Chicago Cubs Sign Veteran Lefty On Two-Year Deal to Join Starting Rotation

The Chicago Cubs have made their first big move of free agency.

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The Chicago Cubs have made their first big free agency acquisition by signing a veteran starter to a two-year deal.

Now former Cleveland Guardians left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd and Chicago have agreed to terms on the contract worth $29 million with incentives that can take it up to a total of $30 million. Boyd arrived in Cleveland in the middle of the 2024 season as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery to start the year but looked excellent down the stretch after making his debut in the middle of August. The signing was first reported early Monday morning by MLB insider Jon Heyman.

In eight starts for the Guardians, Boyd posted a 2.72 ERA with 46 strikeouts over 39.2 innings thrown all while fanning over 27 percent of his opponents while walking just over 7 percent, numbers that with enough innings thrown to qualify would have been one of the best strikeout to walk ratios among starters across baseball. Boyd's encouraging recent performance down the stretch of the season made him a hot commodity and now he cashes in, landing with the Cubs on a deal that certainly suited Chicago's desire to sign someone in the starting rotation outside the highest tier.

Perhaps most encouraging was Boyd's performance during Cleveland's postseason run to the ALCS. In four appearances and three starts, he posted a blazing 0.75 ERA and maintained that impressive strikeout rate while the lights were brightest for his team.

It's a high upside deal for the oft-injured Boyd and if he can be the pitcher he was in 2024 with the Guardians and stay healthy, it will look like one of the biggest bargains in free agency for the Cubs.

Prior to 2024, Boyd - who turns 34 in February - spent two separate stints with the Detroit Tigers including the majority of his career from 2015-2021. In a full season of starting work, he has never posted an ERA better than 4.39 and for the most part has always been a middle of the road starter at best.

His second stint in Detroit during the 2023 season was much less successful with a 5.45 ERA over 15 starts before the campaign was cut short due to the injury which caused him to be sidelined until he made his debut with Cleveland.

The Cubs are not necessarily done making moves in the rotation by any means, but fans who were hoping for a flashier name than Boyd will likely be disappointed as it feels unlikely for Chicago to commit multiple bigger money type deals to an already fairly strong rotation.