Cubs Roster Moves
Anthony Varvaro Waiver Claim Voided
The Cubs waiver claim of RHP Anthony Varvaro has been voided by the MLB Commissioner and he has been returned to the Boston Red Sox, where he will be placed on the BoSox MLB 60-day DL. Varvaro will undergo surgery to repair a torn elbow flexor tendon later this week.
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Where's the Beefy?
The Cubs version of Fluffy will no longer exist as the Cubs have traded "catcher" Welington Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for relief pitcher Yoervis Medina. Before I dig into the new guy, let's eulogize Beefy for a bit.
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Cubs 40-Man Roulette Continues
So you got one of the last spots on the Cubs 40-man roster....CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Don't start nesting though, because your odds of lasting there are just slightly better than guessing which of the 38 spots a roulette ball will land on.
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Cubs Try Not To Fowl It Up
The Cubs hinted at getting an outfielder that could play CF or LF just over a week ago and today they finalized a deal for about the only player that made sense to fit that role. The Cubs sent Luis Valbuena and P Dan Straily to the Astros for OF Dexter Fowler. Hard to find a way to not like this deal, but I'm sure some will.
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Cubs Add Three More Minor League Free-Agents to the Fold
SAT 1/10 UPDATE: Matt Eddy at BA is now reporting that the Cubs have also signed 27-year old RHRP Jorge DeLeon to a minor league contract. DeLeon was signed by the Houston Astros as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic in 2006 and was converted to RHP post-2009. He was added to the Astros 40-man roster post-2010 and made his big league debut in August 2013. He was claimed off waivers by Oakland in October 2014 and then was released last month. DeLeon will almost certainly get an NRI to Spring Training, and then be bullpen depth at AAA Iowa.
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Baseball America reports the Cubs have signed three more minor league free-agents over the past few days, including veteran MLB catcher Taylor Teagarden, INF Chris Valaika, and RHP Andres Santiago. The trio join RHRP Anthony Carter, RHRP Fernando Cruz, OF Adron Chambers, and INF Jonathan Herrera, who were signed to minor league contracts earlier. All seven will likely receive an NRI to Spring Training.
Cubs Trade Ruggiano
The Cubs cleared some 40-man roster space and made room for a "clubhouse dude" by sending OF Justin Ruggiano to the Seattle Mariners for 25-year old relief pitcher Matt Brazis. Ruggiano was acquired from the Marlins last offseason for Brian Bogusevic and put up an 111 OPS+ with an .846 OPS versus lefties in limited, albeit effective action. He can also handle all 3 OF positions which is a nice added benefit.
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Cubs Sign Motte
The Cubs have signed reliever Jason Motte to a one-year deal for $4.5M with a games finished incentive. Motte hasn't pitched a full season since 2012, but did have a helluva nice run out of the Cardinals bullpen from 2010-2012, including being their closer in 2012 where he knocked out 42 saves with a 2.75 ERA thanks to a 10.1 K/9 rate, 2.1 BB/9 rate and 0.917 WHIP that season..
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The Cubs Get Their Man
Yes, that man...Jon Lester. Joel Sherman and Ken Rosenthal have both tweeted that Lester has informed Red Sox he won't be signing with them.
More to come...
UPDATE #1: The deal is for 6/155M.
UPDATE #2: Red Sox offer was 6/135, Giants were willing to go 7/168 according to Jeff Passan.
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Cubs 40-Man Roster Moves
The Cubs have put C.J. Edwards on the 40-man and that is the extent of their Rule 5 deadline roster moves. You can check out AZ Phil's full list of Rule 5 eligibles if you wish, but I don't see any obvious names that will get selected. Maybe Zach Cates or Ivan Pineyro or Starling Peralta, but there's certainly no one on there that folks should all be too worried about losing even if they do get picked.
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Cubs Trade for La Stella
The Cubs have acquired 2b Tommy La Stella from the Braves and their #4 international bonus slot for former Brave RHP Arodys Vizcaino and Cubs international bonus slots #2, #3 and #4. The Braves end up with about $832K more in international bonus money. So with the Braves getting more cash, the silent agreement between the two clubs is that La Stella was the better bet going forward as a player, certainly in the Cubs' collective minds.
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Recent comments
crunch (view)
SF snags b.snell...2/62m
Cubster (view)
AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.
Arizona Phil (view)
The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24).
However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time).
Arizona Phil (view)
Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.
Arizona Phil (view)
For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024:
* bats or throws left
Angel Cepeda, INF
* Miguel Cruz, P
Yidel Diaz, C
* Albert Gutierrez, 1B
Fraiman Marte, P
Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B)
Derniche Valdez, INF
Edward Vargas, OF
Jeral Vizcaino, P
And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.
Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect.
F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season.
The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher).
Arizona Phil (view)
DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically.
Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).
Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day.
Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.
The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster
Arizona Phil (view)
Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required.
They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).
If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.
If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option).
Childersb3 (view)
Phil,
Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?
Arizona Phil (view)
In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!
And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).