Cubs officially announce signing RHP Brad Brach to one-year contract with mutual option for 2020 season
The Cubs made official on Monday what was reported nearly three weeks ago. The Cubs announced signing right-handed reliever Brad Brach to a one-year contract that includes a club/player option for the 2020 season.
The Cubs 40-man roster now stands at 40 players.
Terms of Brach’s contract were not announced. But his deal is believed to be for a guaranteed $4.35 million according multiple reports. Brach has a base salary of $3 million for the upcoming season. The contract reportedly includes a $1.35 million buyout on the mutual option for the 2020 season. If the Cubs exercise the team’s option for the second year, the total value of the contract could reach $9.5 million. If Brach exercises his option and the Cubs decline to pick up their end, he will be paid less than $9.5 million for the next two years.
Brach, 32, combined to go 2-4 with 12 saves, 11 holds and a 3.59 ERA (25 earned runs in 62 2/3 innings) in 69 relief appearances between Baltimore and Atlanta last season. He was acquired by the Braves at last year’s trade deadline and posted a 1.52 ERA (four earned runs in 23 2/3 innings) in 27 outings to help the club to the N.L. East division title.
A 2016 American League All-Star with Baltimore, Brach is a career 31-23 with 33 saves, 83 holds and a 3.08 ERA (156 earned runs in 456 innings) in 424 relief appearances covering all or part of eight Major League seasons with San Diego (2011-13), Baltimore (2014-18) and Atlanta (2018). He has posted a sub-3.78 ERA in each of his seven seasons with at least 30 outings and has surpassed 60 outings in five of the last seven campaigns. Brach has averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings while posting a 1.27 WHIP in his big league career.
Brach broke into the big leagues with San Diego in 2011, was acquired by Baltimore on Nov. 25, 2013 and went 7-1 with a 3.18 ERA (22 earned runs in 62 1/3 innings) in 46 appearances in 2014. He posted a 2.72 ERA (24 earned runs in 79 1/3 innings) in 62 relief outings in 2015 leading into his All-Star campaign a season later, when Brach went 10-4 with 24 holds and a 2.05 ERA (18 earned runs in 79 innings) in a career high 71 outings in 2016. Brach set a career high with 18 saves in 2017 before joining Atlanta on July 30, 2018 and advancing to the postseason for the third time in his career.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Brach was originally selected by the Padres in the 42nd round of the 2008 Draft out of Monmouth University. He is a native of Freehold, N.J.
• Brad Brach’s Page on Baseball-Reference
