The Chicago Cubs are enjoying some great returns from several offseason moves, but one trade addition has been a disappointment.
The team has the third-most wins in Major League Baseball and a comfortable lead in the National League Central division thanks to a trade that brought in Kyle Tucker, the free agent signing of Matthew Boyd, the promotion of Matt Shaw and more.
But after trading for two-time All-Star closer Ryan Pressly, the Cubs haven’t been able to trust him in a high-leverage relief role. He’s been hit for a 4.71 ERA so far this season with only four saves in 21 innings so far.
It’s becoming clear in Chicago that there was a reason the Houston Astro were willing to part with him.
“Chicago’s hope was that the 13-year major leaguer could turn things around, fueled by this new opportunity with a new team and by the fact that he’d be heading into his contract year, looking for lucrative closer money as a free agent in 2026,” Paul Magno wrote for Chi City Sports. “Things haven’t panned out as anyone had hoped, except for, maybe, the Astros.”
The results have been so disappointing for the Cubs that Magno expects the team to part ways with Pressly in the final vesting year of a two-year, $30 million deal he signed with the Astros.
“It’s hard to see a scenario where the veteran keeps his role as superfluous and often shaky one-inning reliever in an ever-improving bullpen on a team with deep playoff aspirations,” he wrote. “By the trade deadline, at the very latest, the Cubs will have likely moved on from Pressly. That decision, though, could come even sooner.”
