The Cubs announced they’ve outrighted seven players off their 40-man roster. Designated hitter Franmil Reyes, infielder David Bote, outfielder Narciso Crook and pitchers Alec Mills, Steven Brault, Anderson Espinoza and Brad Wieck have all been let go.
Roster turnover is high on this date, five days after the World Series. This is when the injured list comes to an end until Spring Training, meaning all players on the 60-day IL have to be reinstated or else removed from the squad in some way. Also, the Rule 5 protection date is on November 15, now just five days away. Given those combined factors, many players are getting squeezed out.
Reyes, 27, is probably the most high-profile name on this list, given that he was a productive slugger from 2018 to 2021. However, 2022 was a dismal year for him, as he hit .213/.254/.350 for the Guardians and got designated for assignment in August. The Cubs picked him up and put him into 48 games, where his batting improved but was still below league average. Given that Reyes very rarely takes the field and is primarily a designated hitter, that kind of production doesn’t pass muster.
He could have been retained via arbitration, but MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a salary of $6MM. Instead, the Cubs will move on. Since Reyes has more than three years of MLB service time, he has the right to reject this assignment, which he has done.
Bote, 30 in April, debuted in 2018 and intrigued the Cubs enough that they gave him a five-year, $15MM extension. He’s hovered around league average at the plate, with his career batting line currently sitting at .231/.318/.393 for a wRC+ of 91. Despite that somewhat tepid production, he’s also provided defensive versatility, playing all four infield positions and some brief cameos in the outfield corners. He has the over three years of MLB service time necessary to reject an outright assignment, but not the five years necessary to reject while retaining his salary. Given that the Cubs owe him $4MM in 2023 and $5.5MM in 2024, along with a $1MM buyout on a $7MM club option for 2025, he is likely to accept his assignment and remain with the organization.
Crook, 27, was first selected to the roster in June, making his MLB debut by making nine plate appearances over four games. He spent the rest of the year in Triple-A, where he hit .260/.345/.492 for a wRC+ of 120. He is eligible to elect free agency based on his seven years of minor league experience, which he has done.
Mills, 31 later this month, has been in and out of the Cubs’ rotation over the past few seasons, managing to throw a no-hitter in 2020. Apart from that, the results have been pretty mediocre, as he has a career 4.95 ERA over 256 1/3 career innings. 2022 saw injuries limit him to just seven games and 17 2/3 innings. He’s eligible to elect free agency based on his three-plus years of MLB service time, which he has done.
Brault, 31 in April, spent the previous six seasons with the Pirates but was designated for assignment after 2021 and signed a minor league deal with the Cubs. Injuries limited him to just nine innings on the year. He’s eligible to elect free agency based on his three-plus years of MLB service time, which he has done.
Espinoza, 25 in March, was once considered one of the best pitching prospects in the sport. Baseball America ranked him the 19th best prospect in baseball in 2016. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to live up to the hype just yet, perhaps due to twice undergoing Tommy John surgery. He finally made it to the big leagues this year, posting a 5.40 ERA in 18 1/3 innings. That was actually better than his minor league performance this season, where he had a 7.55 ERA over 70 1/3 innings. He was eligible to elect free agency based on his seven-plus years of minor league experience, which he has done.
Wieck, 31, pitched in the four MLB seasons from 2018 to 2021 but began 2022 on the injured list. He required Tommy John surgery in July and is likely to miss the majority of the 2023 campaign. He is eligible to elect free agency based on having more than three years of MLB experience, which he has done.
That Bote contract was kinda dumb.
He will go to Iowa to get paid.
Seemed smart at the time, but didn’t turn out that way.
No it wasn’t
Narciso Croook better go into witness protection
He’ll go to Iowa and fade out into the cornstalks.
1000% agree. They paid him over at least one of their core players. Which now I’m okay with. I wish more cub fans could move on. There’s still so many fans that want Bryant, and Rizzo back. There’s some that want Baez back too. The only one that really hurts is Schwarber.
He makes like 3 million a year which is nothing. Was worth the shot and that has no impact on the Cubs being able to do anything else. He is a peefectly fine backup infielder.
Heyward not in here?
Why? You want him?
Not really but it said they were gonna get rid of Heyward by the end of the season.
So that was a lie
What? How?
The situation changed since then though. The 2 top CF prospects that were likely to be ready in the first half are now injured and questionable. So we need some kind of stopgap, and its possible they just let Heyward be that stopgap since they’re already paying him.
As always, we await developments.
Heyward doesn’t have minor league options. They will definitely make his DFA official before the rule five draft.
I can’t say I’m surprised by anyone on that list. No one will claim Bote, Reyes or Miles. Might as well tuck them away and open up 40 man roster slots.
Wieck could get claimed, as could Crook. I don’t think anyone would care if Brault got claimed or filed for free agency.
I think they’ve already cleared waivers as they’ve been outrighted. I think they all can declare free agency except Crook. Bote would forfeit his contract if he did so though.
Wieck is the guy I hope comes back. A real talent who’s had every bit of bad luck a guy can get. I hope the Cubs can bring him back.
They’re soon to fire him and eat 23mil with it. By all means you can have him. I like Heyward but the hype faded fast basically after he was traded for Shelby Miller from the Braves to the Cards.
The fun part about that was at one time we had both Heyward and Miller and they were both terrible.
I’m a pretty patient guy, but when the Cubs signed Miller, I blew my stack.
7 players? Seems like a lot haha
They had seven guys on the 60 day IL including Hendricks and Heuer. Heyward was on there and he’s getting released later. Ortega and/or Roberts might not be tendered a contract. Wieck and Mills were outrighted.
Also seems like a lot of guys on the 60day IL haha
Well, they had the injury bug like a lot of teams did.
Yeah you are right Donny. I just hadn’t realized the magnitude of injuries this year across the years. Unfortunate…Very unfortunate.
They need to keep Ethan Roberts. He had TJS. Still recovering and probably rehabbing right now. He did great until he had to have surgery. Heuer I know he had TJS as well. Probably won’t make his ’23 season debut until May or June. I’m not sure when he had the surgery though. I think they want him as their future Closer. For a backup plan they need to sign a closer. Kenley Jansen would be a nice fit but I don’t think he’ll leave Atlanta.
Weick a little surprising
Weick seems to be the surprise entry on the list, for sure. I’m guessing there may be a minor league deal coming as the Cubs have really hung with him during some non baseball inflictions the last couple years.
Certainly a lot of number crunching to get to a good number before Rule V.
Waiting for the “more to come” but I think this lands them somewhere around 35 now….with the Heyward release coming soon another spot open up.
I suppose Rivas, Ortega are among additional moveable on the list.
He’s going to miss 2023. Also, over 30. Not surprising.
Why is he going to miss 2023? He missed all of ’22. I don’t think it was TJS
preller needs to bring Francis home
From Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure?
I know you are, but what am I?
From Stripes?
your mean psycho?
damn auto correct. franmil!
Let go isn’t really the right term. They all cleared waivers and were sent to AAA Iowa.
Not quite true. They can choose to accept the outright to the minors or reject it and become free agents. The only one who will accept the outright is Bote, because he then keeps his current contract and can try to make the team next year. All the others will reject the outright. A few might resign with the Cubs on minor league contracts but I kind of doubt it.
bote got the boot?
what about the $20miil of the contract?
$20m? What are you talking about? About $10m remains
$4 M in 2023
$5 M in 2024
$1 M In 2025 with buyout (otherwise $7 M)
So yeah, more like $10 M.
It was only 15 mil over 5 years in the first place. If he moves on, he’ll only be remembered for his walk off grand slam vs the Nats. He has shoulder issues now too. Separated shoulder last year. He missed a lot of this season.
Bote overboard.
Can Franmil be fixed? He remains a favorite of Padres fandom. Such a likeable guy. The Padres have an opening for a DH.
He fell out of favor in CLE this year when he showed up to ST outta shape, and his performance reflected that. Gonna depend on his willingness to put in the work.
Shake Shake Shake. Shake your Bote
Why? You want him? 75% off!
Love to see the Padres sign Reyes to a minor league deal. See if he can recapture the magic in a Padres uniform.
Padres already have too many position players. Where would he play?
Too many? They don’t have a LF, 1B, and DH as of today.
But didn’t they have 4 first basemen until they traded Hosmer, which was a miracle? Their infield is loaded. They’re still paying Hosmer and Myers and just keep adding guys in spots they have filled.
David Bote hasn’t been good for five years. Hoyer was under pressure to let him go. The Cubs will benefit from these changes.
Time to “turn the page”. Good luck to them.
With Bote’s lack of speed, the offense was station to station when he was in there.
Maybe the Rays will sign a guy like Franmil. They need some power in the lineup and after his dismal season, it might be a low risk high reward type deal.
Reyes and Miguel Sano will be competing for spots as low-risk major reclamation projects.
I can remember there was a time when Kris Bryant started to have his injury issues and struggles. Some Cub fans and members of the Chicago sports media wanted to hang Bryant by his toes and have Bote replace Bryant at 3rd.
Still maybe. Overrated contract, oft injured, chronic under performance…
Padres fans were despondent when Reyes was traded to the Guardians. Now they can get him back cheap.
Cubs fans were sure Bote was the 2nd coming of Bryant.
Things sure do change don’t they?
Nobody ever thought Bote was the second coming of Bryant.
What was thought he could be a decent utility player that could play multiple positions.
Hard to believe Mills threw a no-hitter once
Nippon professional Baseball League is calling, Franmil. Maybe with learning some plate discipline over there, you could
Rebuild your once promising career.