One of the lone lefties in the Cubs bullpen will hit the open market.

The Cubs declined their mutual option on Drew Smyly and Smyly will become a free agent. The decision comes with a $2.5 million buyout.

Smyly had signed a 2-year, $19 million contract before the 2023 season that included a mutual option for 2025. The 35-year-old was a member of the Cubs Opening Day rotation in 2023, shifted to the bullpen later in the season and spent all of 2024 as a reliever for the Cubs.

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He appeared in 50 games, posting a 3.84 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 58.2 innings in 2024. For most of the season, Smyly was the only lefty in Craig Counsell’s bullpen.

Luke Little made the Opening Day bullpen, was optioned and returned before suffering a shoulder injury that kept him out the rest of the year. Mark Leiter Jr. was a righty with reverse splits that was used in lefty pockets but was traded to the Yankees at the trade deadline.

Richard Lovelady appeared in 7 games before he was designated for assignment and Jordan Wicks appeared in one game in relief. They were the only other southpaws to appear in relief for the Cubs in 2024.

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The Cubs were always going to be in search of relief options this offseason but lefty relievers will be a necessity. Little is the lone lefty reliever on the 40-man roster.

Their bullpen has been an area of concern for the last two seasons. In 2023, injuries hamstrung their relief corps as they fell out of a Wild Card spot down the stretch. In the first half of this past season, the bullpen had the 2^nd-most blown saves (17) in baseball, the 6th-worst ERA (4.52) and the 9th-worst OPS against (.721).

They were able to turn it around — the Cubs bullpen had the third-best ERA (3.08) over the final 81 games of 2024.