After signing Phil Maton to a two-year deal to start the offseason, the Chicago Cubs looked to turn over a new leaf in the bullpen. All reports indicated that Jed Hoyer was willing to depart from his usual philosophy of cobbling together a relief corps on the cheap to add some more surefire arms Craig Counsell could rely on early in the season after losing nearly everyone to free agency. Although they had been connected to back-end arms like Robert Suarez and Devin Williams, the Cubs, once again, fell short in their pursuits.
Barring a deal for Pete Fairbanks, who is drawing a ton of interest around the league, the Cubs may have missed their shot at adding one of the high-powered established names with ninth-inning experience.