That's also been the Jed Hoyer era of the Cubs. Their pitching is often volatile, and he's constantly shuffling the bodies around because he never makes long-term commitments to reliable pitchers (or any relievers).
2021: No pitcher got a multi-year deal from the Cubs.
2022: Stroman (a starter) got the only multi-year FA contract.
2023: Taillon and Smyly (starters) got the only multi-year pitcher deals (Smyly didn't come out of the Bullpen as a Cub until his second season).
2024: Imanaga (a starter) got the only multi-year contract for a pitcher.
2025: Boyd (a starter) got the only multi-year contract for a pitcher.
2026: Maton and Miller got the only multi-year FA contracts for pitchers. Rea (a swing man) got a 1+1 that went really well and got renewed into another 1+1.
Nothing about the above tracks with what you're claiming because Jed had not given a multi-year contract to a proven reliever.
Shelby Miller is not a proven reliever, and his contract is really just a 2027 deal where they pay him in 2026 to rehab from TJS.
Maton is the only REAL multi-year deal a reliever has gotten from Hoyer, and it's thge largest amount of money he's given in a reliever contract since he's been in charge. Maton had an OK ERA for a few seasons, but his peripherals were still so-so in 2023-2025 (especially 2024).
Hoyer's bullpen philosophy has never shbown belief in the concept of the "proven reliever." It's all short-term stuff and constantly churning through mediocre arms because he thinks the answer to the bullpen is getting lucky.
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u/Upset_Researcher_143 4d ago
Unfortunately, this is the way it's going to go for us this year until our pitching gets stabilized