Headlines

  • Twins, Andrelton Simmons Reach Agreement On One-Year Deal
  • Giants Nearing Agreement With Tommy La Stella
  • Orioles Sign Freddy Galvis
  • No Players Elected To Hall Of Fame
  • Blue Jays To Sign Marcus Semien
  • Phillies To Sign J.T. Realmuto
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • 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
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cubs, James Bourque Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | December 18, 2020 at 10:14am CDT

The Cubs have agreed to a minor league pact with righty James Bourque and invited him to Major League Spring Training, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Bourque appeared to be in line to get a look with the Nats in September, but an elbow strain landed him on the IL and limited him to four innings. The Nats removed Bourque from the 40-man roster after the season drew to a close, and he opted for free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment.

A 14th-round pick in 2014, Bourque ranked near the back end of the Nationals’ top 30 farmhands in recent years due largely to a power fastball that sits in the mid 90s and an above-average curveball. Control has increasingly become an issue for Bourque as he’s advanced through the minors and faced better competition, but his strikeout rates have also climbed. In 117 innings from 2018-19, Bourque whiffed 162 batters in just 117 innings — good for 12.5 K/9 and a 32.5 percent overall strikeout rate. He also averaged 4.8 BB/9 with a 12.4 percent walk overall walk rate.

Bourque is the second bullpen flier in as many days for the Cubs, who yesterday agreed to a non-guaranteed, Major League deal with former Yankees setup man Jonathan Holder. Chicago hasn’t spent much on the bullpen at all in recent years outside of a one-time splash with Craig Kimbrel that hasn’t panned out, and the team has also struggled to develop consistently productive arms. As such, there are several spots up for grabs in a largely unsettled bullpen mix, creating Spring Training opportunities for Bourque, Holder and any other speculative adds by new president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer.

Share 0 Retweet 13 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs James Bourque Transactions

Rays Sign Michael Wacha
Main
Cardinals Sign Jose Rondon To Minor League Deal
24 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. baseballpun

    1 month ago

    Ol’ Litter Leapin’ Jed!

    2 Like
    Reply
    • chitown311

      1 month ago

      Trash Heapin’ Hoyer back at it!

      1 Like
      Reply
    • brickhouse

      1 month ago

      AS the years roll by we will all remember the “golden age of Cubs baseball”. One trip to the WS. There should have been more. The Cubs are slowly being relegated to their all too familiar role of also rans . It was fun while it lasted.

      Like
      Reply
      • rememberthecoop

        1 month ago

        Agreed. Sadly.

        Like
        Reply
        • 17dizzy

          1 month ago

          The Cubs president of baseball operations must have been trained by the Cardinals president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak!! Buy low and sell cheap!! Then tell the fans “Oh Yes, we will be competitive!” Ha!

          Like
          Reply
  2. Mrtwotone

    1 month ago

    Rubbish russlin` Hoyer

    2 Like
    Reply
  3. holecamels35

    1 month ago

    Sounds like a hockey player

    Like
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      1 month ago

      Trevor Gretzky still playing?

      Like
      Reply
      • Fly over fan

        1 month ago

        I don’t think so. Saw him play for the Burlington Bees some years back. Great speed, every fly ball was an adventure and a hole in his swing. Think he made high A for the Angels

        Like
        Reply
        • WarkMohlers

          1 month ago

          He gave it up a few years back to do film acting and producing.

          I was hoping Ray Bourque was in his family.

          Like
          Reply
  4. connfyoozed

    1 month ago

    His pitches aren’t great, but he has the best slap shot of any relief pitcher out there.

    Like
    Reply
  5. AmaralFan1

    1 month ago

    Bourque is pronounced as “Burke.” The Nats really didn’t give him much of a look, but his moustache game has always been on point. There’s tons of former Nats minor league relivers floating around the majors, so he could be a good get for the Cubs.

    Like
    Reply
  6. johnrealtime

    1 month ago

    Not too optimistic about this one but it’s a minor league signing so whatevs

    Like
    Reply
  7. rememberthecoop

    1 month ago

    I would hardly call these last 2 moves noteworthy Steve, nor are they likely to mean much of anything.

    Like
    Reply
    • parx

      1 month ago

      The Cubs do this every offseason, tons of minor league deals for bullpen arms, then comes June and fans are like what’s a bullpen arm, we must not have one on the team

      Like
      Reply
  8. chitowninwi

    1 month ago

    Just more garbage to keep the payroll low , Ricketts suck
    SELL THE TEAM !!! Please

    Like
    Reply
    • thebare54

      1 month ago

      No Who do you want WGN again Ricketts care‼️

      Like
      Reply
  9. David Herrick

    1 month ago

    So the Braves signed Drew Smyly and Charlie Morton, and the Cubs sign lottery ticket relief pitchers. How many off-seasons of no changes for Cubs?

    The Cubs are not going to make-up ground on the Braves, Dodgers, and Padres by continuing to operate this way.

    Either trade some of the players with value (Darvish and Contreras) and re-tool with younger players, mixing in with a few veterans OR spend the $60 million you have before reaching the luxury tax threshold and actually try to win.

    1 Like
    Reply
    • thebare54

      1 month ago

      Save some money but that new Japanese pitcher could be a nice combo with Darvish plus we got the Professor

      Like
      Reply
  10. antone

    1 month ago

    Junkster Jed

    Like
    Reply
  11. stevebaratta

    1 month ago

    I’ll keep reading Cubs articles, but I’m giving up on reading the comments. Too many trolls.

    Like
    Reply
    • thebare54

      1 month ago

      Agreed

      Like
      Reply
  12. excusemeflo

    1 month ago

    I’ve Bourqued tons of women

    Like
    Reply
  13. Orichalcon

    1 month ago

    “I’ll keep reading Cubs articles, but I’m giving up on reading the comments. Too many trolls.”

    its actually 1 guy with about 5 usernames, i keep trying to bring this to light but my posts get deleted, MLBTR would rather let the trolls drive away actual fans

    notice how zero of the ‘chitown’ and ‘chisox’ usernames have a badge? you’d think he’d support the site considering he lives to refresh the cubs rumors page and troll

    1 Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Twins, Andrelton Simmons Reach Agreement On One-Year Deal

    Giants Nearing Agreement With Tommy La Stella

    Orioles Sign Freddy Galvis

    No Players Elected To Hall Of Fame

    Blue Jays To Sign Marcus Semien

    Phillies To Sign J.T. Realmuto

    Indians, Cesar Hernandez Agree To New Deal

    Nationals Sign Brad Hand

    Mets Have Made Offer To Trevor Bauer

    Astros Re-Sign Michael Brantley

    Recent

    Twins, Andrelton Simmons Reach Agreement On One-Year Deal

    Giants Nearing Agreement With Tommy La Stella

    Updating Our MLB Agency Database

    Orioles Sign Freddy Galvis

    No Players Elected To Hall Of Fame

    Blue Jays To Sign Marcus Semien

    Latest On The Issue Of A Delayed Spring Training

    Twins GM Thad Levine Discusses Offseason

    Brewers Among Teams Showing Interest In Justin Turner

    Tigers To Sign Derek Holland

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Bauer Rumors
    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • J.T. Realmuto Rumors
    • Marcell Ozuna Rumors
    • Masahiro Tanaka Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • 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
    • Indians 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

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • 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

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version