The Cubs released catcher Jorge Alfaro this evening, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times.
Alfaro, 31 in June, was in camp with the club on a minor league deal and had been informed last week that he wouldn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster out of camp. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Alfaro had the right to opt out of his minors deal with Chicago if not added to the 40-man roster. It’s unclear if he ever formally exercised that right, but he’ll now return to the open market where he can pursue opportunities elsewhere that may provide a clearer path to playing time at the big league level.
Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Alfaro was part of multiple significant trades as a youngster. After initially signing with the Rangers as an international free agent, he was included as part of the prospect package the club sent to Philadelphia in the Cole Hamels trade at the 2015 trade deadline. He made his big league debut with the Phillies the following year and slashed a solid .270/.327/.422 in 143 games with the club across three seasons before once again finding himself moved as part of the return in a blockbuster. This time, Alfaro was shipped to Miami as part of the return for All Star catcher J.T. Realmuto during the 2018-19 offseason.
Alfaro’s first season with the Marlins went rather well, as he slashed a respectable .262/.312/.425 with 18 home runs in 465 trips to the plate. His defense behind the plate left something to be desired, however, and over the next two seasons Alfaro would begin to deal with similar struggles on offense. In 123 games with the Marlins between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he hit just .240/.282/.343 in 411 trips to the plate. That performance was good for a wRC+ of just 69, 31% worse than the league average hitter over that same period.
With his struggles with the glove now compounded by struggles at the plate, the Marlins decided to move on from Alfaro during the 2021-22 offseason by moving him to the Padres in a cash deal. Alfaro rebounded somewhat to post a decent 91 wRC+ in 82 games with the Padres in 2022 but found himself non-tendered that November, after which point he spent the 2023 campaign bouncing between several organizations while spending time with the Red Sox and Rockies at the major league level.
Looking ahead, it would be something of a surprise to see Alfaro land a major league deal given his struggles in recent years. With that being said, the Colombia native’s prospect pedigree and previous offensive success at a position where upper-level depth is particularly valuable should make him one of the more attractive options to catching-needy clubs available on the market at this stage of the offseason, and it’s easy to imagine him finding a minor league deal where he’ll be more likely to impact the big league roster than he was in Chicago, where the Cubs are poised to rely on a tandem of Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya behind the plate.
Cool Rays just found their backup catcher
Thought the same exact thing.
Casali, Leon, Alfaro, in that order, because defense matters
Thinking the same thing.
Mr Batting Practice…
Slubs.
Would have been nice to keep him in Iowa but I get it. Hudson and Wyndham are adequate in Iowa. But Alfaro has a better arm and bat. I was more surprised they kept both Madrigal and Mastrobuoni. I didn’t see that coming. At least Cuas will be here for comedic relief for Mike127 to bet on where his pitches will land.
So true, Uncle—a game that my son and I do NOT like playing. Perhaps some of that let loose has been harnessed and the advertising boards will be safe.
I’m not surprised at the Madrigal/Mastrobuoni thing at all. You have to consider that Madrigal will have to run at some point during the season, leading to at least one, probably more IL stints.
I think Cooper making the team solidified Canario going down. That firmly makes Bellinger the every day centerfielder (with very rare exceptions) and makes Tauchman the fourth outfielder (Mastrobuoni emergency guy).
Obviously, Madrigal and Mastrobuoni are going to get a LOT of latter game defensive innings at third….but the interesting point will be, in close games that the Cubs are trailing, will Counsell have the ability to remove Morel from the lineup to play Madrigal or anyone else defensively.
Glad that Little made the team—hope that he gets off to a good start. Also, hoping that Assad gets off to a good start this year. He was brutal in April last year and went out for a while but was really, really good the last two months.
Only two more sleeps before “we go”.
What’s going to be more interesting to see what happens when Wisdom is healthy. Is Cooper mashing? Is Madrigal hurt again? Are they really going to cut Cooper for Wisdom? Mastrobuoni is the only LH bat, Can’t cut him. Or shouldn’t anyway. Hoyer’s love affair with Wisdom and Madrigal might get tested.
Time to try pitching?
San Diego legend. Dude was clutch.
Agreed. Pads should grab him on the cheap for a ML deal.
There are two very good reasons why the Padres should not do that.
?
Phillies really won that Realmuto trade.
Maybe he don’t like DesMoines where the s are silent