Mariners castoff joins Cubs bullpen with one more chance to make it work

The Chicago Cubs have added a former Seattle Mariners reliever on a low-risk deal. That vague sense of dread you just felt is related to the last time that happened earlier this year, when Drew Pomeranz went to the North Side and ripped off a 2.17 ERA in 57 appearances.

This time, it's Collin Snider joining the Cubs on a minor league contract with an invite to spring training. It's a fresh start that the right-hander needed in the worst way after a 2025 season in which his health failed him and his results cratered.

Former Mariner joins Cubs bullpen with one more chance to make it work

Jerry Dipoto has this thing that he does where he picks up a seemingly random pitcher and, poof, somehow he gets turned into a lethal bullpen weapon. This is what happened with Snider in 2024 after the Mariners took him off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All of a sudden, a former 12th-round pick with a 5.93 ERA in the majors was giving the Mariners a 1.94 ERA over 42 appearances. Snider basically doubled his strikeout rate, going from 5.4 per nine innings in 2022 and 2023 to 10.2 per nine innings in 2024. He also walked only 13 batters in 41.2 innings.

Snider's four-seamer, cutter and sweeper all had whiff rates in the neighborhood of 30 percent in 2024, but none of the three worked remotely as well this year. It's not unrelated that the four-seamer and cutter both sustained significant velocity losses, with the former dropping 1.8 mph on average from the year before.

Once Snider landed on the injured list with a flexor strain in June, that was it for his time in the majors this year. He had a 5.47 ERA in 24 appearances at the time, and his return to action for Triple-A Tacoma somehow went even worse to the tune of a 8.06 ERA in 25 appearances.

Snider was granted free agency in November a few weeks after celebrating his 30th birthday on October 10. The chance the Cubs are taking on him is basically a no-risk flier, with the hope being that he can be for them in 2026 what Brad Keller was in 2025: a minor league signee who comes out of nowhere to be a major contributor in relief.

Whether it works out will depend on Snider getting back to what worked in 2024. That starts with more zip on the fastball, which still wasn't quite there when he was pitching for Tacoma in the latter half of this season.

This is a case where you're rooting for the pitcher. Because at his age and with his background, Snider may not get a better chance than this one if it doesn't pan out.