Head East, Young Man

Colin Rea is packing his bags and heading east... waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy east.

Yesterday morning, it was announced that now former Cubs swingman, Colin Rea, had been released from his contract with the the franchise.  This came as a bit of a surprise for a couple of reasons.  First, there's the fact that the moundsman had just agreed to a new, pre-arbitration deal to say in Chicago for a second season.  Second, the Cubs have made it no secret that they aren't going to be shopping for brand names at the free-agent stop n' shop this offseason and they have a bunch of holes in both the starting rotation and the bullpen.  All in all, despite the frustration the front office and ownership have caused the Cubs faithful this winter, the North Side of Chicago seems like the optimal destination for a guy like Rea to try and make a ball club.

As it turns out, like most instances where such a release occurs, Colin will be taking his talents to Asia - specifically, Japan - where such thirty-year old, "tweeners" generally make a significant greater sum of money in the Nippon League than they would riding the shuttle between AAA and the Majors.  Not to mention, they're usually going to receive a much larger share of playing time, as well.  I mean, we've seen this time and time again, where a guy's career has somewhat stalled out, so they travel eastward to make some coin while they still can ; you can only play professional baseball for so long, after all.  Plus, there's the beneficial side effect where the player in question can  rebuild their stock for a later, potential stateside return, a la fellow former Cub, Rafael Dolis, Miles Mikolas, Merrill Kelly, etc.

All in all, you can't blame the guy for doing what's best for himself, his family, and his career.  However, I'm a little disappointed, as a selfish Cubs fan, to see a perfectly good pitching option - with a modest price tag - fly away to greener pastures. 

In my last post detailing roster moves made during the Wrigley Roster Jenga blackout, we talked about the first player added to the 30-man after the regular season began.  In a bit of kismet, it just so happens that the second person called up from the alternate training site is in the news.  *Pssst, that person was Colin Rea*  Yay - I'm accidentally being timely and relevant!

Colin Rea was actually brought in on a minor league deal with a NRI going into the 2019 season; however, he did not make the club.  At the time, I just so happened to pull the above 2017 Topps Flagship single from a random pack and properly stored in away, just in case Colin made the club.  Spoiler alert, he did not - instead, he went to AAA and pitched out of the Iowa Cubs rotation, where he had a heckuva career resuscitation twirling superballs in the Pacific Coast League.  In a video game-esque offensive environment, the former top prospect posted a sterling 14-4 record to go along with a 3.95 ERA.  Remember, this is a league where league batters popped an astounding 1,215 more homers than they had a year before.  That ball was JUICED!

For his admirable performance, Colin was named the PCL Pitcher of the Year and his career was once again trending upward.  I'm sure this was a great relief to the man; after all, it had been awhile since Rea's name was attached to a positive story.

Mr. Rea truly kicked but in Des Moines - image courtesy of the Iowa Cubs Facebook page.

Prior to his comeback in the PCL, Rea's name was last widely discussed in the baseball rags for his inclusion in a high profile trade deadline deal, made between the Marlins and the Padres back in 2016.  Does that wave any red flags for you?  Remember how the Pads were nailed for falsifying injury information about players in order to swing better trades for themselves that summer?  Well, Rea was the guy that they traded to Miami, watched him get hurt in his first and only appearance as a fish, and then the league forced them to bring back in a separate deal, owing to their dirty dealing.  Oof.

Before this attempted swindle, Rea had been a highly-regard prospect in the Padres chain, after having been selected in the 12th round of the 2011 draft and he had made 25 appearances from 2015-16 in his first taste of Major League action.  After the bad faith trade and his lone game with Miami, Rea became injured goods, missed the entirety of the 2017 season, and unable to make it back to the Bigs until last year.

Like I said, I'm sure he was over the moon about the trajectory change his career made after that Iowa Cubs performance.

Colin Rea pitching at Wrigley Field in 2020.  Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Rea came back to the Cubs organization that offseason and was rewarded with a ticket back to the Show.  On July 30th, after Dillon Maples once again proved that he had less control than a wireless marionette.  The once again Big Leaguer started out hot, striving to make good on his second chance; his velocity spiked pitching out of the bullpen without sacrificing the movement on his breaking pitches.  In relief duty, Rea only gave up two runs in 8.2 frames 7 K's - that's definitely a useable arm.  However, a pair of clunker emergency starts severely depressed his overall stat line, leading to an ERA over five in his 14 total IP.  

That being said, with the Cubs shedding salary like a shaggy dog, with Craig Kimbrel and Rowan Wick being the only two locks in the bullpen (for now), and with Rea being brought back via arbitration, it sure seemed like the dude was a good bet to soak up innings for the team in 2021.  Still, a guaranteed job and some stable money definitely trumps "a good bet."  

Once again, selfishly, I'm a bit sad that - with his sudden departure - Rea probably won't end up with a proper Cubs card now.  He did not show up in Update or Heritage High Numbers - he would have made a much better inclusion than Jharel Cotton, who will go down as a Cub that never was.  So, no true Cubs card, unless Topps decides to throw him in 2021 Series One for some reason and, honestly, that wouldn't be the weirdest thing they've ever done.  I guess that Padres pasteboard will just have to do, even though now all I can think of when I see brown and yellow Yu Darvish being sold up the river for some Kohl's Cash.  Still, it's better than nothing.  Or, I could chase after his team-issued Iowa Cubs single and call it close enough.  I'll have to keep an eye out.

Image courtesy of Go Sports Cards.

If anyone has a stash of broken down, Minor League team sets, just know that I'm ALWAYS looking for Iowa Cubs and other Chicago-affiliates.  Let's talk trade!

Here's hoping that Colin got himself a good deal and absolutely carves up the Nippon League!  There's been no official word on which team Colin will be signing with or what the details of his new contract will be.  Personally, I'm hoping that he'll be plying his trade with the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars, which has been my Japanese team of choice since I randomly found one of their t-shirts in a suburban Chicago Goodwill a few years back.  It would be poetic - me finding their merch in the Windy City and them finding a potential new ace in the Windy City.

Good luck in the land of the rising sun, Colin.  Thank you for your admirable performance in both an Iowa and Chicago Cubs uniform and an extremely belated welcome to the CATRC binder.