Cubs to sign reliever Phil Maton to two-year deal

The Cubs have begun rebuilding their bullpen. They are in agreement with right-handed reliever Phil Maton on a two-year contract with a club option for a third year, sources confirmed Saturday morning. The deal is pending his physical early next week. Further terms of the deal were not immediately clear.

The Cubs don’t often commit multi-year contracts to relievers. The pact reflects how highly they think of the 32-year-old and his ability to sustain his recent production.

Maton is set to the Cubs with nine years of major-league experience under his belt, spanning seven different organizations.

Last season he posted a 2.35 ERA with the Cardinals before they sent him to the Rangers at the trade deadline for a pair of minor-league pitchers and international draft pool money.

In Texas, Maton improved his strikeout rate from an already strong 30.4% pre-trade, to 36.7% in the last two months of the season. And though his ERA (3.52) was higher with the Rangers, he held opponents to a .179 batting average. Maton finished the season with a career-best 2.79 ERA.

Maton doesn’t throw particularly hard – his cutter, averaging 90.6 mph, is his highest-velocity pitch – but he mixes a four-pitch arsenal to keep hitters off balance.

The Cubs are starting almost from scratch with their bullpen. Young right-handers Daniel Palencia (52 ⅔ innings) and Porter Hodge (33 innings) are the only returning full-time relievers who threw at least 15 innings for the Cubs last season. Neither spent the entire year in the majors, but Palencia served as the closer for much of the year, and Hodge had a stint in that role as well.