Lefty Reliever Grabow Inks Two-Year Deal With Cubs For $7.5M

November 21, 2009 1:46 p.m. EST

Chicago, IL (AHN) - Reliever John Grabow signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Chicago Cubs Friday.

The Cubs acquired the lefty from the Pittsburgh Pirates July 30.

He appeared in 30 games with the Cubs, a total of 75 games for the season between the two teams. He recorded a 3.24 ERA and gave up five homers with Chicago.

Grabow knew he made the right decision to stick with the Cubs.

"I pretty much let everyone know before I left that I wanted to come back," Grabow told MLB.com Friday. "It's a good situation for me and my family and for the Cubs. They brought me in there, they made a trade to bring me there and I fit in right away. The atmosphere that's inside that clubhouse, everyone gets along pretty good and it's kind of a veteran team, and everybody goes about their business." Grabow joins Carlos Marmol, Esmailin Caridad, Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall, Jeff Stevens and Justin Berg in the Cubbies bullpen.

Grabow mentioned he will also take the camaraderie he experienced in Pittsburgh, and try to continue that tradition in Chicago.

"You have to think of it as a family down in the bullpen," Grabow said. "We all have to stick together and we have each other's backs. That's the way it was when I was at Pittsburgh."