(670 The Score) While the ending was ugly, Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta will go down in history as one of the franchise’s greatest pitchers of all time.
That’s a point that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer emphasized Thursday shortly after the team announced it had placed the struggling Arrieta on unconditional release waivers, ending his second stint with the organization.
"This finish in no way diminishes his role in Cub history,” Hoyer said. “When you look back, I think you can say he is one of the most influential people in the history of this franchise. Other guys had longer careers here and put up more numbers, but when you look at the apex of his career was here, you can argue it had as much it had as much impact (as any). Three really good seasons in ‘15, ‘16 and ’17 plus a world championship – you can argue that he had as much to do with that success as any other player.”
Arrieta, 35, was let go after going 5-11 with a 6.88 ERA and 1.76 WHIP in 20 starts in 2021. His performance had really taken a downturn lately, as he hadn’t logged more than four innings in any of his last five starts.
"This was a very difficult thing for us,” Hoyer said. “At this point, we decided it was the right thing to do, but it was more difficult and complicated because of his history here and our strong desire to get him back to that place.”
The Cubs acquired Arrieta from the Orioles in a trade midway through the 2013 season, and he blossomed into a dominant pitcher from there.
What Hoyer and many will remember is the uplifting effect Arrieta had on the entire organization from 2013-’17, which featured him winning the National League Cy Young award in 2015 (22-6 with a 1.77 ERA) and helping lead the Cubs to a World Series championship in 2016. Arrieta posted a 3.14 ERA in 148 starts for the Cubs across parts of six seasons, including the poor 2021 campaign.
Arrieta leaves the Cubs as the author of many memorable moments, including two no-hitters and five wins in the playoffs. Among those postseason wins was Arrieta throwing a gem to lead the Cubs to a win against the Pirates in the NL wild-card game in 2015, which marked their arrival on the scene in the eyes of many.
“Nothing at all diminishes what he has done here,” Hoyer said. “This guy is a legend here. Some of my personal fondest memories are of 2015, ‘16 because of his dominance and the confidence he gave our group. I do think when we look back and see what allowed a young group to perform the way they did, I think being under the umbrella of his confidence certainly helped that a great deal. We all benefited from that tremendously.”
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.