On Wednesday night, the Cubs put ink to paper and signed another pitcher to a contract for the 2018 season. No, it wasn't Yu Darvish, Alex Cobb, Jake Arrieta, or any of the other major free agents the North Siders have been attached to this winter - despite what certain Barstool personnel might have "reported." However, like Darvish, the man who signed on the dotted line is a former Rangers hurler who has pitched in "the land of the rising sun."
The moundsman in question was Anthony Bass, who was reeled in on a (presumably) minor league deal to serve as depth in both the rotation and the bullpen. The swingman was once a top prospect in the San Diego system (as evidenced by my 2013 Topps Bass base card above), and has since journeyed through the bullpens and rotations of the Padres, Rangers, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Rangers once again. In 2017, Bass spent most of the year on the Texas farm, making a two-game, MLB cameo in the summer, giving up 9 ER in 5.2 innings. At AAA Round Rock, Bass was much more average, posting a 4.18 ERA in 12 starts and 18 appearances.
Whether or not the 2013 Flagship single I dug up from my trade boxes for this post will ever be slotted into my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection binder remains to be seen; after all, this contract appears to be a minor league pact, the kind of depth signing that all orgs make. But, it's good to know that I have one should the Cubbies need to dig into said depth at some point during the 2018 campaign. With all that stated, you might be asking yourself, what about this transaction makes it "something you don't see everyday?"
EXCITED to officially announce that I’ll be heading north to the Windy City in 2018 to help bring another championship to the @Cubs historic franchise!! #FlytheW pic.twitter.com/IbtzYPWltZ— Anthony Bass (@AnthonyBass52) December 21, 2017
Well, he announced the deal on his own.... on Twitter, of all places. In fact, the Cubs still haven't made any acknowledgement of the signing themselves. You don't see that too often. At any rate, it's awesome to see how excited Mr. Bass is about swimming into the Chicago Cub organization!
It should also be pointed out that this isn't the first time that Anthony's name has popped in Cubs news this off-season. As I mentioned a couple of times in this post, Bass spent a season playing in Japan (2016), serving as a swingman for the Fighters and as a teammate to a guy by the name of Shohei Ohtani. Heard of him? Anyway, during the two-way star's decision making process, Bass offered up some advice - “I told him, `You should come to the Cubs. They’re a good team, they won the World Series, and you can hit,’ ” Bass told Scott Miller of Bleacher Report.
While we didn't land Ohtani, it's clear that Anthony wasn't just blowing smoke up his ass, either. He must truly believe in this franchise.
So, in the end, Theo might not have landed the big fish of the off-season, free-agent fishing trip; that said, he did end up hooking a nice Bass.
Welcome to Chicago (or Iowa), Anthony Bass!
Impressive photoshopping!
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