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Cubs Rumors

Cubs Sign Mark Leiter Jr. To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 2, 2023 at 1:18pm CDT

The Cubs have signed right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. to a minor league deal, reports Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Leiter will be in major league camp competing for a spot on the roster.

Leiter, 32 in March, is coming off a strong campaign where he served as an optional depth arm for the Cubs. He made four starts and 31 relief appearances, tallying 67 2/3 innings with a 3.99 ERA. He struck out 25.9% of batters faced while walking 8.9% and getting grounders at a 48.9% clip. He also made six Triple-A starts, posting a 5.32 ERA despite a 34% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. His batting average on balls in play was .333 in the minors versus .251 in the majors and his strand rate was also higher in the show.

That was a generally solid showing but Leiter got nudged off the roster in January when the club added Eric Hosmer. Leiter went unclaimed on waivers and was eligible to elect free agency by virtue of having had a previous career outright. After just over a week on the open market, Leiter is now a Cub again, though without a spot on the roster.

He’ll head to spring and try to earn his way back onto the 40-man, though he’ll have less roster flexibility if he succeeds. He’s now out of options, preventing the club from freely shuffling him to the farm and back, which they did four times last year.

The Cubs’ bullpen chart will likely be topped by Brandon Hughes and Brad Boxberger, followed by names like Adbert Alzolay, Rowan Wick, Julian Merryweather and Michael Rucker. Leiter will be competing with other non-roster invitees like Vinny Nittoli, Tyler Duffey and Eric Stout for a job in that mix. If he succeeds in getting back on the team, he can be cheaply retained for further seasons as he has just over two years of service time and has yet to qualify for arbitration.

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Chicago Cubs Transactions Mark Leiter Jr.

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Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Outfielder Chad Hermansen

By Tim Dierkes | February 1, 2023 at 9:58am CDT

Chad Hermansen was drafted tenth overall by the Pirates out of Nevada’s Green Valley High School back in 1995, setting a club record with a $1.15MM bonus.  Hermansen started his pro career as a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League.  For the next five years as he worked his way through the Pirates’ minor league affiliates, he was considered a top-50 prospect by Baseball America, peaking at #13 before the ’98 season.

Hermansen made his MLB debut with the 1999 Pirates as a September call-up.  At the 2002 trade deadline, he was dealt to the Cubs, joining an interesting but bad roster.

After that season, Hermansen was traded with Todd Hundley to the Dodgers, bringing Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros to the Cubs.  Hermansen got a final taste of the Majors in 2004 with the Blue Jays.  Chad spent some additional time at Triple-A beyond that, playing in the Marlins and Mets organizations.

In the end, Hermansen tallied 541 plate appearances in the Majors from 1999-2004.  He popped 13 home runs in that span, including shots off Zambrano and Al Leiter.

After his playing career, Chad spent eight years scouting for the Angels.  He’s now focused on being a life coach for former athletes.  You can check out Chad’s website here and follow him on Twitter here.  He also has a podcast and YouTube Channel called Mental Edge Training Coach where he interviews current and former players, coaches, scouts, and parents on their baseball story and the mental game.

Chad held a very informative and interesting chat with MLBTR readers today, talking about dealing with high expectations, the mental side of baseball, how scouting has changed, getting traded twice in one year, how he spent his signing bonus, and much more.  Read the transcript here!

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Dexter Fowler Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | January 31, 2023 at 10:02am CDT

Former All-Star center fielder and 2016 World Series champion Dexter Fowler announced via Instagram and Twitter this morning that he’s retiring after a 14-year Major League career. The 36-year-old offered the following statement:

“It’s here. I’m hanging up my cleats. From an 18-year-old draft pick in Colorado to a ’vet’ in Anaheim — there are a few things I will never forget. Getting THAT call to the big leagues in September 2008. Wow. My world was spinning. My first ’you’ve been traded to Houston’ heart pounding call.

The feeling of bliss while hearing the words ’All-Star’. Never knew what it felt like to be that guy! Forever grateful. Soaking wet and freezing on the field with tears in my eyes after winning the World Series in Chicago. The comfort of calling St. Louis home and being a Red Bird. Today is one of those moments where you metaphorically step down from your throne with a standing ovation, a tip of the cap, and the world stops spinning. I’m mostly proud to look back at my career knowing that I played the game the right way and did my best to make a positive impact beyond the win.

Denver, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis and Anaheim. My family, friends, teammates and staff. Thank you for 14 years. I gave you my all.”

Fowler will go down as one of the best 14th-round picks in the sport’s history. (The only 14th-rounders with more career WAR are Dave Parker, Bob Welch, Rick Honeycutt and Keith Foulke, for those keeping score.) Selected out of Milton High School in Georgia back in 2004, Fowler was in the Majors four years later, enjoying a 13-game cup of coffee with the Rockies that year before cementing himself as a big leaguer the following season when he slashed .266/.363/.406 in 135 games and landed an eighth-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Over the next eight years, Fowler averaged 541 plate appearances and 130 games per season, batting a combined .269/.368/.443 with the Rockies, Astros, Cubs and Cardinals. Twice traded along the way, Fowler went from Colorado to Houston and from Houston to Chicago before reaching free agency.

It originally looked as though Fowler’s stop in Chicago would last just one year. He slashed .250/.346/.411 in a career-high 156 games while tallying a career-best 690 plate appearances before setting out into free agency. Reports of an agreement with the Orioles emerged but were shot down by both parties, and Fowler kept quiet until stunning his teammates and the baseball world at large when he walked into Cubs spring training with a new one-year contract to return for a second season (Bally’s Kelly Crull tweeted video of Fowler’s stunning return at the time).

That twist of fate reinstalled Fowler atop the Cubs’ lineup — the same position in which he found himself eight months later when he became the only player to ever lead off Game 7 of the World Series with a home run. The 2016 season proved to be the best of Fowler’s career, as he batted .276/.393/.447, made his lone All-Star appearance, and hit .250/.280/.444 with three home runs and five doubles throughout a 17-game march to the Cubs’ curse-breaking World Series victory in Cleveland.

Fowler parlayed that outstanding season into a five-year, $82.5MM deal with the division-rival Cardinals, who enjoyed a strong first year from their new center fielder before injuries began to take their toll. Fowler appeared in just 271 games over the next three seasons of the deal — one of which was the shortened 2020 campaign — and batted a collective .218/.320/.370 in that time. The Cardinals traded him to the Angels in Feb. 2021, and Fowler suffered a torn ACL just seven games into the season with the Halos. He rehabbed the injury and latched on with the Blue Jays on a minor league pact prior to the 2022 season, but Fowler was granted his release after just three games in Triple-A.

All told, Fowler’s career will draw to a close with a lifetime .259/.358/.417 batting line, 127 home runs, 253 doubles, 82 triples, 149 stolen bases, 817 runs scored, 517 runs batted in and a total of 1306 hits. That batting line was seven percent better than league average, by measure of wRC+, and both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference peg Fowler’s career at 19.5 wins above replacement — a total that surely would’ve been higher had it not been for the tear in his wrist, the fractured foot and the torn ACL that eventually combined to wear Fowler down in what would be his final seasons.

Fowler will be fondly remembered for his role in the Cubs’ historic 2016 World Series win — both his regular season production and his Game 7 long ball — and for the gregarious personality and charismatic smile he so frequently brandished throughout his career. Congrats to Fowler on a lengthy and productive career, and best wishes in whatever the next chapter holds. As Fowler himself said in his retirement announcements today: “Stay tuned for what’s next.”

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Cubs, Tyler Duffey Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | January 27, 2023 at 9:13am CDT

The Cubs have agreed to a minor league deal with right-handed reliever Tyler Duffey, as first reported by Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Ballengee Group client will be invited to big league camp this spring.

Duffey, 32, was a mainstay in the Twins’ bullpen from 2017 until this past summer, when he began to struggle with diminished velocity, a dwindling strikeout rate and increased susceptibility to home runs. The former fifth-round pick appeared in 40 games for Minnesota this past season but pitched to a 4.91 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and a bloated 1.64 HR/9 mark. The Twins designated Duffey for assignment on Aug. 5 and released him three days later. Duffey signed minor league deals with the Rangers and Yankees over the next few weeks but didn’t make it back to the Majors with either.

Prior to those 2022 struggles, Duffey had been a regular in late-inning situations with the Twins. There were some red flags in 2021 when both his strikeout and walk rates trended in the wrong direction, but the Twins bet on the right-hander’s track record and kept him for the 2022 season.

From 2019-20, in particular, Duffey was an absolutely dominant force in the Minnesota relief corps. He tallied 81 2/3 innings over that two-year peak and posted a sterling 2.31 ERA to go along with a gaudy 34.2% strikeout rate, an excellent 6.1% walk rate and a 43.1% ground-ball rate.

That’ll be the form the Cubs hope they can unlock this spring. They’ll be the third team to take a chance on Duffey since he was cut loose by the Twins, however, and neither the Rangers (four walks in five scoreless Triple-A frames) nor the Yankees (seven runs in six Triple-A frames) managed to do so while taking their brief looks at Duffey late last summer.

Duffey fits the Cubs’ preferred mold of offseason bullpen shopping in recent years. Since the Cubs inked Craig Kimbrel to an ill-fated three-year contract, they’ve moved away from lavish additions in the bullpen, instead gravitating toward low-cost one-year contracts and minor league deals for veterans of note who are seeking to reestablish themselves.

The Cubs’ earlier $2.8MM deal with righty Brad Boxberger also fit into this bucket. Over the past three seasons they’ve also signed Mychal Givens, David Robertson, Daniel Norris, Ryan Tepera, Chris Martin, Brandon Workman, Trevor Williams and Dan Winkler to one-year deals worth $5MM or less, while some non-roster deals have been given out to notable names like Jesse Chavez, Pedro Strop, Adam Morgan and Robert Gsellman, among others.

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Cubs Sign Luis Torrens To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | January 25, 2023 at 1:11pm CDT

The Cubs have signed catcher Luis Torrens to a minor league deal, per Ángel Daniel Conde T of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League’s Navegantes del Magallanes. Torrens will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Torrens, 27 in May, has seen scattered playing time in the big leagues since 2017, suiting up for the Padres and Mariners. His longest stretch of playing time in the majors came with Seattle in 2021, when he got into 108 games and hit 15 home runs. His .243/.299/.431 batting line resulted in a 101 wRC+, indicating he was just above average at the plate, though the average catcher usually comes in around 90 or so. Last year, he slipped to a line of .225/.283/.298 and a wRC+ of 72.

Since he’s generally considered to be a bat-first catcher, Torrens needs to hit to be valuable to a team. Defensive Runs Saved has given him a -22 grade for his career so far while both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus consider him a subpar framer. Since he was having a down year at the plate in 2022, he was outrighted off the roster in August. He finished the season on the roster after getting selected again in September, but he was then non-tendered in November.

For the Cubs, they have three catchers on their 40-man roster, with Tucker Barnhart and Yan Gomes slated to the share the time with the big league club. Prospect Miguel Amaya is also on the roster but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021. He returned last year but was limited to just 40 minor league games and has yet to reach Triple-A. Torrens will give the club some non-roster depth should an injury arise before Amaya is ready to make the jump. Torrens is out of options and won’t be able to be easily sent back to the minors if he gets onto the roster.

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Latest On Market For Left-Handed Relievers

By Darragh McDonald | January 25, 2023 at 9:56am CDT

With less than three weeks to go until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, most of the top free agents have already signed with clubs for the upcoming season. One segment of the market that’s been strangely quiet, however, is left-handed relief. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore and Zack Britton are some of the noteworthy southpaws still unattached, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Rangers, Angels, Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs and Mets are interested in their services.

Those three relievers bring varying levels of appeal to the interested clubs. Britton, 35, was arguably the best reliever in the league for an extended stretch though he entered free agency on a down note after a couple of seasons lost to injury. Moore, 34 in June, is in effectively the opposite position of Britton, as he has a lengthy track record of disappointing results but hit the open market on the upswing. Chafin, 33 in June, has been fairly consistent in recent years, apart from a small-sample blip in the shortened 2020 season.

Britton posted an incredible 1.84 ERA over a seven-year stretch from 2014 to 2020, thanks to a bowling ball sinker that bordered on unhittable. He got grounders on a ludicrous 76.2% of balls in play over that time, almost double a typical league average of about 43%. He was limited to just 18 1/3 innings in 2021 before requiring surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. During that procedure, it was determined that he would also need Tommy John surgery, which put him out of action until late in 2022. He did make it back to the hill last year but his velocity was down and his control was all over the place. He finished the season on the injured list for shoulder fatigue. He would be a risky acquisition at this point given his uncertain health but he recently held a showcase for clubs and will surely entice one of them to take a gamble based on his previous excellence.

Moore was once one of the top prospects in the game and seemed like a rotation building block for the Rays a decade ago. However, Tommy John surgery in 2014 put him out of action for an extended stretch and he struggled once back on the mound. He bounced around to various different clubs for years, including a stint in Japan, but never really got things back on track. But a full-time move to the bullpen last year has seemingly given him a second act, as he posted a 1.95 ERA over 74 innings for the Rangers. His 12.5% walk rate was certainly concerning, but he also struck out 27.3% of batters faced and got grounders at a healthy 43.9% clip.

Chafin has posted a 3.05 ERA from 2017 to the present, even with his rough 2020 campaign. He’s been even better recently, with a 2.29 ERA over the past couple of seasons, striking out 25.7% of batters faced, walking just 7.5% of them and keeping the ball on the ground at a 47.9% clip.

All three pitchers will surely interest clubs to some degree but Rosenthal hears from one executive that the Matt Strahm signing has slowed things down. The Phillies signed him to a two-year, $15MM deal back in December, despite a somewhat shaky track record. He got some good results in his first few seasons, working mostly in relief but with the occasional start. He had an unusual season with the Padres in 2019 as he attempted to become a starter. He made 16 starts that year but posted a 5.29 ERA in that role against a 3.27 mark in 30 relief appearances. Back in the bullpen in 2020, he registered a 2.61 ERA in the shortened season but only got into six games in 2021 due to various injuries. He bounced back with the Red Sox in 2022 with a 3.83 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 36.8% ground ball rate. Each of Moore and Chafin are coming off a stronger 2022 season than Strahm while Britton has a more impressive career overall. Strahm is younger than the rest of them but not by too much, having recently turned 31. Perhaps the free agents are trying to match or top the $15MM guarantee that Strahm secured and has yet to convince a team to pull the trigger on that.

Despite lingering on the market, it doesn’t seem like there’s any shortage of interest. Just about any team with designs on contending could fit another arm into their bullpen and it seems like they’re all keeping tabs here. The Rangers’ southpaw contingent took a blow recently as Brett Martin required shoulder surgery and will likely miss most of the upcoming campaign. They still have Brock Burke, Taylor Hearn and John King in the mix but it wouldn’t hurt to bolster that group. The Angels have Aaron Loup and José Quijada lined up as their primary southpaw relievers but Loup is now 35 and Quijada has control issues. The Astros are a fairly logical fit since their only lefty relievers on the 40-man are Blake Taylor and Parker Mushinski, both of whom have fairly limited track records.

The Red Sox have Joely Rodríguez as their only obvious southpaw reliever, though Chris Sale or James Paxton could move from the rotation at some point since they have each hardly pitched in the past three years. Their various injuries have severely limited their innings recently and they might struggle to handle a starter’s workload for a full season. The Jays have Tim Mayza and Matt Gage as left-handed options in their relief corps, though Yusei Kikuchi spent some time there last year after getting bumped from the rotation, a situation that could play out again this year.

The Brewers have Hoby Milner as their most straightforward lefty reliever, though Wade Miley and Aason Ashby could spend some time there if they get nudged out of a crowded rotation. The Cardinals have Genesis Cabrera slated to be the go-to guy but their other choices are optionable and have limited experience, including Packy Naughton, JoJo Romero and Zack Thompson. The Cubs make a lot of sense for adding a lefty reliever, as they currently only have Brandon Hughes on the 40, who could be in line for a closer’s role as opposed to a situational lefty job.

The Yankees recently let Lucas Luetge go, designating him for assignment and flipping him to Atlanta. That has left Wandy Peralta as the club’s only option from the left side in their bullpen. Adding even a modest contract to their books might be an issue, however, as they are reportedly concerned about crossing the final tier of the competitive balance tax. Roster Resource currently pegs their CBT figure at $292.3MM, just a hair under the final line of $293MM. Making any external addition without making up that difference will be a challenge. Trading the contract of someone like Josh Donaldson or Aaron Hicks would give them some more breathing room but the Yanks haven’t been able to find a deal so far.

The interest of the Mets might be complicated as well, as Rosenthal reports that they are hesitant to add another out-of-options pitcher to the mix and reduce their roster flexibility. All players with more than five years of service time cannot be optioned without their consent, meaning that all of these veterans are in that category. None of Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson or Brooks Raley can be optioned to the minors either.

For clubs that miss out on Chafin, Britton and Moore, some of the other lefties still available include Will Smith, Brad Hand and Justin Wilson.

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Cubs Outright Anthony Kay, Manuel Rodriguez

By Anthony Franco | January 24, 2023 at 8:16pm CDT

The Cubs informed reporters that pitchers Anthony Kay and Manuel Rodríguez have each gone unclaimed on waivers (via Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). Both players have been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa. It’s the first outright assignment for both, meaning they’ll each stay in the organization but won’t occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Kay’s stay on the Chicago 40-man lasted only a few weeks. The Cubs nabbed the southpaw off waivers from the Blue Jays just before Christmas but designated him for assignment last Friday after signing Trey Mancini. The moves allow them to roll the dice on a former first-round pick without dedicating a roster spot. Kay has pitched briefly at the MLB level with Toronto in each of the last four seasons. He’s only managed a 5.48 ERA through 70 2/3 career innings, plagued both by an 11.4% walk percentage and a hefty .340 batting average on balls in play against him.

The 27-year-old has shown some swing-and-miss upside amidst his early struggles. He owns a solid 23.5% strikeout percentage during his MLB time, generating whiffs on a reasonable 10.4% of his offerings. Kay has an almost identical 23.6% strikeout rate over parts of four minor league campaigns.

Rodríguez, 26, has spent his entire career with the Cubs but was designated for assignment a week ago after Chicago claimed Julian Merryweather. He nabbed a spot on the 40-man roster over the 2019-20 offseason and reached the MLB level a little over a year thereafter. The righty has pitched out of David Ross’ bullpen in each of the last two seasons. He’s worked 31 1/3 innings across 34 total appearances, posting a 4.88 ERA. That has come with concerning strikeout and walk rates (17.5% and 15%, respectively), but the sinkerballer has generated grounders at a quality 53.2% clip.

Owner of a fastball that sits in the 96-97 MPH range, Rodríguez offers an intriguing power arm the Cubs will retain at the upper levels. The native of Mexico has a 4.51 ERA through 145 2/3 minor league innings. He’s struggled to throw strikes at the lower levels as well, though he’s been far more effective in the minors at missing bats (career 31.4% strikeout percentage).

Given their respective MLB experience, Kay and Rodríguez both look likely to secure non-roster invitations to Spring Training in a few weeks. If they don’t crack the roster out of camp, they’ll each open the year as depth options in Iowa. Both players would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of next season if they’re not added back to the 40-man roster before the end of the year.

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Chicago Cubs Transactions Anthony Kay Manuel Rodriguez

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Read The Transcript Of Our Chat With Former MLB Pitcher Jacob Turner

By Tim Dierkes | January 24, 2023 at 9:59am CDT

Considered the “consensus top high school righthander available” by Baseball America back in 2009, Jacob Turner was drafted ninth overall by the Tigers out of Westminster Christian Academy in Missouri.  He stood at 6’5″, 210 lbs and touched 98 with his fastball.   Adviser Scott Boras was able to get the 18-year-old Turner a $5.5MM Major League contract, most of which came in the form of a signing bonus.

After two years in the minors, MLB.com ranked Turner the 15th prospect in the game, ahead of future stars such as Nolan Arenado, Zack Wheeler, and Francisco Lindor.  Turner made his MLB debut at the age of 20, pitching well against the Angels for Jim Leyland’s Tigers.  At that point in late 2011, Turner profiled as a future number two or three starter in the Majors.

The following year, Turner picked up his first big league win on July 22nd against the White Sox.  The 2012 Tigers would go on to win the pennant, but they’d do so without Turner.  The day after that first career W, they sent him packing to the Marlins for more immediate help in the form of Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante.

By late May 2013, Turner had secured a spot in a Marlins rotation that also featured Jose Fernandez, Tom Koehler, Ricky Nolasco, Nathan Eovaldi, and Henderson Alvarez.  Turner’s age-22 season would turn out to be his best, as he put together 20 starts with a 3.74 ERA that year.

Things took a turn in 2014, as Turner lost both his rotation and 40-man roster spots with the Marlins, joining the Cubs on a waiver claim.  An elbow injury spoiled Turner’s 2015 season, which ended in a crosstown waiver claim by the White Sox.  Turner went on to a stint with the Nationals, followed by returns to the Marlins and Tigers.  For the 2019 season, Turner moved to KBO’s Kia Tigers.

Turner’s time in MLB was over before his 30th birthday, certainly not the career some expected of him back when he was starring in high school and the low minors.  But he still competed for parts of seven seasons in the bigs, pitching 369 innings and making 56 starts.  The 22-year-old kid was pretty darn good in the Majors in 2013, going at least seven innings five different times that year.  One career highlight: a one-run, complete game victory over the Padres that year.  Across those seven seasons, Turner punched out many of the game’s stars, including Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Carlos Beltran, Jose Bautista, Nolan Arenado, David Wright, and Freddie Freeman.

Still only 31 years old, Turner now runs a company that “helps educate athletes around money and helps them be good stewards of the money earned in their careers,” as he puts it.  He’s on Twitter @TheSuddenWealth, where he posted a thread last summer about his experiences that ended up going viral.  Jacob notes that people can DM him on Twitter to get in touch, and you can view his website here.

Jacob took questions from MLBTR readers earlier today.  Click here to read the transcript!

If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to have you for a chat with our readers!  It’s a great way to interact with fans for an hour, and you get to choose which questions you publish.  Click here to contact us.

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Cubs, Jordan Holloway Agree To Minor League Deal

By Drew Silva | January 23, 2023 at 8:03pm CDT

The Cubs signed right-hander Jordan Holloway to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, MLBTR has learned.

Holloway was limited to just 2 2/3 major league innings with the Marlins last season — and he also logged only 23 2/3 innings in the minors — because of a fractured bone spur in his pitching elbow that was ultimately repaired by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in September. The 26-year-old has flashed a powerful arsenal when healthy, and the expectation is that he will be 100 percent when he arrives at Cubs camp in Arizona next month.

With experience as both a starter and reliever, Holloway could get tapped for a swingman-type role on the North Side of Chicago at some point along the way in 2023. A number of Cubs pitchers were used in that capacity, to a surprising level of success, down the stretch in 2022. It all aided in a post-All-Star break record of 39-31, guided by the third-best rotation ERA (2.89) in the majors over that span. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was given the go-ahead to make several aggressive moves on the offensive side this winter, but there would seem to be openings in long relief and for emergency starting help.

Holloway, a 20th-round pick by Miami in the 2014 MLB Draft, currently carries a career 3.92 ERA with 38 strikeouts (and 28 walks) through 39 total big league frames.

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Mark Leiter Jr. Elects Free Agency

By Darragh McDonald | January 23, 2023 at 12:48pm CDT

Right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment and outrighted by the Cubs in recent days but had the right to reject the assignment by virtue of having been previously outrighted in his career.

Leiter, 32 in March, got some time in the majors in 2017 and 2018 with the Phillies and Blue Jays. He struggled in those seasons and was outrighted by the Blue Jays after the latter campaign. That proved to be an inopportune moment to lose his roster spot as he required Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2019. He then had to undergo the lengthy rehab process while not accruing any service time.

The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 campaign and he ended up having a pretty decent season after cracking the roster in April. He tossed 67 2/3 innings in the big leagues with a 3.99 ERA. He struck out 25.9% of the batters that came to the plate, walked 8.9% of them and got grounders on 48.9% of balls in play.

Despite those good results, he got squeezed off the roster, perhaps due to the fact that he burned his final option year in 2022. That means he would have to hang onto his spot all season long or else be designated for assignment, which the Cubs got out of the way early. All players who have a previous career outright have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of free agency, which Leiter has now done. None of the other 29 teams were willing to claim him off waivers, which suggests he’ll likely be limited to minor league deals. However, he can at least now seek out the organization that he thinks provides the best path back to the big leagues or is the best fit for some other reason. If he earns a roster spot at some point, he can be retained by a club for future seasons since he has between two and three years of MLB service time.

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    Royals Re-Sign Zack Greinke

    Orioles To Decline Five-Year Lease Extension At Camden Yards, Seeking Longer-Term Agreement With Maryland Stadium Authority

    Mariners, Dylan Moore Agree to Three-Year Extension

    Blue Jays Sign Chad Green

    Rays Extend Yandy Diaz

    Dexter Fowler Announces Retirement

    Mets Sign Jeff McNeil To Four-Year Extension

    Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

    Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

    Braves Extend Manager Brian Snitker Through 2025

    Rays Sign Pete Fairbanks To Extension

    Royals Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Athletics Sign Jesús Aguilar

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

    Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

    Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment

    Recent

    Royals Looking Into Extensions For Young Players

    Dodgers Sign Miguel Rojas To Contract Extension

    Red Sox Sign Jake Faria To Minor League Contract

    Giants Sign Roberto Perez

    Nationals Sign Chad Kuhl To Minor League Deal

    Mets Prospect Matt Allan Undergoes UCL Revision Surgery

    Quick Hits: Narvaez, Gallo, Monfort, Tatis Jr., Mets

    Max Fried Loses Arbitration Hearing Against Atlanta

    Pirates Sign Juan Minaya To Minor League Deal

    AL East Notes: Orioles, DL Hall, Red Sox

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