The Chicago Cubs have signed right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano to a minor league deal. He’ll earn $4.1 million with $4 million in incentives. The deal comes not long after Soriano fired Scott Boras and hired Octagon Baseball as his agent.
Soriano, 35, was once considered one of the top closers in the game. He has a career record of 22-28 with 340 saves and a 2.85 ERA. It surprising that he was still on the market this late in the season. He has lost velocity on his fastball the past two seasons, but he was still solid during that time.
Chicago bullpen has struggled this season, and currently ranks 20th in the reliever ERA at 3.68. The Cubs hope that Soriano will bring much needed production to the bullpen.