The Cubs announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Cody Poteet for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to righty Brad Keller, who has now formally been selected to the roster. The Cubs also placed righties Tyson Miller (left hip impingement), righty Ryan Brasier (groin strain) and infielder/outfielder Vidal Brujan (elbow sprain) on the injured list and recalled righty Eli Morgan from Triple-A Iowa.
Poteet, 30, was the lone player the Cubs received in the trade sending Cody Bellinger to the Yankees. That swap was always more about dumping Bellinger’s salary than adding to the system, and today’s DFA only further underscores that reality.
A fourth-rounder by the Marlins in 2015, Poteet has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between Miami and New York. He posted a 2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 frames for the Yanks last year and carries an overall 3.80 mark in 83 MLB innings. He was sharp in 53 minor league innings last year as well, recording a 3.40 ERA. Poteet isn’t a flamethrower, sitting 93.8 mph with his four-seamer and 92.6 mph with his sinker. He complements those fastballs with a slider, curveball and changeup, rounding out a five-pitch arsenal.
Poteet has punched out 20.2% of his big league opponents against a 10.2% walk rate. Both are worse than average, though not necessarily by wide margins. In parts of five Triple-A campaigns, he’s logged a 4.47 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. Poteet still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if a team acquires him in a trade or claims him off waivers, he can be optioned directly to Triple-A. That could make him an appealing target for clubs seeking affordable rotation depth.
The Cubs owed Bellinger $52.5MM over the next two seasons, though he can opt out of the contract this year and trim $20MM off that guarantee if he feels there are greener pastures in free agency. Chicago paid $5MM of that sum to help facilitate the swap but saved $47.5MM overall. Bellinger was seen as a poor fit on the roster, with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki in the outfield mix and Michael Busch at first base. Time will tell whether the club is better off for it, but for the moment the only thing they have to show for the trade is salary relief and about $25MM of breathing room between the current payroll and the luxury tax threshold.
Salary dump for Bellinger. Is it going to pay off or not?
Cubs already lost on deal
Sure we dumped his contract but than we traded Paredes, Smith and P for Tucker to replace Belli and he will leave in the Off Season
Losing Smith will bite the Cubs in the ass for years
Especially since he already made opening day roster
Really, it’s us, the fans, that lost. Mgmt shaved off two years of salary, and we lost his bat and defense with no replacement. Off-season moves already appear to be just awful.
Or he could be another Mickey Moniak
Wrong take. Anything at anytime can happen, blah di blah. Cam Smith sure looks like a kid that’s going to make a huge difference for years to come. You can’t excuse away a bad trade simply because history provides examples. That’s reductive. Don’t be a ownership apologist.
By the same token you can’t call it a bad trade when the piece you are talking about has yet to play a major league game and has already been moved off his natural position.
Let’s see what time brings….still waiting on Bobby Hill, Hee-seop Choi, Eloy Jimenez, Gleybar Torres to make their induction speeches.
If it ends up a terrible trade (which there is a nice possibility) sobeit.
I don’t get a vote at the table so I choose to cheer for the guys I have to cheer for.
Let’s talk in a year. I’ll accept your apology at that time when Cam Smith wins ROY in the AL, Kyle Tucker departs to the Dodgers on a $500M contract, and Cody Bellinger wins comeback player of the year (again). And we’re left with….nothing.
Perhaps the difference between us is that I’m a Cubs fan and you sound more like a Jed Hoyer fan.
25—let me give you my stance and circumstance….been a season ticket holder for five decades. Last time I missed a game, in any fashion, was June of 1990. (so pretty sure you wouldn’t want to compare your fandom to mine)
I have been around long enough that I did live under the mantra of “One Before I Die”. I got that one. And yes, Jed Hoyer played a significant part in that.
So–no matter how any trade, signing, game, series turn out—to ME—-lifetime pass. He has the job, I don’t. He gets paid for it…I don’t. It’s his job—I can’t do anything about it—I do not have a vote at the table.
I”ve seen Geovany Soto win Rookie of the Year, Billy Williams get traded, Greg Maddux leave—seen a whole bunch. Been left with nothing before and certainly will be on the short end of the stick numerous times in the future.
Best thing now, I watch and enjoy (and still get disappointed at time) the games because it’s what I want to do. My life won’t be altered if they make the playoffs and lose in the first round—and it won’t be altered if they win or lose the World Series—and it certainly won’t be altered if they end up 77-85. I’m still going to watch and enjoy because that’s what I do.
We can certainly talk in a year—but be sure I probably had the same conversation in the 70s, 80s—etc.
And that’s all well and good. I applaud your longevity and commitment to the team, win or lose. You can rest assured that my fandom doesn’t require a page of written proof in defense of it, so I won’t even attempt to go there..
I’ve seen those things too. The difference is that I expect more from billionaires who keep raising the price of a hot dog and a ticket to the ballpark at the detriment of young families that want to go enjoy an afternoon at Wrigley
I won’t defend owners that refuse to open their wallet to keep exciting and productive players in the name of staying relevant and competitive. I refuse to be the unspoken loyalist who turns a blind eye to an ownership group that doesn’t put together a consistently winning team. The 90’s and early 00’s brought us new expectations for this ballclub, which is a far cry from what you and I experienced in the 70s and 80s (excepting ’84 and ’89). Let’s modernize our expectations and root on a team that wants to do what it takes to win. That’s all I’m saying.
Haven’t seen you here before, and am glad to see you. You’re smart. But as someone who is also smart who tries to communicate with these, uh, low-,information fans from time to time, I need to tell you: It gets lonely.
I go back to 1960 as a fan. I’m with CubsIn25. They have it right.
The sad part about your statement mike127 is you still insist Hoyer had something to do with 2016. Other than what jhanley said when he called Hoyer -Epstein’s coffee boy.
I’ve said it before. This team is built for one thing. Winning the NL Central. But having said that I won’t go as far to say that it will.
To add a caveat, it’s only built to win the NL Central — in 2025.
All bets are off with 2026 and later. The prospect pipeline has needlessly been pilfered, current roster strongholds (Happ, Hoerner) will be traded for value mid season 2026, and Tucker will be getting paid on the West coast. Hoyer/Hawkins made one bad move after another in some quasi half-effort to “throw all the chips in this year”
You won’t get an argument from me. Hoyer has been dumping worthwhile talent for bad veteran contracts for years. Key example is Estrada. He came up had a few bad games and was immediately exiled. I said at the time he had Closer stuff but that the job is more mental than arm. But he was gone before you knew it .Now he’s good for someone else. Look for the same from Arias. Maybe that’s how Hoyer pays his salary. Selling off guys 50,000 at a time.
Yes, and, sigh, it pains me to say it, and I’m going to take flak for saying it, but a disproportionate number of the players Hoyer gives up on too soon–seems almost eager to give up on–are nonwhite players. Gavin Hollowell and Jack Neely and that gruesome Caleb Kilian stay on the roster forever.
It’s a shame what they did to Buckwheat Poteet.
It occurs to me that some of the fans who lambast me for stating the obvious are probably rotisserie league fans, who only know stats and rarely actually watch the games. So they don’t experience the weirdness of one white guy after another coming up to bat for the Cubs, while the other team has a reasonable complement of black and white. So they really don’t know, and instead bully me for telling them something they don’t want to hear.
Re/Poteet: It’s a kind of stupid point for you to make and for me to have to answer–but there were no darker-skinned pitchers left on the 40-man roster, so Hoyer had to cut a white one.
By the way, no Cardinals fan or White Sox fan can write as well as I can. That’s how you should know I’m real.
Another nonsensical response from Dr. Duck.
Brujan and Miller are still on the 40 man roster. Enjoy them while they last.
@ Bucket (aka Dr. Duck)
I’ll bet you’re fun at parties…Don’t serve many other viable functions, but at least there’s that.
You know more than you think you know. Brujan will in fact be cut soon, and barring pitcher injuries, Miller, who is out of options, will be too. They both were put on the IL with dubious injuries just to buy time.
I sense you don’t know the team very well, do you? Who are you, anyway? You sound like a kid.
Um no….Michael Arias is nothing more than organizational fodder. Poor example….though I do agree Jed Hoyer and his math nerds do not understand baseball or talent evaluation. At all. You don’t learn the game via YouTube videos and made up math equations.
Doesn’t help if Cam Smith goes off and terrorizes my Rangers for the next several years.
Was a gift for the Astros. With 2 bonus players thrown in that didn’t have to be included.
Junior-Cubs already won on the deal losing Bellingers salary for 2 years. I didn’t mind this one as much because Poteet was already 30 and the Cubs have enough young starters almost Major League ready so it isn’t a big deal. Until you look how Hoyer spent it signing Boyd for 30 million bucks.
I think sometimes Hoyer overpays mediocre free agents more or less intentionally, so he can then say he doesn’t have money in the budget to target top free agents. Or maybe it’s just a philosophy of don’t-spend-it-all-in-one-place. Whatever it is, it sure don’t work.
He isn’t even paid that much, it was a bad trade.
Terrible move. Hoyer is so worried about staying under the luxury tax after being stupid enough to barely cross the line last year. Ricketts feels like he’s given the fans their title, so now it’s his turn to rake in the cash. Of course, Cubs could have used his bat, even if positionally he was a bad fit. And then he gave away all that control over a kid who appears to be the real deal in Cam Smith for a rental in Tucker. All because he’s trying to save his job. The whole thing is a rotten mess.
Preach. This off-season was one bad move after another.
No it just showed Boris is ruining the game and cheaper GMs taking advantage of of the high price one and done !!
I heard Poteet is now property of the O’s
Uh, no. The handwriting is on the wall with this ownership.
The handwriting is on the wall with this ownership. Are you pointing to a possible sale of the team? If so, I completely agree. Things are lining up for that to happen. At least that’s my opinion. The current MLB contract expires on 12/01/2026. That also lines up with a rather substantial amount of payroll coming of the books. Happ, Hoener, Boyd, Taillon, Kelly and possibly Suzki. Among others. That’s close to 100 million with those players alone. Hoyer is likely done this season. His contract is up this season. That’s just me. But I can see this being possible. Time will tell.
The only question is when the Payroll comes off will that idiot Hoyer still be around to sign stupid extensions again. In that case I hope you’re right about Hoyer. To me he’s the biggest obstacle for the Cubs to be contenders. However if they anoint his ” Coffee, Toilet paper holder Hawkins, it’ll probably get worse.
I think Jed Hoyer is done after this season Uncle. Rational and sane thinking would prevail that if ownership was serious about keeping him. That would have been done already. Note the key words rational and sane. It’s rare across all professional sports you see a Manager, Head Coach or a GM/VP of baseball ops go into a season as a lame duck. That just screams out there’s not a lot of faith there. But that’s exactly what the Cubs did. I thought one of two things would happen after last season. 1) Hoyer would have been terminated. 2) He would have been extended. It’s a weird call if you want my opinion in how the Cubs go about it. But it’s not our show.
One theory that I have read is that he was secretly extended. I have no idea why Ricketts would do that, but we are beginning to see that the Ricketts ownership is odd in a number of ways.
No idea where you figure this stuff out but I have not heard that, Seen that or read that anywhere , Anytime, Anyplace. You just make this stuff up as you go along don’t ya?
I think Hawkins would go with Hoyer.
My candidate for POBO is Sam Fuld–if they can lure him away from the Phillies.
Brett Taylor brought that up as a possibility several months ago, in the context of noting that teams don’t *have to* reveal such moves.
(Of course, well KNOW that he makes things up…)
But…but…but I was told Brasier was still a good pitcher? What do you mean he had a bad outing and then got injured???
Ever since he left LA he hasn’t really been the same.
So the Cody for Cody trade results in nothing on the Cubs side for now. Does he get picked by another team or stick around and go to Iowa?
High probability he sticks around. Every team in baseball is DFAing guys today to get to 26 and 40 man rosters.
At this point someone would really have to want somebody and cut somebody to pick up a guy for the 40 man roster.
Keegan Thompson made it the ten days without getting traded or picked up and is off the 40 man but still in the system in Iowa.
Yanks should grab him again. Small sample size but he was decent.
@Ghost – Hopefully he makes it to the Yankees. He pitched decently and has an option still remaining so they can stash him at AAA.
I’d take him with an option left. Surprised the Cubs felt they had a 40 man deeper team without him. Watch, an injury opens up a spot after he’s gone. As for Bellinger, he came as money being the only cost and left the same way. Would the cubs be better off with him or with whomever they used the money for?
Tucker vs. Bellinger. Shaw vs. Paredes.
Wicks or Kilian vs. Poteet. Those are the choices the Cubs made.
I guarantee he’ll be a Yankee again before the week is out.
He pitched well with them last year. Yankees, with all the injuries they have need as much depth as they can get. Kind of a no brainer to resign him.
Brad Keller and his 5.18 ERA and 1.617 WHIP over the last 4 seasons → Game changer if I ever saw one.
Problem is he’ll change games from Ws to Ls. Really?? That’s the best we can do with that last roster spot?
Its the last spot on the roster. Not worth getting riled up about.
Every spot matters. Your feedback, however, doesn’t.
Geez, 0-2, and it’s to he end of the world.
Who said that? The mark of a poor argument is when someone starts making things up and attempting to put words in someone else’s mouth that weren’t actually said.
I think it’s your nap time.
I think you need a Xanax or a Valium. Chill.
Thanks Dr. Bucket.
You’re welcome. Here’s my bill.
So, you have a bill? Must mean you’re a duck (quack)
Exactly Bucket—that spot and the couple handful above that, will be in flux all year.
It’s spots 1-15 that need to be really good to have a fun summer.
That spot could’ve gone toward keeping a defense wizard in Nicky Lopez, or in keeping an extra outfielder with a big bat in Alexander Canario, etc., etc. Every spot matters.
Nobody said it didn’t matter—just said it not worth getting riled up about and that those guys are going change numerous times. They used 56 guys last year.
It’s been an off season of watching bone head move after bone head move from the front office. This is just the latest example of that.
They have a defensive wizard. His name is Gage Workman. They have top OF prospects in AAA in case of injury. Justin Turner is not a bad RHH platoon player.
Not sure why you’re defending keeping a terrible relief pitcher over Alexander Canario (dude just smoked two homers in a game), but to each his own. Our OF prospect depth is not as deep as you might think. It’s a numbers game, so for the front office to so willingly part with high end prospects and not get anything in return, just dumb.
Dude just got DFAd for the second time in weeks. Obviously, Canario isn’t a “high end” prospect any longer.
Remember Nelson Velasquez…..same page of the book.
The double injury really knocked Canario off his upward movement.
Never really was a high end prospect. A quality DH or RF with a big bat? Absolutely. To my original point, way more value than a dime a dozen relief pitcher who can’t command his pitches and has a 1.617 WHIP over the past 4 seasons. You’re arguing for the sake of it, and hanging on the argument that unproven prospects can’t reasonably be scouted. Cam Smith is going to do some damage. Alexander Canario will get picked up by an MLB team and crush some homers this year. My point is we didn’t manage those transactions well.
That would be great if the White Sox picked him up and he hit 25 home runs, but how many do you think he would have hit with the Cubs? 5? 6? Was he going to start over Happ? Suzuki? PCA? Bellinger? If an injury occurs to one of those guys will he be better than Caissie or Alcantara who have a chance of being the starting corner OFs in 2027? Do you understand he had to ride the bench because he didn’t have any minor league options left?
Canario is going to surface with someone and rake. Hoyer never gave him a chance. I hate to bring race into any discussion, but boy howdy, does Hoyer not seem to like dark-skinned players who have even a bit of swagger. (You know the names.) He prefers wound-too-tight white guys who “trust the process” and all that nonsense, and leave runners in scoring position.
You’re not for real, right? You’re really a Sox or Cards fan with a ploy to annoy Cub fans. Ok, I’ll play along.
We shall overcome
We shall overcome…
Yes, Happ, Suzuki, PCA, Tucker…four players, four spots. Are they all going to play 162 games? I think there’s playing time or DH opportunities available for Canario with days off, mixing and matching, etc.
How about a trade? Let’s at least extract some value out of him, rather than just DFA’ing him and getting nothing back in return. This FO has to do better at not just losing value on assets.
Back to my original point, which seems to be lost by you, I’d rather have him on the roster than a relief pitcher who has averaged a 5.18 ERA over the past 4 seasons. You can literally pick any unsigned relief pitcher and he’d be a better option than Brad Keller.
Canario’s trade value was close to zero. The Cubs probably picked up a little extra from the Mets than the $50,000 you get for a waiver claim. Now it’s the Mets turn to see what they can get. Maybe they can get a reliever as good as Brad Keller.
Your speculative conclusions, and use of “probably” and “maybe” is an old rusty boat…Doesn’t hold water. Fact remains, Canario was dumped for a bucket of balls and that’s just one example in a string of examples of an inept front office with no clear and convincing direction that squanders opportunities left and right.
Ok, then…
Canario’s trade value was close to zero. The Cubs picked up a little extra from the Mets than the $50,000 you get for a waiver claim. Now it’s the Mets turn to see what they can get. They can get a reliever as good as Brad Keller.
We’ll find out within a week.
So, you went from hedging your words, to now decisively sounding like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Well done. Still holds no water just because you changed a couple words.
I’m sure they got more than $50,000 from the Mets because they traded Canario for good old cash considerations. The Mets jumped the waiver line when they purchased his contract.
Who will the Mets get for Canario? I don’t know — a lottery pick or cash. I take back as good as Brad Keller. It won’t be as good as him.
It’s still $ in the pocket of the owner. How did it help the team? Cubs are well under the first luxury tax threshold this year, so you can’t say $50K or $100K in any way helped the team. All we did is lose a solid 4th outfielder, for nothing.
I’d take a lottery pick over cash. That at least provides a pipeline of talent to be developed for the team in the future. If they don’t pan out, at least the owner and FO put the team’s future first. There are unsigned relief pitchers with a better track record and/or upside than Brad Keller.
Keller upped his velocity about 3MPH from 91-92 to 95-96. More than enough to make him a viable bullpen arm. Cubs have done well picking up cast offs and making them better. They might even be better at it than Tampa Bay whose stock in improving pitchers has taken a severe downturn IMO. Keller pitched well and deserved the shot.
The trajectory of pitching velocity as arms age is only down. For the time being he’s on the better side of 30, so it’s possible that his 2025 Spring Training results (over a whopping 11.2 innings) point to a decent regular season, but that’s it.
If he can keep up this sudden uptick over the course of the season, then I’ll admit I was wrong, but his track record is woefully underwhelming.
Hoyer is only interested in getting a new deal for himself. he doesn’t care about the future. That’s what makes him dangerous with a top 10 farm system. Why he needs to be gone. Keller impressed me not only with his pitching but the way he carries himself on the mound. IDK call me crazy but it’s worth riding out to whatever end.
No, I’m real. I’m a 72-year-old Chicagoan who has loved the Cubs since I was 7. I just see things differently from how you see them. And nothing would make me happier than for the Cubs to prove me wrong by winning the division. Or for the Cubs to prove me wrong by adding a reasonable complement of (worthy) darker-skinned players on the team.
Dangerous, for sure. Unfortunately, it’s not merely “potentially” dangerous, he’s already made too many moves that have shot the team in the foot down the road. We’re going to be feeling the effects for years. Cam Smith is the glaringly obvious example, but deal after deal has been net negative. Too many really good prospects have gone on to other teams. Agreed, Hoyer/Hawkins need to hit the bricks.
If you hate to bring race into any discussion, why do you mention race so much?
It’s hindsight but the Cubs could’ve asked for a different player and not eat $5M in the Belli trade. What were the evaluators thinking?
He had a bad spring.
The reports at the time said the Cubs wanted Will Warren but the Yankees insisted on them eating more money. The Cubs then settled Poteet. I say that worked out pretty well for the Yankees
Man, his brother Saggy made the Brewers squad. Sad
Gladly will take Poteet back, thank you.
Teams might be sleeping on him because he’s not flashy, yet he could quietly become a cheap, reliable starter for someone else. The Cubs traded a big salary for nothing but cash relief, missing a chance to flip Poteet for more value later—think of it like trading a good used car for scrap instead of fixing it up to sell higher.
I’d offer up some cash for Poteet’s return. He might not make it to the Yankees.
So now the Cubs essentially traded Cam Smith, Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, Chris Morel, Ty Johnson (a top 100 prospect on some lists) AND Cody Bellinger for a season of Kyle Tucker. If we can’t extend him, this could be a historically bad deal.
I hear ya. The reality is this. The Cubs won’t resign Tucker. Unless there’s a seismic shift in current ownership’s view. The current ownership simply won’t do that. Mr. Ricketts and his right hand man Crane Kenney have at least 360 million reasons not to do so.
Thank you. I’m not sure why so many people defend these bone-headed trades. We’re on the short end of nearly every deal. Only favorable trades that come to mind that at least hold the potential of working out for us in the last 5 years are maybe Alcantara, Caissie, and PCA. What a waste of quality prospects and players. Hoyer and Hawkins aren’t the answer.
Yankees can bring him back!!