Cubs Claim Alex Burnett

The Cubs claimed righty reliever Alex Burnett off waivers from the Orioles, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com first reported Burnett had been claimed. Burnett had been designated for assignment Thursday to open a roster spot for highly regarded young pitcher Kevin Gausman.  For the Cubs, Burnett will replace Kyuji Fujikawa, who will be placed on the DL today with an elbow injury.

Burnett was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays from the Twins on March 29th and quickly designated for assignment, at which point the Orioles claimed him.  The 25-year-old made two relief appearances for Baltimore, surrendering three runs in his most recent outing.  For his career, he has a 4.73 ERA, 5.7 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.74 HR/9 in 171 1/3 innings in parts of four seasons.