The Cubs should reacquire Pedro Strop

During Pedro Strop’s seven seasons with the Cubs, he put up consistently good numbers. It can be argued — and I did here in 2018 — that he’s one of the best relievers in Cubs franchise history. He had a rough 2019 due to injuries, but pitched well in September.

The Cubs opted to let Strop go to free agency after the 2019 season and he signed a one-year, $1.825 million contract with the Reds.

Things did not go well in Cincinnati. Pedro made four appearances. The first two were decent, the last two not so much, and he hit the injured list August 11 (retroactive to August 8) with a groin strain.

Now, he’s no longer a Red:

Presuming Strop is healthy, the Cubs should absolutely try to reacquire him.

Why?

Strop quickly became one of the best-liked and most popular players in the Cubs clubhouse after he came in trade from the Orioles in 2013. Obviously, popularity isn’t the reason to acquire a player. I have to believe a healthy Strop would be better than some of the guys the Cubs have been running out there in relief roles. Even if that isn’t the case, Strop could report to the alternate training site in South Bend and help mentor the younger pitchers there. I hope that when Pedro’s done playing, the Cubs would bring him back as a coach somewhere in the organization.

The $1.825 million contract pro-rates to about $676,000 for the 60-game season. We’re halfway through that season, so the Cubs would be on the hook for about $338,000 if they took on the entire deal. Even in this season where teams are losing lots of money, the Cubs should be able to afford that. Send over a PTBNL or two and bring Pedro back.

At worst, he can help mentor younger players. At best, maybe he can help out the big-league bullpen.