The Cubs have released right-hander Caleb Kilian, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page. The righty was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week and presumably passed through waivers unclaimed in the days since his DFA. The Cubs could have outrighted the right-hander to the minor leagues, but evidently did not choose to do so. He’ll now be eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs without the club needing to carry him on their 40-man roster.
Kilian, 28 in June, got his start in pro ball as an eighth-round pick by the Giants back in 2019. He made just seven appearances in the minors that year, with 16 scoreless innings between rookie ball and Low-A. That impressive start to Kilian’s pro career was put on hold due to 2020’s canceled minor league season, and when he got off to a hot start with the Giants between the High-A and Double-A levels in 2020, Kilian found himself swapped to the Cubs alongside outfielder Alexander Canario at the 2021 trade deadline in the deal that made Kris Bryant a Giant.
That trade kicked off Kilian’s Cubs career, and he made four starts for the club’s Double-A affiliate down the stretch to finish the year with a 2.42 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate in 100 1/3 innings across two levels of the minors. Those were solid numbers for the year and put Kilian on the radar for a big league call-up at some point in 2022. He started the year at Triple-A but got his chance with the Cubs in June of that year. His first outing in the majors was a solid run, as he allowed three runs across five innings of work while striking out six and walking two. Things came apart from there, however, and Kilian struggled to a 14.21 ERA with ten walks in just 6 1/3 innings of work against three strikeouts.
That pair of disastrous outings ended Kilian’s first foray into the majors, and his newfound control struggles seemingly followed him back to the minors. After posting a 2.06 ERA with a 9.1% walk rate and a 24.8% strikeout rate in nine Triple-A starts prior to his call-up, Kilian struggled to a 5.37 ERA with a 14.6% walk rate the rest of the way after being optioned back down to the minor leagues. He managed to rein in his wildness in 2023, but that came at the expense of punchouts; Kilian struggled to a 4.56 ERA in 25 Triple-A outings that year despite walking just 7% of his opponents thanks to a lackluster 18.6% strikeout rate.
Last season, Kilian appeared to be in the conversation for a big league job with the Cubs during Spring Training before being sidelined by a teres major strain for several months. When healthy enough to pitch again, Kilian posted a 3.22 ERA in 44 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level. That was a marked improvement, but his 20.3% strikeout rate was still lackluster. He continued to struggle at the big league level in brief call-ups to the majors as well, with a 4.22 ERA and 5.98 FIP in 10 2/3 innings of work that brought his career ERA in the majors down to 9.22.
Coming into 2025, Kilian had an odd Spring Training where he struck out 32.3% of his opponents in six innings of work, but also surrendered 12 hits and wound up with a 7.50 ERA. His first start at the Triple-A level was nothing short of disastrous this year, as he surrendered six runs over 2 1/3 innings of work. That wound up being his only outing with the Cubs this year before they decided to pull the plug and designate him for assignment. Now that he’s cleared waivers and been granted his release, the right-hander will have the opportunity to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs and try to get his career back on track, though it’s also possible he could look to reinvent himself in independent ball or overseas as well.
Now that he has cleared waivers I expect some team to sign him to minor league contract for an arm in AAA. He might come around with the right pitching coach.
He could be back with the Cubs. According to Arizona Phil at Cub Reporter, they could not put him on outright waivers because he was injured. So, they had to unconditionally release him when he was DFA’d and they couldn’t find a trade partner.
Same thing happened to Juan Carela for the White Sox. They released him since he was on the 40-man and minor league IL since he is missing this year. He’s likely to sign a minor league deal as well.
Can you say Norfolk Tides? Orioles
The Kris Bryant trade has now officially returned zero MLB value to the Cubs. Kilian never adjusted to the tighter margins in MLB.
Jed kept prospect-hugging both Caleb Killian and Alexander Canario, when they had value he could have used them as trade chips…
Are you sure another team specifically asked for them in a trade and Jed turned them down? Or is this another “Jed sucks no matter what he does” comment??
I never said “Jed sucks no matter what” and I never claimed to know that a team specifically asked for either Killian or Canario. I am simply stating that they both could have been trade chips seeing how the Cubs have had an abundance of them, a very good problem that Jed did well in acquiring so many prospects, and either could have been used to bring in other needs.
Well said CubsWS16.
Getting PCA — ALONE, for Baez and Bryant was an absolute steal for Hoyer. But it’s like a cult, the way people are ‘wired’ to be afraid to give Hoyer credit for anything.
.Hoyer also has been drafting significantly better than most GMs.
Seriously? People think this way irl?
You sounded pretty sure “Jed kept prospect-hugging”. I thought PERHAPS you had some insider info.
Dogbone – Love you man but Hoyer has never drafted anyone. Cubs have one of the best Scouting depts. in baseball Hopefully they can keep some of them because they poached on a regular basis. Giving Hoyer credit for drafting anyone is like giving a cop credit for stopping a robbery at Dunkin Donuts when he’s in there all the time drinking coffee. Read an article yesterday that Cubs were making progress on signing Tucker to an extension. Then somebody actually asked today and he completely shut that door. So it must have been planted by somebody on the Cubs. So no, Hoyer doesn’t get any credit from me. The scouting dept was responsible for telling him who the right player is to trade for. You’ll see.
Isnt part of the GM’s job to hire, fire, or retain scouts?
Jed does suck. You don’t agree?
I think like EVERY SINGLE GM IN ANY SPORT, he’s made serious mistakes, however, the organization overall is in great shape.
Good points. Jed sometimes does prospect-hug, and then seems to give up on them all at once, and get nothing.
It’s Kilian with one -l by the way.
Not they KB has done anything since leaving too..everyone lost in this trade, well except KBs bank account!
In hindsight, I think KB would’ve taken less to be with a contender.
Wasn’t he one of the non funny guys on snl
Yeah, he was the other guy in night at the Roxbury. I can’t believe they made that into a movie.
*proceeds to bob neck rapidly to What is Love*
Wonder what happened to the other yokel in that sketch. Bobby Farrell or some such. Think he was also a former pitcher. Wonder if his career ever took off
With a 98 mph fastball, I’m surprised they never tried him out in relief. He just could not get over the hump as a starter.
Wrigley fun fact: The trough urinal would have come about as a way, from a public restroom standpoint, for people to urinate and have a stream of water running by that constantly washed downstream.
So Wrigley is unique. where else one might find such a delightful relic?
They might be used in prisons
The biggest value was not re-signing Bryant. Blast Hoyer all you want but he knew when to say goodbye to Javy, Kris and Rizzo. PCA might be the only good player out of the three deals but one out of 3 in baseball ain’t bad.
That is just not true. He took the best deal he was offered. No contending team came even close. If he wanted to sign a short team deal, a large number of contending teams would have signed him.