The Cubs are designating outfielder Alexander Canario for assignment in order to open a roster spot for Justin Turner, reports ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Canario is out of minor league options and would’ve either needed to break camp with the team or else be designated for assignment (and subsequently waived or traded) at the end of spring training.
Canario, 25 in May, came to the Cubs alongside righty Caleb Kilian in the 2021 deadline swap that sent Kris Bryant to San Francisco. At the time, Canario was considered among the Giants’ ten or so top prospects due in large part to his plus raw power. Just 21 years old and in Low-A at the time of the trade, he’d undergone shoulder surgery to repair a labrum tear the year prior. His 2021 season produced sub-par results, but that’s not a surprise for a player trying to get back into the swing of things following a canceled 2020 campaign and a notable surgery.
Subsequent seasons have yielded better results at the plate but ongoing questions about Canario’s hit tool, approach at the plate and ability to stay on the field. He crushed 37 home runs while batting .252/.343/.556 across three minor league levels in 2022. He was limited to 59 games in 2023 — including a brief six-game MLB debut — when an ankle injury and further shoulder troubles slowed him. Canario popped 18 homers in 64 Triple-A games in 2024 and logged a .280/.357/.443 line in 28 big league plate appearances.
Even beyond the durability concerns, Canario’s performance in the upper minors gives reason for pause. His surface-level stats, particularly his power output, look quite appealing. He hit .248/.329/.552 with 24 homers in just 350 Double-A plate appearances and .252/.345/.521 with 32 homers in only 528 Triple-A plate appearances. However, Canario fanned at a 26% clip in Double-A and a 28.9% clip in Triple-A.
Canario’s strikeout troubles have actually risen even as his time in Triple-A has progressed. He fanned at a 25% rate in his first 20 games there back in 2022 but saw that number rise to 28% in 36 games in 2023 and a huge 30.4% in 64 games last year. He’s only taken 45 MLB plate appearances but has punched out in 42.2% of them (19 times). The 63.5% contact rate Canario posted in Triple-A last year would’ve ranked dead-last among qualified big league hitters by a margin of more than two percentage points. In his 45 MLB plate appearances, he’s made contact on only 59.8% of his swings.
Defensively, Canario is limited to a corner and is not regarded as a plus defender — despite having a plus arm. He’s a slightly below-average runner who lacks the range for center field. That profile, paired with his plus raw power and notable platoon splits, has prompted scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs and other outlets to project him on the short side of a right field platoon in the majors.
At this point, Canario had presumably fallen to no better than sixth or seventh on the Cubs’ outfield depth chart. Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker form the starting trio, with Seiya Suzuki slotted for regular DH work and occasional corner duties. Kevin Alcantara is on the cusp of MLB readiness and is younger with better defense, multiple minor league options remaining and a vastly higher ceiling overall. Fellow top prospect Owen Caissie is also on the 40-man roster and had surely leapfrogged Canario as well.
Given his huge raw power, Canario could very well end up with another club by way of a small trade or waiver claim. But Canario’s prodigious swing-and-miss rates, broad-reaching susceptibility to breaking pitches and minimal defensive upside all combine to make him less appealing to big league clubs than some might expect when looking at his surface-level numbers. Former Cardinals outfield prospect Moises Gomez found himself in a similar spot last spring and went unclaimed on waivers.
Canario’s DFA window will last for one week, but if the Cubs are to trade him, they’ll need to do so within five days. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, so if Canario isn’t traded within five days’ time, he’ll head to the waiver wire.
Somebody should give Canario a real shot in the Majors.
Preller on line 1.
The Padres need to give the Cubs someone in A ball for Canario and have him be the short side LF instead of Connor Joe.
The White Sox should be interested. He’s young, has big power potential. Give him a real shot and see what happens. There’s no reason why the White Sox shouldn’t be patient with him and give this a long look.
Cubs never have him a chance, his production was decent at MLB.
They never gave mervis a chance either.
I look forward to seeing both of them actually get to play this year.
Wow you like watching terrible baseball eh?
I have a feeling this will bite the Cubs in the …
Couldn’t agree more. I remember he was called up season before last when they actually had a solid shot at a wild card and Ross wouldn’t play him because he preferred Wisdom. Dumb.
Do I need to say it? Again?
The expanded article does point out some major weaknesses in his game. But still.. surprising.
Yes, Canario deserved a better shot, before getting to this point. He will probably carve out a decent career as a nice bench piece for some MLB team. The Cubs got NOTHING for Bryant.
Yeah. But it turns out they didn’t lose anything either. And saved a lot of money. But yeah unless Killian gets a shot and turns it around, Yep.
Granted yes he has major weaknesses but some of the tools are legitimately there I would be sick if I was a cubs fan feels like you could’ve moved him earlier in the offseason without tanking his value
I’m already sick. Sick of the lack of Management planning and foresight. In a few years you’ll be able to pick a pretty good team of ex Cubs that were given away for no reason.
Neither did the Giants. And the Rockies?
Killian may still show promise but since he’s been used as a swing man (rather than a full-time starter) his results have weakened.
And they did well in that trade. What do you think Bryant was worth post trade?
Just not paying him was worth him leaving.
He can’t stay healthy to be a starter
Canario will be picked up real quick.
I predict White Sox, Rays, or Padres
White Sox need outfield help, good point!
Took the first 3 that could grab him… But it’s true. I hope he gets regular playing time.
Hello Dave Dombrowski!!! Right handed OF who can play CF!!!
Canario should not be in CF.
Don’t like this move by the Cubs. Would have rather seen Workman DFA’d.
They can’t DFA Workman, he has to be offered back to Det first.
Then give him back and keep Canario.
Article literally said he can’t play CF
He can play CF the same way Ben Zobrist could play RF. You can put him out there. And he would be OK for a game or 2. You probably just wouldn’t want a steady diet of it. It would be like eating Bic Macs every day.
UncleMike – Is a “Bic Mac” a Big Mac with the black ink or blue ink?
grin.
He’ll be claimed long before it’s Philadelphia’s turn
He’ll be gone in the trade window before he gets that far.
Jays should trade for him ASAP
Why the hell would they get rid of him instead of Brujan or Workman? WTF
Good question, but probably just due to all the OF depth w PCA, Alcantara, Caissie, etc.
I think Canario’s bat will play in MLB, so this is frustrating. I had at least hoped Jed would include him in a deal for pitching this winter.
More red flags from Hoyer.
I was hoping they’d keep Canario. Hopefully, they can get a comparable prospect for him in trade.
Brujan plays the outfield and infield. Switch hitter, too. He is out of options.
So, it’s looking like he will make the team.
Workman can only be traded because he is Rule 5. It will be a couple of weeks before they can run him through waivers.
Guys with swing and miss like Canario typically do not amount to anything.
White Sox should be all over him because they lack any real talent but Canario wasn’t going to play for the Cubs before his options were burned up.
Brujan has zero power
Better than Pham
This makes no sense at all.
He needs a ballclub that can rebuild his swing. The talent is there, but that swing is too long.
Cardinals swallow your NLC competitive pride and go do a prospect deal with the Cubs for Canario, he’s a great fit.(RH OF and it doesn’t matter if he’s a platoon guy)
That’s a bad move.
I hate Hoyer. Dump a bullpen arm
At this point (Feb 20) the only option to dump from the bullpen is probably Hollowell and he still has an option year left. Although with so many guys not having options (Pressley, Brasier, Miller, Theilbar, Thompson, Merryweather, Rea) there’s not much space to run the Iowa shuttle anyway.
Canario on the DFA list has to be a signal that they are ready for Alcantara to be that guy in the outfield.
They other day when Counsell said “Kevin” as an center field depth piece, it was probably a tip of the hand over Canario.
Bingo!!! If CC likes someone like Kevin and Hoyer gives him Canario. Expect Canario to be buried on the bench and I mean buried. CC was never going to give him a fair shot because that is how he is. Trust me CC has ruined more young guys careers and confidence then helped. So Hoyer probably did him a favor in DFA’D him
It’s gonna be either Kevin Alcantara or Owen Caissie for 2026 and beyond.
Kevin Alcantara and Owen Caissie could each factor into the Cubs outfield long term. RF Kyle Tucker is likely a one-year rental for 2025. LF Ian Happ’s extension runs through 2026. RF/DH Seiya Suzuki is controlled through 2027 with his contract and one final year of arbitration eligibility. CF Pete Crow-Armstrong is the only long term OF certainty assuming he at least resembles Kevin Kiermaier.
That said, I’d be surprised if one of Alcantara or Caissie doesn’t become a featured player in a trade for a right-handed ace, perhaps as soon as this spring. 🙂
As a prominent player coming from a foreign league, Suzuki is probably a free agent after 2026. Caissie, PCA and Alcantara could be the outfield for 2027.
That all depends on if Hoyer is still here because he will certainly try to re sign Happ. We need him gone to move into the future.
Hoyer could have gotten some low level prospects for Canario, so I agree he’s incredibly frustrating…
He still has a week to trade him after the DFA.
The Cubs also gave up on Jeremiah Estrada too soon.
Some team will trade for him, if not someone will claim him on waivers, I’ll be shocked if he stays with the Cubs.
Welcome to the north in cold April, Mr. Kevin Alcantara.
I don’t think there’s a space for him yet. Wouldn’t want him riding the bench. Besides, it’s cold in Iowa, too. He can get used to it there.
Short term, Tucker or Happ can play CF in a pinch. Alcantara is better off playing everyday at AAA.
If PCA gets hurt for a longer period, Alcantara can be recalled.
Berti can back up CF. Let the young guys get consistent work in minors.
I guess he didn’t look too good at 1B… What a waste. Killian probably not far behind him if he can’t figure things out soon.
kilian should have been dfa’d a while ago
Cleveland
What a waste… this organization acts like it’s investing in the youth, but we’ve lost so many trades for high end prospects and intriguing yet to be developed assets in the past year or two. This is going to expedite the next rebuild period. We might have one or two competitive years, but 2027-2030 is going to be hard to stomach
Aloha Cubs 25, I’m in shock and didn’t see this coming. I wish Canario all the best. Watch Alexander end up somewhere else producing like Soler did when traded to KC. We’ll see what happens. Mahalo
More comparable to Nelson Velasquez
Wait, what? The prized farm system is stocked, that’s the propaganda being peddled. Weird
Apparently it’s so stacked that they have to dump someone like him
Cubs have a 27 year old named Hollowell on the 40man claimed last year from AZ who prev pitched for COL briefly. This guy is worth keeping over Canario? What about Killian? There were better options to DFA than this kid.
Hollowell still has a minor league option, Canario does not.
Instead of having a typical 20/20 (pitcher/position player) split on their full 40-man roster the Cubs had a 24/16 one in favor of the pitchers. Despite signing Justin Turner, the Cubs should have DFA’d a pitcher.
Aaron, it will balance itself in time. Other than Shaw, there’s no need to have any other position players elevated now.
Obviously, the catcher replacement program will snag a spot when Amaya/Kelly get hurt.
They have their four bench guys, their starting nine and the very short list behind them on the train.
And, at this point, other than possibly Hollowell who do they really DFA from that pitching list? Little? Palencia? Roberts? Neely? Pearson? Morgan? No. No. No. No. No. No. The non healthy arms will weed themselves out quickly enough.
And if Alcantara is viewed ahead of Canario—Canario has no shot of playing for the Cubs any time soon. He no different than Nelson Velazquez.
All good points.
Unlike most teams, the Cubs also lacked 60-day IL candidates on their 40-man roster in order to accommodate Justin Turner (knocking on wood!).
Hollowell is a pitcher, Canario #7 OF, can’t compare the two…cmon man
Typical cubs sign an old vet and let a young guy walk that you never gave a chance to just like Estrada last year crap move
#foreverGiant
He will be a Marlin or White Sox OFer in a week.
WSox are so lacking in OF prospects, it would be surprising if they didn’t put in a claim. That said, you’d think Cubs will find a trade partner similar to how LAD did with Cartaya a month or so ago. Poor Pirates could use him, but bad luck a divisional rival will be reluctant.
This is baffling to me. This guy couldn’t have been the weakest link. He showed signs of a breakout, but never got to play consistently.
He wouldn’t have a chance to play regularly on this team or for the next few years. 4 IF on the roster over him and 2 prospects better than him on their way. He’s just simply the odd man out.
He missed most of a minor league season with a bad winter ball injury, and that both hampered his mobility to play CF and let PCA jump above him on the prospect track. I do wish they had DFAd him before camps opened as they would have had a better chance of sneaking him through and outrighting him.
Now the Guardians and Padres should be all over him.
This is why you shouldn’t hoard prospects. The Orioles are doing this and so are the Cubs.. they need to be trading for MLB ready talent when these prospects have value instead of waiting for them to run out of options and lose them for next to nothing.
Cubs are going to run into the same issue with Alcantara, Triantos, Ballesteros and Caissie. They are all close to MLB ready without a position to play due to being blocked.
They will as long as Hoyer is here and he has 5 bucks left below the Luxury Tax.
Agreed, Ryan. What it comes down to is being able to accurately assess the value of your prospects.
DFAing Jeremiah Estrada is one example of badly missing on that.
Giving up Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris…who Baseball Prospectus now rank as the #8 and #52 best prospects in all of baseball…for Michael Busch is another, IMO. (Busch isn’t THAT good).
Guys like Canario (and Alcantara, Ballasteros, Triantos and perhaps even Caissie for that matter) are flawed prospects that are overhyped or held onto too long until their shortcomings become obvious and they’ve lost most of their value.
Good teams know who to hold onto and who to let go.
BP at #8 is an outlier on Hope. Looks like he can be a good player, but I think that’s too high for a guy who played half a season in Rancho Cucamonga.
Aloha Darvish, absolutely agree with you. I’ve been saying for a while since the later part of Theo’s tenure to now Jed’s, I’m not sure the best people are evaluating the young talent. Because some of the moves make no sense. Nothing against Busch, I want him to succeed. I was okay with Ferris getting moved but not Hope! That should have tipped Jed off but no he has to make a “big move.”
Then in this off season Jed trades away a lot of talent, one with a high ceiling in Smith, plus our staring 3B who could rebound nicely in Daikin Park for rentals. Don’t get me wrong, nice to Tucker. If he doesn’t stay in Chicago that was so much given away. I don’t want Jed making anymore trades, he’s in his walk off year, I want him to move on. Let the next POBO construct the lineup, etc. Take care now. Mahalo
absolutely nailed it Ryan. well said.
Every prospect the O’s have brought along has been a hit. Which is incredibly impressive. Jackson Holliday is the only outlier at the moment and he’s raked minor league pitching.
Elias dumped DL Hall and a slew of prospects just last season. Kjerstad/Mayo are the names left and still have significant value. Some will bust. No teams are sure of that in A ball either.
I could be wrong but I think happ, suzuki, and tucker are all free agents after this season so there should be some spots opening up soon
turns out this is wrong and it’s after next season. either way we need to have someone to fill in when that time comes
Hate to tell you, but Hoyer’s performance as a GM is clouded by Ricketts refusing to have any long term exposure with contracts. Refusing to give out deferrals, not even playing in the big name free agent market – that’s not a GM issue. That’s an owner issue.
Ryan—you are 100% CORRECT. If Hoyer had the ability he would have been in on Soto, and had Tucker under contract, and in on numerous others.
This is 100% Ricketts and the family ownership of the Cubs.
I am convinced that Tom and crew have the business foresight, which they couldn’t have had during Covid that a work stoppage is coming in 2026 and they are getting ahead of the curve right now.
Don’t forget, when the baseball world shuts down so do all the businesses that Ricketts owns in Wrigleyville. Not one, but many, many revenue streams get turned off.
Completely different stratosphere than I live in, but it is a good portion of the family livelihood.
If you really, really watched Jed’s interview after Bregman signed with Boston—he went way out of his way to thank the Ricketts, one by one, by name to thank them for the opportunity to get to a place financially that was comfortable.
If anyone thinks there isn’t a strict budget, they are crazy.
And, if anyone thinks that Jed wouldn’t like to be able to spend another $200 million, they are more crazy.
Maybe not in this exact position—but Jed does have three World Series championships from positions of power within organizations.
I completely envision Jed stepping away from the Cubs the exact same way Theo did, saying it’s time and an “x” number of years in one spot is enough.
And–if there is a work stoppage—man, it will be tough to swallow how correct Ricketts actually is.
Food for thought, interesting.
I agree with you RyanD44. Personally, I’m being led to believe there’s bigger moves coming. There’s a reason why the Cubs don’t want long term deals and deferred salary. Look just past the 2026 season with huge dollars coming off the payroll. What I’m getting at here is a potential sale of the team.
Aloha Fred, I agree with you and RyanD44. Though I do put some of the responsibility on the president of baseball operations, POBO Hoyer. It wasn’t the Ricketts fault that signings like EJax, JHey, Chatwood, Morrow, etc didn’t work out. And thank God the extensions put forth by Theo/Jed for Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Rizzo weren’t accepted.
I’m all for spending wisely. I also feel as a business practice it’s not cool to try and “buy” a contender today and pay for it tomorrow. Shohei’s 97% deferral was not how that “clause” was intended. I think 15% deferred is okay and it needs to be paid within 5yrs from the time a player leaves the team and/or retires. The Ricketts offer to Alex was more than fair and I’m glad he turned it down. I hope in the new CBA agreement they define the “deferral clause, put limits/parameters in it.
But by the same token I’d like to see the Cubs emulate an organization like the Braves. Trade when necessary for young controllable talent, extend players as possible like with Olson after they acquired him. Then get FA players as needed. I do not think Hoyer is a savvy POBO, he seems better suited as a GM. And thus, I want Hoyer to leave after this season, hopefully he doesn’t trade away anymore talent for rentals this season and I hope the Ricketts sell the team. Take care now. Mahalo!
Wouldn’t you think that the various MLB PBOs & GMs could just jockey around some of these guys WITHOUT any remaining options by just trading them for one another? Trade one out of options guy who plays a position of organizational depth for a out of options guy who plays a position of organizational deficiency? Instead of all this DFA, Waivers, Assignment mumbo jumbo.
All the activity with out of options players just further points out the outdated, antiquated, unreasonable, nonsensical, limits on both MLB 26 man rosters and the likewise ridiculous 40 man rosters. In today’s game, with the inevitable frequency of injuries coupled with the advent of free agency and the resulting exorbitant player contract amounts it is way past the time that these limits and procedures with regard both establishing the various roster limits and to defining player option years are raised to a level that is pertinent and relevant for today’s MLB.. These should also have some type of conditions to take into account the disadvantage that is placed upon clubs that attempt to build their major league roster utilizing the draft and player development as opposed to the flagrant spending to acquire free agents (from those teams that DO draft & develop) with a lesser reliance on organizational development.
Call It “The Dodger’s Clause/Rule.
Sure because somebody is going to pay for something they can get for free if they just wait a week.
A player acquired through waivers costs the claiming team ZERO money. However that just means that the team running the player through DFA faces the real possibility that they receive ZERO return on their investment. Granted, in the grand scheme of things in comparison to even entry level MLB contracts the out of pocket cost to the team placing the player through DFA is technically ZERO..
BUT
What is the cost to the organization of that player who is being placed on waivers? That player has value both in terms of what it cost to sign/acquire him AND all the annual costs associated with the player’s development by his participating/gaining experience/honing his craft at the various levels of the organizations assorted minor league operations.
In this case, Canario cost the Cubs half of a half a year of Kris Bryant’s services for the 2021 season. Canario was then taking up space and consuming the resources of the Cubs organization for half of the 2021 season and the entire 2022, 2023, 2024 seasons and the consumption of those 3 1/2 years of an organizations resources DOES HAVE A COST and as such the player has a COST.
Isn’t it better to get SOMETHING OF VALUE for SOMETHING OF VALUE as opposed to GETTING NOTHING ??
@jackss
If they pass thru waivers, the team gets one more crack at them if needed, and they get one more opportunity in the bigs.
Of course they had to throw a dig at the Cardinals by even mentioning Gomez..
Couldn’t just for us on the dumb Cub move? My god
How is it a “dig” at the Cardinals to note that one calendar year ago they had a former top prospect with a very, very comparable skill set in a similar spot and note that he cleared waivers?
Steve – I don’t find the comparison that far off, though I may take issue with Gomez ever being a former “top prospect.’ Gomez was released by the Rays before being scooped up by St. Louis, and to my knowledge, never ranked any higher than 13th in any Cardinals organization prospect lists and usually appeared much lower.
“Youjustmadethatup”, aka “Blackpinkinthearea”, aka “JoelP”, aka “BiTA” (and several other monikers, I suspect) is a broken tool with a persecution complex and other issues. Don’t let his false accusations bother you. He’s living proof that the Cardinals definitely do NOT have the “best fans in baseball”
It could be – Welcome to the Southside!! You never know with Getz!
Canario just had a good winter in the Dominican Winter League—.304/.411/.544, 19 strikeouts in 28 games. Someone will pick him up I think. Giants, his former organization?
Doubt it.
They are overloaded with right handed OF prospects with few or no options left. Too crowded in that department already.
This is an example of why Preller has no interest in the cubs prospects. Jed has accumulated guys who are nice pieces but not difference makers in trades. Canario follows Brennen Davis as one of the cubs top prospects who was released. Jed would be a good small market GM.
As a fan of one of those smaller Market teams, I don’t think we would want him.
the Marlins should put in a claim on him right now
I wish we had kept him, I thought he deserved more MLB playing time last year
I wonder what they would want from the reds for him?
Jesus, never gave the kid a chance
The Rockies should trade Kris Bryant for Canario.
Welcome to the White Sox
And Great job on the cub scouting department
How’s he supposed to make it to the HOF now?
Terrible, he was never given a realistic chance to compete on the roster. I think he would do well in a situation where expectations are low and have a strong veteran manager who can hide his weaknesses (particularly in the outfield). Maybe he’ll start as a pinch hitter with some platoon work against LHP once he gets claimed. Still shocking that Cubs gave up on him so quickly. Hope he rebounds elsewhere.
DFA a 25-year-old to add a 40-year-old. Sounds like the plot line to a Hollywood movie that would bomb at the box office..
He was always joyful that Canario, singing in the am while at work in the coal mine