Bringing back LHP Caleb Thielbar
The Chicago Cubs are bringing back one of their most reliable relievers.
The Cubs have agreed to a deal with veteran left-hander Caleb Thielbar, pending a medical, a source confirmed to the Tribune. Thielbar, who turns 39 in January, is coming off one of his best big league seasons after a disappointing performance with Minnesota in 2024.
Thielbar posted a 2.64 ERA and 147 ERA+ in 67 appearances for the Cubs. Manager Craig Counsell now has two lefty options out of the bullpen with Thielbar and Hoby Milner. The Cubs officially announced the signing of Milner on Tuesday and added veteran right-handed reliever Phil Maton last month.
The organization entered the offseason knowing it would need to sign several relievers, as almost all of its high-leverage arms were becoming free agents, with the exception of right-hander Daniel Palencia.
“It’s the right place to take a volume approach, use our pitchers, believe in guys and guys that can get better and try to develop those guys as well as possible,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of the bullpen last week at MLB’s annual winter meetings. “And so I’d rather put our resources into areas that are probably less volatile, honestly, but at the same time, bullpens are really important.
“Each team has to make their own decisions about how they allocate their resources. … Other teams may choose to put very large blocks (of payroll) in the bullpen, and that’s up to them. I think what I see is more of using those large amounts of money to start pitching or position players.”
The Cubs could have pursued more proven closers who were available in free agency, but clearly feel comfortable diversifying their approach to building a bullpen and finding pitcher profiles that project to perform well and provide a different look to opposing hitters. The National League, however, will feature some tough ninth-inning arms. The Los Angeles Dodgers opted to sign Edwin Díaz after his former team, the New York Mets, signed Devin Williams, while the Atlanta Braves signed two top relievers, Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suárez.
The Cubs have become an attractive destination for pitchers looking for bounce-back seasons or to unlock something and take their repertoire to another level.
“There’s a lot of teams that do a really good job with pitchers, but I feel like we have really good pitchers, and I think we’ve done a good job of getting the best out of guys, so that’s definitely noticed,” Hoyer said. “We’re not alone in this. But when we do Zooms and we talk to different pitchers, I think they’re aware of it.”
