The Cubs announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed right-hander Luke Farrell off waivers from the Reds and designated righty Felix Pena for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Farrell, whose father manages the Boston Red Sox, made his big league debut with the Royals in 2017 but has bounced from Kansas City to the Dodgers to the Reds to the Cubs in minor trades and waiver claims over the past several months. His lone outing in Kansas City produced nightmarish results (five runs on seven hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings), but he enjoyed better success in a larger sample with Cincinnati. In 10 1/3 innings as a Red, he allowed three runs on just five hits, though he also walked seven in that time. Overall, Farrell’s first taste of the big leagues resulted in a 5.54 ERA and a 9-to-10 K/BB ratio in 13 innings.
Farrell has, however, produced solid Triple-A results in 2016-17, working to a combined 3.83 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and roughly a 36 percent ground-ball rate in 199 2/3 innings. He has a pair of minor league options remaining beyond this season, so if the Cubs choose to keep him on the roster this winter, they could option him to Triple-A Iowa next spring without first exposing him to waivers. Alternatively, the Cubs could try to pass Farrell through waivers themselves in hopes of retaining his arm as a depth piece without the need of committing a 40-man roster spot.
The 27-year-old Pena, meanwhile, averaged 93.4 mph on his heater in 34 1/3 innings with the Cubs this year. He also averaged a hearty 9.7 K/9 against a more troublesome 4.7 BB/9 and a sub-par 34.7 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 5.24 earned run average.
They trot out Pena 25 times just to DFA him and probably lose him for….Luke Farrell? Uhhh…
So strange
My thoughts exactly. While Koji Uehara doesn’t appear likely to contribute.
On the same day the Reds beat the Cubs to the Greeneville affiliate in the APPY League.
Not getting these moves, but they should know a kid from Evanston fairly well.
They obviously know something we don’t about Pena. I don’t question much that Theo and Co. does, given the track record.
This doesn’t make any sense. Pena looked like a solid pen arm at times.
At least usable for some of the 21 innings a team needs to churn through per week.
It makes complete sense. Pena had no future with the Cubs
I don’t know enough about baseball to declare a pitcher’s career dead.
The Cubs need 18-21 innings of relief help per week next season. Pena had an option season left, and could have been non-tendered in December, and kept off the 40.
Uehara would have been a better DFA, imo.
Uehara has postseason experience so that’s probably why they kept him
I’d rather have Dillon Maples pitch than broken-down Uehara.
However, either it’s that, or they don’t want to alienate a possible friend of Ohtani.
You’re the one declaring his career dead. I didn’t know you were forced into retirement when you get cut from a team.
In what world did Pena have no future with the Cubs? Davis, Uehara, and possibly Grimm all gone after this year.
Has ERA over five in a season. Will always be terrible. Ignores Greg Maddux.
One where the front office saw more value in Farrell than in Pena. I actually watched the games and results where Pena pitched in this season
They value Uehara more than Pena. That’s what baffles me.
Farrell over Pena, I’m fine with.
Uehara has pitched once since the first of September. On the second. He seems of precious little value now, as a free agent.
Uehara is dealing with injuries. That’s why he hasn’t pitched in almost a month
that green red jersey reminds me of the green monster t shirt i got at fenway, becuase it is green and white but the team is red
* green redS jersey
I was at the game last Tuesday when Peña came in and sucked, making it so that I wasn’t at the clincher…just for that alone, I won’t be missing him. lol
Unfortunately Pena was another stereotypical fireballer with no control. He had been pummeled in both the majors and in AAA in 2017. While Farrell doesn’t offer as much upside, he is an optionable arm who can start and relieve, which I would consider to be a slight upgrade and if we’re being completely honest, he will probably be claimed by another team or outrighted off of the 40 by the time April rolls around.
Yeah. Let’s keep doubting the guy who brought us the first world championship in our lifetimes.
Second one next month
Not sure why this is so tough for some fans. Pena was barely serviceable, and at 27, the chance he was going to be much more than that is slim. He’s also out of options and the Cubs probably have other guys they’d rather put on the 40 man so as not to risk losing them in the Rule V draft. With Farrell, they probably think he can clear waivers a second time around and not take up the 40 man spot. Even if he’s claimed, the Cubs really just made a move now that they’d have made in two months. It’s not a big deal.