Headlines

  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cubs DFA Brad Brach, Activate Cole Hamels

By TC Zencka | August 3, 2019 at 10:06am CDT

The Cubs activated lefty Cole Hamels from the injured list today, while reliever Brad Brach has been designated for assignment, per the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan (via Twitter) and others.

After an uncharacteristically mediocre first half with the Orioles in 2018, the 6’6″ righty appeared to right the ship in posting a 1.52 ERA with Atlanta down the stretch. The Cubs certainly hoped so when they guaranteed Brach $4.35MM this offseason, but with a 6.13 ERA through 42 games and newcomers David Phelps and Derek Holland taking roster spots, the Northsiders no longer had space for the 33-year-old former 42nd rounder.

He could have remained under contract for a lesser salary in 2020 due to a dual option, but Brach’s future is now up in the air. His track record should land him an opportunity to help a contender somewhere – but it might not happen this week. With more than five years of service time, Brach will have the right to refuse a minor league assignment and elect free agency, at which point he would be available on the cheap while the Cubs continue to foot the bill for most of his remaining 2019 money.

There is cause to believe in Brach’s future utility. A high-than-normal .375 BABIP points to some poor luck, born out in fielding independent metrics (4.13 FIP, 4.88 xFIP). Baseball-reference WAR pegs Brach as a negative contributor for the Cubs (-0.4 bWAR), but by measure of fWAR, which uses FIP instead of ERA, Brach should still be capable of adding value down the stretch (0.4 fWAR). Lowering his walk rate from 15.3 BB% closer to his career average of 10.5 BB% would certainly help.

Hamels will start today against Gio Gonzalez and the Brewers in a matchup of recently-activated veteran lefties. Hamels is 6-3 on the year with a 2.98 ERA (3.59 FIP), but his last start came at Great American Ballpark against the Reds a little more than a month ago. Gonzalez makes his third start since being activated from the disabled list – his second straight outing against the Cubs.

Share 0 Retweet 8 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Brad Brach Cole Hamels

Red Sox Reinstate Brian Johnson From IL
Main
Twins GM Predicts Busy August Waiver Period
View Comments (23)
Post a Comment

23 Comments

  1. Yeetus

    6 years ago

    Wrong link for Paul Sullivan

    Reply
  2. JayRyder

    6 years ago

    Whoa

    I figure a lot of teams are gonna do this. Cut guys. . . Might be some good players out there to claim. Towards the end of August. For September expanded rosters…

    Reply
  3. Ryan The Riot Theriot

    6 years ago

    About time. Brach has had some solid years throughout his career, but he was pretty awful this year for the Cubs.

    2
    Reply
    • FourTfour

      6 years ago

      Dude couldn’t find a corner in a maze.

      3
      Reply
      • scarfish

        6 years ago

        Hahaha

        Reply
  4. bucketbrew35

    6 years ago

    Welcome to the Phillies Brad.

    2
    Reply
    • A-A

      6 years ago

      Or the Nats

      1
      Reply
  5. rondon

    6 years ago

    IMO, the biggest bullpen problem the Cubs have this year is their offense. There wasn’t anything special about their BP in ’16 (before Chapman), but the starters were amazing as a group and the offense scored so many runs that you didn’t really notice. They really miss a true lead off hitter like the Fowler of ’15 and ’16. He was the spark. Just a thought.

    1
    Reply
    • twinsfan368

      6 years ago

      That’s why the twins will go deep into the playoffs. The twins are exactly what you just described

      Reply
      • Yankeepride88

        6 years ago

        Twins will need to play Yankees or Astros in 1st round. While I think the Twins are strong, I don’t see them winning a series against either of those teams.

        1
        Reply
  6. ClaytonK

    6 years ago

    Rays

    Reply
  7. bleacherbum

    6 years ago

    Bring him back to SD where it all began. Besides Yates and now Munoz, the bullpen in San Diego is beyond sketchy. He would be a nice addition.

    2
    Reply
    • VegasSDfan

      6 years ago

      Can we start him in AAA?

      Reply
  8. cgallant

    6 years ago

    Brad to the bosox. Couldn’t be worse then what we already have.

    Reply
  9. Fred K. Burke

    6 years ago

    I was on board when the Cubs signed Brach. Much the same when the Angels signed Cody Allen. I thought both guys were strong candidates for bounce back seasons. Well, I was wrong about that. Looks like Descalso is going to hang on unfortunately.

    1
    Reply
  10. chicagofan1978

    6 years ago

    Contreras is probably going to the IL. They should get Lucroy to back up carratini

    1
    Reply
  11. Georgiajeff

    6 years ago

    Bye Felicia

    Reply
    • skip tracey

      6 years ago

      Felicia: Hey y’all.
      Felicia: sniffs the air… What’s that? What y’all doing over here?
      Craig: Ain’t doing nothing over here.
      Felicia: Come on y’all, hel…
      Craig: Bye Felicia.
      Felicia: Pfft. Give me some money then.
      Craig: BYE FELICIA!

      1
      Reply
    • ChiSoxCity

      6 years ago

      LOL!

      Reply
  12. bravesfan

    6 years ago

    Wonder if the braves can get him on a minor league deal if he falls all the way through. I actually still like him. He has more left in the tank in my opinion.

    Reply
  13. greatd

    6 years ago

    Darvish or Arrieta now?

    Reply
    • Questionable_Source

      6 years ago

      Darvish. Arrieta is nothing special. He had a couple of good years in his late 20’s and then he went back to normal and now he’s hot garbage. There’s been lots of those throughout the history of baseball, but I guess no one told the phillies. Arrieta will play out his current contract and be forced into retirement because no one will want him.

      Reply
  14. driftcat28 2

    6 years ago

    Sox should be all over brach, no matter how mediocre he’s been this season

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

  • Top Stories
  • Recent

Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

Astros Promote Brice Matthews

Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Bobby Jenks Passes Away

Braves Release Alex Verdugo

Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

Rangers Option Josh Jung

Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

Royals Receiving Interest In Catching Prospects

J.C. Escarra Drawing Trade Attention

Cristian Javier Begins Rehab Assignment

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In DJ LeMahieu

Rafael Devers Suffering From Disk Injury In Lower Back

Mets’ Dedniel Nunez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Trade Deadline Outlook: Seattle Mariners

Reds Activate Jake Fraley, Option Christian Encarnacion-Strand

Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

Cubs Select Brooks Kriske

MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

Latest Rumors & News

Latest Rumors & News

  • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
  • Luis Robert Rumors
  • Alex Bregman Rumors

 

Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

MLBTR Features

MLBTR Features

  • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
  • Front Office Originals
  • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
  • MLBTR Podcast
  • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
  • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
  • Contract Tracker
  • Transaction Tracker
  • Extension Tracker
  • Agency Database
  • MLBTR On Twitter
  • MLBTR On Facebook
  • Team Facebook Pages
  • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

Rumors By Team

  • Angels Rumors
  • Astros Rumors
  • Athletics Rumors
  • Blue Jays Rumors
  • Braves Rumors
  • Brewers Rumors
  • Cardinals Rumors
  • Cubs Rumors
  • Diamondbacks Rumors
  • Dodgers Rumors
  • Giants Rumors
  • Guardians Rumors
  • Mariners Rumors
  • Marlins Rumors
  • Mets Rumors
  • Nationals Rumors
  • Orioles Rumors
  • Padres Rumors
  • Phillies Rumors
  • Pirates Rumors
  • Rangers Rumors
  • Rays Rumors
  • Red Sox Rumors
  • Reds Rumors
  • Rockies Rumors
  • Royals Rumors
  • Tigers Rumors
  • Twins Rumors
  • White Sox Rumors
  • Yankees Rumors

Navigation

  • Sitemap
  • Archives
  • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

MLBTR INFO

  • Advertise
  • About
  • Commenting Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Connect

  • Contact Us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top

Register

Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version