Capps a possibility to bolster Cubs pen

Over the weekend the Pirates non-tendered their closer Matt Capps. Capps and the Cubs appear to have interest in one another according to the Trib’s Paul Sullivan:

Capps, who has closed for the Pirates the last three years, already had calls from three teams as of Sunday morning. His agent, Paul Kinzer, said Capps is interested in the Cubs, and apparently the team has reciprocated that interest.

The 26-year-old right-hander is coming off a poor season, with a 5.80 earned-run average, after recording a 2.28 ERA in ’07 and 3.02 ERA in ’08. His career ERA is 3.61, and he’s issued only 50 walks in 271 2/3 career innings.

The Cubs aren’t looking for a closer, but Capps could fill a void in late-inning relief, joining Angel Guzman as a right-handed set-up man. Capps made $2.4 million in 2009, and the Pirates did not want to go to arbitration, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, since he’d receive a significant raise based on his past success.

Capps would be reunited in Chicago with former Buc John Grabow. Grabow and Capps would be the primary setup men for Carlos Marmol to start 2010.

UPDATE 12/14 — MB21 at ACB gives a quick summary of Matt Capps:

Capps isn’t as good as his 2007 and 2008 ERA’s would have you believe, but he’s still a good reliever. Bill James projects a 3.80 FIP from Capps in 2010. CHONE projects a 4.02 ERA out of Capps. ZiPS projects a 3.88 ERA. Compare those projections to Marmol’s (Bill James, CHONE, ZiPS isn’t out for the Cubs yet). For those too lazy to click on the links, James projects a 4.00 FIP out of Marmol in 2010 and CHONE thinks he’ll post a 3.47 ERA. Marmol is probably a little better than Capps and if Marmol could ever learn how to throw strikes, he’d be a lot better. Speaking of throwing strikes, Capps excels at that. It would be nice to have a reliever that doesn’t walk half the batters he’ll face.