Mets should put in a waiver claim on Cubs lefty whose salary they want to dump

The Chicago Cubs are 5.5 games out of a playoff spot at 66-66. Now tied with the San Francisco Giants, they’ve reportedly placed veteran pitcher Drew Smyly on waivers. Despite having the easiest remaining schedule in the National League, the yard sale has begun. The New York Mets should take advantage.

Waiver claims now are much more valuable than ones in September. A player must be on the 40-man roster by 11:59pm on August 31 in order to qualify for the playoffs. Teams have a much better chance at having a player taken before that deadline.

Why Smyly and the Mets? In the tail end of a productive season which saw the veteran starter transition exclusively to a relief role, he fits two uses.

Two qualities Drew Smyly can bring to the Mets roster

Because of his extensive experience as a starter, Smyly should be capable of going more than an inning at a time. He hasn’t quite done so with the Cubs this season, tallying 50.2 innings in 39 appearances. More than 3 outs at a time have happened yet not much more than they do for an average reliever.

Since the departure of Adrian Houser (no one’s crying), the Mets haven’t had that lesser pitcher to go multiple innings. Smyly isn’t quite the solution here. He hasn’t shown he can do so with the Cubs nor would his placement on the roster be so necessary just to pitch in blowouts. It’s not a terrible option to have Smyly around for 2 innings at a time and maybe hand him some other opportunities as well.

The fact that he is left-handed weighs heavily as Danny Young, the team’s main southpaw in the bullpen, has not performed well lately. Smyly’s splits are good against both sides of the plate. Righties have hit .219/.303/.448 against him. Lefties have been held to .226/.294/.310. It’s the .750 vs. .603 OPS where we see the big difference. He has walked far fewer lefties. Only 5 have drawn ball four in 92 plate appearances.

Smyly made it to waivers because of his contract. The remainder of his $8.5 million would be picked up as well as next year’s $10 million mutual option with a $2.5 million buyout. It’s pretty expensive. And with the Mets already paying luxury tax penalties, we can’t blame them for passing on a pitcher who fits what they could use but is mostly mediocre.

Despite the 2.84 ERA, Smyly’s 4.77 FIP suggests he has been lucky this season. He is a fly ball pitcher with a 32% rate. The league average is typically in the low 20-percentile.

When rosters expand, the Mets will have the extra spot to keep Smyly around. He hasn’t been DFA’d by the Cubs so getting released isn’t in the cards. This is merely an attempt for the Cubs to save money. It’s an opportunity for the Mets to improve a bullpen with an okay option.