The Cubs have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Jared Young, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Outfielder Rafael Ortega is going on the 60-day IL in a corresponding move after fracturing his finger last night.
Young, 27, was a 15th-round selection of the Cubs in 2017 and has been working his way up the ranks of the minor leagues since then. After the pandemic wiped out the minors entirely in 2020, Young split his time between Double-A and Triple-A in 2021. That year, he hit .290/.361/.471 for a wRC+ of 128, walking in a solid 9.8% of his plate appearances and striking out in just 19.3% of them. This year, he’s taken a bit of a step back, hitting just .228/.310/.413 for the season, but the Cubs will give him a shot in the majors regardless.
Defensively, Young has mostly played first base and third base, though a little bit in the outfield corners as well. That will give the Cubs some flexibility in how they deploy their lineups down the stretch. With just three weeks left on the schedule and the Cubs well out of contention, they can use that time to audition youngsters and just generally give them reps at the game’s highest level.
For Ortega, the transfer is largely procedural at this point. When the news of his fracture came out last night, it was expected to end his season, which is now a certainty.
Should be Matt Mervis dude is tearing up minor league pitching and he’s 24
Mervis doesn’t have to protected from Rule V draft so he won’t be added to 40 man this year. Plus he’s trying to win the MiLB home run crown.
I understand the rule 5 part but still doesn’t make sense he’s worthy of a call up Frank would be an easy DFA to make room
They have a lot of players to protect on the 40 man this December and a spot won’t be required for Mervis. Might as well give the spot to a player that needs protecting. I’d bet Frank the Tank will be DFA’d before December anyway.
Mervis can earn a spot on the opening day roster out of spring training if he continues to hit.
Yeah but if mervis earns a spot on the opening day roster then it’s a moot point abt the rule 5 protections as one of those players or someone else will be DFA’d to open a spot then
If…
And maybe the Cubs can swing a trade.
There are ways to manipulate the 40 man next season to make room for Mervis. Let’s say the Cubs fill their 40 man with the prospects that need to be protected. If they have a guy that they feel needs extra time or has an injury that is longer than a 15 day stint, then they can add them to the 60 day IL call Mervis up and not lose someone who is rule 5 eligible.
So no need to call Mervis up this season. I want to see him too but there are a ton of guys who need protection before the season. They are already more than likely DFAing multiple guys currently on the 40 man just to make room for who they feel they need to protect this offseason. Mervis will be up early next season, and the Cubs will find a way to manipulate the 40 man with an “injury” or two.
Seems to me the point you are missing, is this. The Cubs, as well as a few other MLB teams, will occasionally reward some career organizational players with late season promotions to Chicago. They realize some players are never going to make it onto the MLB roster due to not having ‘quite enough’ of what it takes. But it is that organizations way of thanking them for their contributions to the team. It also helps to showcase them for other teams. Most likely Young will not make the 40 player roster this winter.
Mervis will probably be on the opening day roster as a NRI and some pitcher will be put on the 60-day IL that day to make room for him on both the 26- and 40-man roster.
There is absolutely no reason to add Mervis to the 40-man before then.
Young gets the Taylor Davis cup of coffee, and hopefully a team like the A’s will give him a NRI over the winter. If not, he probably comes back to Iowa in February as a “break glass” depth piece.
Cubs aren’t going anywhere, and it’s kind of cool to give Young a cup of coffee. Odds are he’ll not be on the 40 before the Rule 5 draft.
Should be matt mervis dude is tearing up the minors and is already 24
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Young is an interesting prospect to me. Every time he gets a chance in the Spring or he seems to do well against Major League Pitching. He may fool everyone and be one of those guys who actually does BETTER against big time pitchers than Minor League P’s. Anyway this won’t be enough of a sample size to REALLY tell one way or the other, But I’m interested to see how it goes. Mervis should be the 1st Baseman next year but there should be some backup positions available. The only lock would be Morel.
It’s like the Cubs are looking for the next Ben Zobrist and have a roster of players that play multiple positions-none of them with the ability to be above average. Matt Mervis has a better chance of being Carmelo Martinez part two than being a star.
If Mervis plays in the bigs for 9 years and over 1.000 games (like Melo Carmelo), that would be awesome!
Mervis needs a lot more work on his defense and he struggles against left handed pitching (per reports). I think the Cubs are happy to let him develop a while longer in AAA, maybe play some winter league ball, try to improve those aspects of his game before starting his clock.