THE PEN

The Tribune believes the Cubs have settled their bullpen issues.

With the promotion of lefty Phil Coke, his $2.25 million contract was added to the 40-man roster was a foregone conclusion, especially have he had not allowed a run in 9 IP.  Coke, 32, will be the only lefty reliever in the pen. That will lessen some of the options for manager Joe Maddon.

The 2015 bullpen is pretty much the same as last seasons, except with the addition of veterans Coke and former Cardinal Jason Motte. Motte has had a weak spring, so the Cubs are still looking at him as potential "closer insurance."

Closer: Hector Rondon
Set Up: Pedro Strop
8th Inning: Jason Motte, Neil Ramirez
Long relievers: Justin Grimm, Edwin Jackson
Lefty: Phil Coke

It appears the Cubs will be stuck with Jackson in some role. He did have his best spring outing, a one hit game against the scrub Royals. It was reported that Ricketts had authorized Theo Epstein to get rid of Jackson in trade and eating half the $26 million left on the contract. But there is little to no interest with Jackson for $6.5 million for a marginal fifth starter/long reliever.

Jackson has never been a troublemaker in the clubhouse, but he has never recently been demoted to the pen. He wants to be a starter. He believes he is a starter. Whether he accepts the role is an important aspect of Maddon keeping his first Cub clubhouse in proper balance. We know that during the course of the season pitchers will be get hurt, and the team will need three, four or five additional starters.

A few speculate that Maddon, always looking to find clever tweaks in the game like batting the pitcher in the 8th spot of the lineup, could have a 5.5 man rotation where Travis Wood and Jackson would alternate starts or possibly do "split games" like in minor league squads were two starters pitch half of a game. In theory, a "split game" should give the bullpen a full day's rest every week.

BACK TO THE SAME BUSINESS

After the happy Jon Lester press conference, the Cubs were back to their old tricks of acquiring damaged pitchers with the hopes of miracle rebirths.

The Cubs have signed former Cardinal pitcher Jason Motte to a one year, $4.5 million (with additional incentives).  Motte, a 32-year-old righty had a nice run with the Cardinals as one of the game’s better back-end relievers. Over 2010-12, he tossed 192 1/3 innings of 2.43 ERA ball with 9.5 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. He moved into the team’s closer role in 2012, locking down a league-leading 42 games.

But  Motte was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. A long recovery period kept him out until the 2014 season, when he also missed time with a lower back issue. All said, Motte only appeared for 25 innings last year, struggling to a 4.68 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

MLBTR notes that  ERA estimators were down on Motte’s work last season: FIP (6.49), xFIP (4.58), and SIERA (4.25) all saw Motte as a below-average contributor. He was hurt significantly by the long ball, giving up a 20.0% HR/FB rate and a whopping 2.52 HR/9 that ranked second to worst in all of baseball among relievers who threw at least 20 frames.

It seems like an expensive insurance policy if Hector Rondon fails in the closer role in 2015.

The Cub bullpen was the real bright spot last year with Rondon, Strop, Ramirez, Schlitter, Parker and Grimm. But since Ricketts has opened the money tap, the baseball ops guys are willing to spend.