2:20pm: The Cubs have announced the claim.
2:10pm: The Cubs are “adding” slugger Franmil Reyes, according to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Reyes had been designated for assignment by the Guardians on Saturday. Since the trade deadline has passed, the Cubs have presumably claimed Reyes off waivers. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Reyes has indeed been claimed off waivers. The Cubs had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move won’t be required in that regard.
Reyes, 27, has an impressive track record as a power hitter, though he’s enduring an unfortunate swoon here in 2022. He debuted with the Padres in 2018 and then went to Cleveland in a three-team trade in 2019 that involved six other players. From his debut through the end of the 2021 campaign, he hit 92 home runs and walked in 9% of his plate appearances. His 29.5% strikeout rate was definitely on the high side, but he still managed to hit .260/.325/.503, production that was 19% above league average by measure of wRC+.
This season has been a complete nightmare by comparison, however. Reyes has struck out in 37.1% of his plate appearances, walked in only 5% of them and hit just nine homers. His overall batting line for the campaign sits at a paltry .213/.254/.350, wRC+ of 69. Cleveland has been using him as a designated hitter, ultimately deciding it could no longer withstand that meager output from a lineup spot that’s supposed to deliver more potency. He was optioned to the minors last week and designated for assignment a few days after that.
For a rebuilding Cubs team, it’s a logical move to take a chance on Reyes and hope that he bounces back to his previous form. He’s making $4.55MM this year, leaving around $1.5MM left to be paid out over the remainder of the campaign. He can be retained for two more seasons via arbitration and likely won’t require a huge raise due to his poor showing this year. The Cubs don’t have a dedicated designated hitter, with impending free agent Willson Contreras getting most of the time there. If Reyes successfully bounces back in any way, he could take over DH duties. He is capable of playing corner outfield, though has only trotted onto the grass for 26 total games in the past three years.
There are reasons to be optimistic Reyes could turn things around. Despite the strikeout woes and general struggles this year, he’s still in the 92nd percentile among MLB hitters when it comes to barrel percentage, 93rd in average exit velocity, 88th in hard hit percentage and 86th in max exit velocity. If he can cut down on the strikeouts even a little bit, he’s still crushing the ball with enough power that he could be a useful pickup, either sticking with the Cubs or being traded in the future.
I think ‘slugger’ should be in quotes not adding
Jaboo’s bat needs hat
so they are adding him or “adding” him?
Must be some Canadian thing…
Ehh?….
They’re adding him ironically.
Yeah i think the joke here is that adding is a generous word to use with someone who has stats like his. By the way, love the handle, man or astro man still put on a great show I saw them in Feb 2020 just before everything shut down.
‘Slugger’ should be in quotes not adding
Makes sense since Cubs aren’t going anywhere for a couple more years. May as well see if they can get anything serviceable out of the guy. And since he’s cheap, that should please Tom Ricketts.
I like the move. very low risk, low cost, with decent upside. A good finish thus year and decent start next year, and he is trade bait.
Dumpster divin’ at its best!
Did you just make that up? 🙂
Interesting move. I know he isn’t a superstar or anything, but I personally thought the Indians cut bait a little soon here. With the wind blowing out, this dude might go all Glenallen Hill on everyone. Might be something exciting for the North Siders, because lord knows there isn’t much this year.
Excuse me, Guardians. I legit still have a hard time remembering.
Spiders would’ve been much better. It’s not saying much but guardians is better than the Washington Commanders. They were better off staying the Washington football team. Unless it’s in a sarcastic way I’ll never call them by the current name. Guardians is just an awful name. I still call it Jacob’s Field.
Never thought I see someone hoping for a Genallen Hill clone. That’s a pretty low bar.
I was just referring to that time Hill hit that HR that still hasn’t landed.
Yes I was watching that game and remember it well. But he was one of those guys who had some “help” if you know what I mean.
104 strikeouts in 263 at bats. this season.
Boom. Just as I expected when he was DFA’d. He’s worth a shot
Dang, back of his baseball card doesn’t look too bad. Can’t be any worse than Frank the Tank this year.
Franks swing is totally screwed up. He looks completely lost at the plate. How long till the Cubs DFA him?
Not soon enough.
So every AL team passed on him? Um As what are you doing other than destroying your team and fan base?
Every AL team didn’t pass on him. It doesn’t work that way anymore. Claim order goes by worst record no matter which league you play in. You can still fault Oakland though because they would have had top priority for a claim.
Nationals had top priority. Then A’s. Then Cubs. Then Tigers.
I wanted the Nats to take him, but I suppose they already have enough marginal outfielders with years of control. I suppose they signaled their disinterest by claiming Alex Call from the Guardians instead a few days ago.
I love cub fans. WAY more than cardinal fans.
It’s going to be a long rebuild in Chicago. They are just now bottoming out. So hang in there taco!
Evidently Cubs are actually trying to do something. I thought they’d go full tear down at the deadline but instead kept Contreras and Happ.
My guess is the cubs prioritized the comp pick for Contreras over the offers they got, and either plan to offer a QO to Happ, or just didn’t like the offers they got for him
Happ has another year. Last year of arbitration coming up.
Waivers are League-wide now, not League-specific. (Inverse standings)
Thanks wynning
When did this change? I keep seeing people say this, but every site I’ve read says otherwise.
It didn’t change. League-specific waiver priority only applied to revocable trade waivers. It’s a common misconception that it applied to outright waivers, but it’s not the case. I’ve confirmed this independently multiple times throughout the years, dating as far back as 2013 when there was surprise that Julio Borbon “made it all the way through the AL” to the Cubs. (In actuality, he did not; the Cubs had the No. 2 waiver priority at that juncture.)
Good to know, thanks Steve.
One dimensional slugger who isn’t slugging and is owed a decent sum of money.
Not surprised a few teams said no. Worth a shot for a team like the Cubs who just shed a bunch of salary at the deadline.
1.5M left to pay.
Yeah. Not back breaking. Just saw the Cubs are now worse than the Reds & Pirates also so he didn’t fall very far.
But will he be post-season eligible?
Haha, just kidding. Not a concern for the Cubbies.
Not that it matters, but it is mathematically possible if they were, say, to go on a 30-5 run like the Dodgers have over the past month plus, then continue to push towards and past .500. In that completely unrealistic scenario, Reyes would be playoff eligible.
As a bitter Cleveland fan from 2016 still, I lol’d at this too much
Idiotic move. It blocks the development of Velazquez, Crook, Hill.
Nah. Another hole in a bad lineup to secure a better pick or he turns it around. Either way – perfect fit. If them other dudes where good enough – they would already be up
Nonsense, AJ. Reminds me of the time when Jim Leyland wouldn’t put in a pinch-runner for Pudge Rodriguez in the 9th inning because he wouldn’t have a catcher for the 10th. Lost it in 9 so no need to worry about catching in the 10th!
Your guys can still develop and Reyes will be whatever he will be.
If he replaces Frank, great. Just want Velasquez to get playing time.
Crook is 27. He’s a fringe 40-man guy. Hill is 24 and not on the 40-man. Reyes isn’t blocking either of them. If they perform well enough, they’ll get a shot. There is this Heyward guy still soaking up a 40 spot. Not sure of what the number is as of today, but the Cubs should just write the 30 something million dollar check to him, and close that chapter.
You know which guys shouldn’t be playing? Frank the Tank for one. And Wisdom. Like the power but hate the K’s. And they are not prospects.
A DH blocks the development of a prospect? Are you being serious or sarcastic?
I mean you play DH you take up ABS that could otherwise go elsewhere.
I don’t believe Reyes is blocking any worthwhile prospect on CHC right now but a DH certainly could block a prospect.
No risk here. Reyes has a .793 OPS. If he can put it all together, he can be a slugger, or “slugger”.
this move by Guardians “surprised” me
Take the flyer on him. He’s not blocking any prospect that counts until 2024 at the earliest. He’s strictly a DH and if you seen his body out of shape. Best case scenario is he creates some trade value for 2023.
Good job, Cubbies. I hope Franmil finds the Friendly Confines to his liking, and the winds are blowing out for him. Visions of Dave Kingman circa 1979 for next year. League leader Home Runs, League leader Stikeouts. I think the Cubs would settle for that.
You have to hit the ball before the wind comes into play.
Good job, Cubbies. I hope Franmil finds the Friendly Confines to his liking, and the winds are blowing out for him. Visions of Dave Kingman circa 1979 for next year. League leader Home Runs, League leader Strikeouts . I think the Cubs would settle for that.
It’s a much better game to watch when guys like Kwan, straw, nayor giminez Ramirez and others don’t strike out like Reyes and Bradley and zimmer and Mercado. My new favorite baseball term is “hustle double”. Homeruns are great but balls in play, taking the extra base and all out effort . . . well that’s old school rod carew Pete rose baseball and the best kind.
My favorite play is the strike out!
In nurse follars;
Cleveland has the lowest number of batters K’ing than any team in MLB.
Their top prospect is a contact hitter. A good number of their call-up’s are contact hitters. This is the best way to counter the hard-throwing pitchers that make their livings K’ing free swingers that all think they’re power hitters.
Cleveland only needs one or two power threats. Rameriz is one, hopefully Gonzales is the other. Gonzalez is doing what they wanted Reyes to do.
Naylor is a power threat.
Gonzalez will likely be exposed here soon. They could use another power hitter but Reyes wasn’t providing that
Reyes Needed a change of scenery. I guess Cleveland had not takers before the deadline.
Earth to Nationals
Wow what a rock star move would have liked to the Cardinals add him battling injuries only has about 200 ab this year. Guardians and their stupid name are going to regret this!
Cardinals are going to need an OF after trading away Bader for their precious Montgomery
His name is Alec Burleson.
Conforto?
I think Franmil has a good shot of regaining his form but I’m not sure Cleveland will regret the move. If you are a guy that is DH-only, you need to have a pretty special bat.. Cleveland is probably better off having Naylor as the primary DH (since he is coming off of that nasty injury last year) and then using it to give guys like Jose, Rosario, and Gimenez half-days off fown the stretch.
I whatever at you
And to add here buddy, 37 hrs in 2019, he batted .275 in the calibrated season of 2020. Last year he had the big injury, still hit 30 hrs, plating 85 runs, with a respectable .254 batting average. Battled injuries again this year – quick hook to me. Reyes “regaining his form” would mean a missed bat for the Cleveland “Gaurdians” and a potential game changer for the smart Chicago Cubs, your worst nemesis. He buddy how do you like that new coach in STL? 😉
I hope you’re right and he does well. It’s tough for Cleveland to be patient with him.. not only are they in a race for the division but they’ve committed to the youth movement. Freeing up that DH spot allows them to get their other productive hitters a rest and also get some playing time for guys like Jones, Gonzalez, and Freeman.
I think Franmil has another two years of control after this season. The Cubs are a great fit because they can give him a lot of consistent ABs since they aren’t competing for a playoff spot. Hopefully that consistency helps him snap back into form.
Funny you say u hope he does well when he plays for your rival cubs makes me wonder if you are sincere or not
I live in St Louis but my favorite team is Cleveland. I have no problem rooting for players to succeed, regardless of what team they are playing for… tbough I still may want their team to lose, depending on who they are playing that day.
It’s difficult to say but picking up a guy with a .213 average isn’t a bad move by the Cubs. Maybe he can find what he’s lost and it won’t cost anything. It’s a perfect fit since this team stinks all the way down from the ownership the front office the manager and whatever the crap is they’re putting on the field
I am a Cubs fan and I like this move a lot.
For his career, Reyes averages 25 home-runs for every 450 at-bats, a 0.253 avg and a 0.793 OPS.. He is only 27 years old, Schwindel and Wisdom are both three years older than Reyes. Narciso Crook is the same age as Reyes.
For the record, I also liked the Wade Miley signing, and we will see if Wade returns next year or not.
Glad you like the move. Every Guardians fan does also. Guy is a rally killing machine with his almost 40 pct strikeout percentage. Enjoy.
Great, he’ll fit right in!! Ha
…and with that, he is probably the Cubs first or second most feared hitter.
Ryan
You must not have seen many Cubs games this year. Even if you exclude Willson Contreras (0.827 OPS), Morel (o.781 OPS) and Hoerner (0.749 OPS plus 12 SBs) have quietly had good seasons.
Morel CF/2B
Hoerner SS/2B
C Contreras
Happ LF
Seiya RF
Reyes DH
Wisdom 3B/1B
Velazquez 4th OF
Good for last place. I think they have room for umpeovement.
The Cubs are 8 out of 15 for batting in NL this year. They just need one or two more additions to batting to be competitive on that side.
BUT . . the Cubs were 13th out of 15 NL teams in quality starts. A healthy Stroman may help.
Thompson, Steele, Hendricks, Stroman, Smyly and Sampson is simply not a playoff starting rotation. There is no # 1 starter and while Keegan has good stats this year, I am not prepared to call him a # 2 starter. Caleb Kilian did not look too good. Marquez is injured. Adbert Alzolay is finally facing live hitters again, but I don’t see him having a sub 4.00 era at Wrigley.
I could definitely see him going off for 30+ HR’s again in Wrigley. He’s always been a streaky player.
A $1.5 mill. “bet” that a former slugger can regain his stroke, and then you can keep him for two more years? Sounds like a good gamble with a measurable and affordable cost if the Cubs are wrong.
.213 is dang near better than anyone in the current Tigers lineup. He’d bat cleanup.
A nothing to lose, why not take a flyer on him. If it doesn’t work out, release him in the off season. New surroundings, hitters ballpark he might turn it around, not like the Cobs have a lot of options
If he can somehow get back on track he could easily be a 40 HR guy in Chicago.
It’s pretty sad that as a Cubs fan, these types of signings are all we really have this season and probably the next few seasons.
I’ll trade you that 2016 title for a competitive team right now. Want to make that trade?
The tribe last won a title two years before my parents were born. I’ve lived through two consecutive game 7 extra innings losses in the World Series. We’ve lost to the Braves to give them their only title with those great pitchers back in the 90s, the Marlins who tore it down immediately afterwards, and the Cubs who hadn’t won in 108 years.
I’m 45 years old and will never see the Indians win a World Series. I’m unsure about the Guardians. Forgive my rant, but be happy that you saw your team win a title and stop complaining about how they’re rebuilding now. The title is so much better than constant or fringe contending…trust me.
Unfortunately many so called “Cubs fans” have very short memories.
My Dad, from Chicago and a big Cubs fan, passed away in 2021. I am sure glad that I got to watch on tv every game of the World Series with him in 2016. I absolutely would not trade 2016 for 2023 adding multiple years of Trea Turner, Shohei Ohtani, Carlos Rodon and Jacob deGrom. We’ll keep our 2016.
I hope you get to see that WS title some day soon, brother. Cleveland has had some great ballplayers and teams in our lifetime. If not, you can always change your team. I’m a born and raised Cub fan from NW Indiana and right before the Ricketts bought the team I was ready to jump ship. Couldn’t take the lovable losers anymore. I will be honest, I was tired of seeing teams like the Cardinals doing it right, developing their own talent and winning every year. Well, obviously Theo turned things the right direction and restored my faith in the franchise. But none of these teams truly deserve our loyalty. If they are run like garbage or conduct their business in a way you don’t agree, you shouldn’t support them – financially or otherwise. The relationship is always one-sided. Anyway, just my $0.02. Good luck next year and here’s hoping Franmil finds his swing on the North Side.
Certainly a solid move for the Cubs, given where they are in the rebuild. Reyes upside as a DH would put him among the best in the that position and the downside is some cash, a roster spot for the rest of the year and maybe spring training.
Will they want to pay him 5M next year.
That will be determined by how he looks the rest of this season…
Too bad the Tigers don’t have a competent GM because Reyes seemed like a no-brainer pickup for them. Reyes has more HR than the Tigers entire outfield COMBINED this year and what do you have to lose by paying 1.5 mil and seeing if he can be a decent piece for next year. Instead they’re stuck playing former Rule 5 guys everyday that can’t hit or field.
Not sure your stat about Reyes having more homers than the entire Tiger outfield combined is accurate, but I looked at it and you’re shockingly close! No one can honestly defend Avila’s competence so I won’t even go there!
The only defensible reason for the Tigers to not have claimed Franmil is that they’re keeping a seat warm for Kerry Carpenter. Call him up!
Reyes in Wrigley could conjur memories of Sammy Sosa if he can get himself right
LOL
No.
Perhaps if he became a blatantly obvious roid freak and corked his bats.
Not a bad pickup for the Cubbies. Low-risk and he gets a no-pressure situation in which he can freely experiment with fixes to his swing to see if he can bounce back. I like it for both sides.
What happened to Reyes. His numbers have been just awful this season.
Y’all realize that quotation marks are often used to QUOTE somebody, not just for sarcastic air finger quote purposes, right?! Ha, this writer is quoting Sahadev Sharma’s use of the term “adding.”
Cleveland got off the salary, which is all they wanted while they talked him up out the door… they need to fix the 40-man…. One way or another
Glenallen Hill
The DFA move gives me pause. but Velera is coming next season, Jones is here and needing of playing time. Have to find ABs for Freeman. I only wish a mutual deal for Contreras could’ve been made. Serious contenders don’t sit on their hands at the deadline.
Cubs pickup a 6’5” slugger that can’t play the OF. Schwindel sent down to AAA. Somebody give this guy a 1B glove!