Cubs Rumors: Free agent target Brooks Raley is off the market
The Chicago Cubs made numerous attempts to sure up their bullpen last season. One such attempt was a trade push for New York Mets southpaw Brooks Raley, who finished the season with a 2.80 ERA and 1.262 WHIP. Raley was a potential free agent target for the Cubbies this winter, but any such dreams just died a swift death.
New York is exercising the $6.5 million club option on Raley's contract, rather than paying the $1.25 million buyout. He will stay with the Mets, which means Chicago will have to look elsewhere for bullpen reinforcements.
Mets will be picking up Brooks Raley’s $6.5M option (and not buying him out for $1.25M). Not a difficult call there.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 3, 2023
Raley appeared in 66 games and pitched 54.2 innings for the Mets last season, picking up three saves. He accrued 61 strikeouts and 25 walks, giving up 17 earned runs. Raley paints the corners with every manner of breaking ball, which leads to a ton of soft contact (95th percentile in average exit velocity, per Baseball Savant) and a decent strikeout rate (68th percentile).
It's not difficult to justify the Mets' decision here. Last season ended in disaster, but it's clear Steve Cohen and new president David Stearns plan to use their deep pockets to rebuild quickly. The Mets have been floated as a contender for several high-caliber free agents. There was no reason to let Raley walk on such an affordable contract. If anything, he's useful trade bait next season if things go south again.
The Cubs would have liked to get in the Raley mix, but New York made the smart call. Chicago will have to change course.