Kevin Gregg was unable to find a taker this offseason and remains unsigned, but 35-year-old right-hander has not retired and in fact told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times that he’s “ready to go” and “just waiting for an opportunity.”
Gregg saved 33 games for the Cubs last season and certainly thinks he could help their bullpen again this year, telling Wittenmyer he’d be willing to sign an incentive-laden contract and start out as a setup man. There are certainly plenty of worse relievers than Gregg with big-league jobs right now, some of them even in high-leverage roles.
However, being critical of the team’s management at the end of last season surely didn’t help his chances of returning to the Cubs this year. Oh, and Gregg also took a shot at people who don’t believe in the supposed aura surrounding the closer role:
A lot of guys think anybody can pitch the ninth–especially sabermetrics guys who come up with a stat for everything. They think everybody can pitch the ninth inning, but, for some reason, those last three outs aren’t the same.
Of course, “sabermetrics guys” would use Gregg’s career as an example of how “those last three outs” are basically the same. He has 177 career saves despite a 4.07 ERA and was repeatedly given closing gigs despite no one ever really thinking he was a closer-caliber pitcher. More so than just about any other pitcher in baseball history Kevin Gregg is what “sabermetrics guys” talk about when they say the closer mystique is overstated.
