The Cubs have claimed right-hander Enoli Paredes off waivers from the Brewers, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X. The righty had been designated for assignment by Milwaukee last week. The Cubs had a 40-man vacancy after righty Shawn Armstrong was designated for assignment last week and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Paredes, 28, started the year with the Brewers on a minor league deal. He kicked things off with a complete lights-out performance in Triple-A. He tossed 20 2/3 innings over 18 appearances for Nashville with a 1.31 earned run average. He walked a fairly high 11% of batters faced but also struck out 41.5% of opponents and kept 56.8% of balls in play on the ground.
He was added to the big league roster in May and has had mixed results since. Forearm inflammation sent him to the injured list for about two months from July to September. Around that, he made 17 appearances for the Brewers with a 1.74 ERA. Though that number looks nice, his 16.7% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate were subpar, with his 44.8% ground ball rate around average. A tiny .224 batting average on balls in play and 84% strand rate were helping him out, which is why his 3.55 FIP and 4.95 SIERA aren’t nearly as nice as his SIERA.
The Brewers decided to quit while they were ahead and move on. Since Paredes exhausted his option years while with the Astros earlier in his career, they had to remove him from the 40-man entirely to get him off the active roster.
The Cubs are eliminated from the postseason picture this year and have presumably grabbed Paredes as a long-term play, looking at his early Triple-A results and window of control. He has just over two years of major league service time and still won’t be arbitration eligible by this winter. Though he is out of options, he can be retained for four more seasons if he manages to hang onto his roster spot.
That’s nuts he got that far down the waiver claim list, with all that club control and a dominant 2024 season in both the majors & minors.
Well to add to my comment, not dominant in the majors this year, a 4.53 xERA & 5.10 xFIP, plus a 6 K/9 in the 20 inning sample in the majors this year. But at Triple A he was utterly dominant in 26 innings. I’ve never seen him pitch but it seems goofy a team below the Cubs wouldn’t take a flier on him, like for example, let’s say the South Side.
It’s the fact that he’s out of options. I would expect him to be near the bottom of the Cubs 40 man roster and wouldn’t be surprised if they designated him for assignment in the offseason. He’ll be holding out hope that someone offers him a big league deal but I’d put money on him having to settle for a minor league with an invite to Spring Training. Just hard for me to see someone seeing enough value in him to let him have a 40 man spot all winter.
Cubs adding to their Paredes quota…
Second round of Paredes is the charm, at least that’s what Hoyer is thinking.
Well, CHC won’t have any kind of victory celebration to end the year, but at least they can provide a distraction by rolling out the first annual Paredes Parade.
That’s CC for you grabbing the Brewers rejected players. He keeps recycling players. Don’t get me wrong I believe Houser, Smyly, Lopez, Miller, Betancourt and Parenoli are major leaguers but cmon CC learn trust young guys otherwise your going to be fired some time next year
Since when is the Team Manager making organizational decisions? This is Jed Hoyer grasping at straws as usual. Claim every DFA reliever and hope you can strike gold on occasion with someone like Tyson Miller.
Yeah, like Miller, Leiter Merryweather and Lopez. The commitment is zero and cost is nearly nothing. EVERY GM does this. Stunning people are still confused by moves like this.
Hoyer is dumpster diving.
In all seriousness, maybe the Cubs think he can be a reclamation project since they’ve done that with a few bullpen arms now, but if the Brewers don’t think Enoli can cut it. I have very little hope the Cubs can unlock something in him.
The Brewers and the Dodgers and the Mariners didn’t think Tyson Miller was worth hanging onto. Seems the Cubs must have unlocked something, because he’s been outstanding at 2.22 ERA over 48 IP.
Paredes’ first appearance for the Cubs looked pretty solid, certainly is worth a flier. 1 IP, 9 pitches, 8 strikes and 2 Ks.
Did he hopefully bring the “Stick That Stirs The Drink”? Counsell left it in Milwaukee.
And for the first time ever Counsell has finally started actually looking his age. Managing the Cubs will do that to you.
And that phone is gonna ring round the clock without answer or voicemail. That ship sailed a few years ago and is engulfed in flames in the harbor.
He could benefit from learning how to throw an off speed pitch.
That’s nice, but Baez is done… I enjoyed watching him back in the day. But he’s not the same player.
Baez can come back when the Tigers are in town in 2025.
Well, that SIERA has come down to 4.95 in 2024 but a career SIERA of 5.34 is scary. And a K% of 16% in 2024? Good luck, Cubs. Maybe they’ll find a diamond in the rough or maybe just minor league stuffing.