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Cubs Designate Michael Rucker For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | February 1, 2024 at 3:05pm CDT

The Cubs have designated right-hander Michael Rucker for assignment, per Bruce Levine of WSCR. That moves opens a roster spot for Héctor Neris, whose signing is now official.

Rucker, 29, has been on the Cubs’ roster since the end of July 2021. He stayed with the big league club for the remainder of that season and has been serving as a frequently-optioned depth arm for the past two years. In the past three years combined, he has appeared in 96 big league games and logged 123 1/3 innings, allowing 4.96 earned runs per nine. His 22.6% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 46.6% ground ball rate are all around league average.

As mentioned, he was frequently sent on optional assignments, meaning he’s also thrown 76 innings of Triple-A ball over those three seasons. He posted a 3.20 ERA at that level over that time period, pairing a 26% strikeout rate with a 7.1% walk rate, while also getting grounders on nearly half of the balls in play he’s allowed.

Despite those generally solid results, he’s been nudged off the club’s roster this winter. The Cubs added Michael Busch and Yency Almonte in a trade with the Dodgers and have also signed free agents Shota Imanaga and Neris.

They will now have one week to trade Rucker or attempt to pass him through waivers. He could garner interest from other clubs based on his track record and roster flexibility. He still has one option year remaining and won’t need to be carried on an active roster. His service time clock is also just shy of two years, meaning he’s at least a year away from qualifying for arbitration and could be retained well into the future. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he could stick with the Cubs as non-roster depth.

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Chicago Cubs Transactions Michael Rucker

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View Comments (19)
Post a Comment

19 Comments

  1. Tacoshells

    2 years ago

    He’s rucked.

    2
    Reply
  2. Yankee Clipper

    2 years ago

    I wonder if this means Hootie and the Blowfish are getting back together….

    2
    Reply
    • I Like Big Bunts

      2 years ago

      I wonder if this means Michael Jordan is coming out of retirement. Daaaaaaaaaaarpppppp!¡!¡

      Reply
    • Logjammer D"Baggagecling

      2 years ago

      That would be Darius Rucker. Micheal’s brother from another Mother

      4
      Reply
      • Unclemike1525

        2 years ago

        All I know is:
        Tomorrow is Groundhog Day
        No Visible snow on the ground in Chicago
        2 WEEKS UNTIL P’S AND C’S REPORT!
        Life here isn’t so bad right now.

        1
        Reply
  3. harrycarey

    2 years ago

    So will some team claim him or does he pass through and get to spring training on a AAA deal?

    1
    Reply
  4. schwender

    2 years ago

    Oriole legend

    Reply
  5. stubby66

    2 years ago

    Grab him Brewers and make him into a nice bullpen pitcher. Rub it into CC that the organization made him into a good manager and that he held the team back from being more successful

    Reply
    • Unclemike1525

      2 years ago

      He’s all yours Stubby

      2
      Reply
    • mike127

      2 years ago

      Stubby——keep your eyes peeled. Cubs are going to start DFAing a few valuable pieces soon. Where there are a couple guys I would like to see go first, the bottom four or five guys on that 40 man are probably appealing to a lot of teams.

      A Bellinger or Chapman or another pitching addition is just going to force the Cubs to expose some of their depth pretty soon.

      Reply
      • Unclemike1525

        2 years ago

        I just heard the other Rucker got arrested so Hootie won’t be getting back together. LOL Bad Ruckin Day.

        Reply
      • Gator50

        2 years ago

        Brennan Davis will likely be on the chopping block.

        Reply
    • Spotswood

      2 years ago

      Stubby, Corbin Burnes on line 1.

      Reply
  6. Eric Olson 2

    2 years ago

    Rucker is getting the David Bote treatment.

    Reply
    • Bucket Number Six

      2 years ago

      He is not. Bote is getting $5 million to play in Iowa.

      1
      Reply
      • Robert-5

        2 years ago

        Ha, good point!

        Reply
  7. Don Zimmer

    2 years ago

    Who’s DFA’d next when Belli signs? Wisdom? Davis? Other?

    Reply
  8. PutPeteinthehall

    2 years ago

    Probably will get claimed. I’ve seen worse getting minor league deals this off-season.

    Reply
  9. Slothcliff Hokum

    2 years ago

    This looks like another Mariners signing.

    Reply

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