing of starting pitcher Marcus Stroman.

While rumors began to pick up speed, it was actually Stroman himself who broke the news of the deal.

At present, the terms of the deal are not known, but we’ll provide an update once they are released.

Stroman, who is currently 30, spent the bulk of his career in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, before heading to the New York Mets in 2019. He’s a career 3.63 ERA pitcher, with a 3.62 FIP, 1.266 WHIP, and has a career 19.2 fWAR.

In terms of pitching, Stroman had a nice mix of five pitches, primarily favoring his fastball, which can reach the low nineties. He frequently works with a slider, a cutter, and a changeup, all ranging from the mid-80s to the low 90s, and will very occasionally bring in a low-80s curveball, but has used the curve a lot less frequently in the last year, while moving more towards using his changeup.

Stroman is a dynamic and exciting pitcher who will bring a lot of excitement to the Cubs' rotation, and his signing is certainly a good indication the Cubs plan to stay in the chase. We previously discussed why the Cubs should look at signing Stroman, back when it seemed like more of a fever dream.

In a fun bit of trivia, if Stroman opts to keep his current jersey number of 0, he will become the first Cub to ever don that number. And Stroman himself offered one more interesting fact:

We’re sure he’ll get used to the Friendly Confines in no time.