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Cubs Outright Dillon Maples

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SEPTEMBER 21: Maples cleared waivers and has been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa, Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to pass along. He doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization for the rest of the season. However, Maples will qualify for minor league free agency this offseason unless he’s reselected to the 40-man roster before the end of the year.

SEPTEMBER 19: The Cubs have activated Nico Hoerner and Keegan Thompson from the 10-day injured list.  To create two roster spots for the returning players, outfielder Nick Martini was optioned to Triple-A while right-hander Dillon Maples was designated for assignment.

Maples is out of minor league options, which is why Chicago had to take the DFA route to remove the 29-year-old from the active roster.  A veteran of parts of five MLB seasons, Maples had an 8.49 ERA over 23 1/3 career innings for the 2017-20 Cubs before posting a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 frames in 2021.

However, Maples has benefited from a .203 BABIP, as his SIERA is 4.64 and his walk rate is an ungainly 18%.  Control has been a persistent issue for Maples at both the Major League and minor league levels, and the Cubs seem to have seen enough.

“There’s some people in the organization that feel like we’ve just run out of time,” manager David Ross told NBC Sports Chicago’s Gordon Wittenmyer and other reporters.  “We wish [Maples] the best in his career and hopefully for his sake he catches on with somebody, and he’s able to have a long, successful major-league career.  It just doesn’t look right now at this time like it’s going to be with us.”

Thompson will start today’s game against the Brewers after missing a little over two weeks due to right shoulder inflammation.  The right-hander has shuttled up and down from Triple-A Iowa a few times this season, with a 3.54 ERA to show for his first 48 1/3 career innings in the big leagues.  Working mostly as a reliever, Thompson has managed that respectable ERA despite some unimpressive peripherals, including a 12.8% walk rate.

Hoerner suffered a right oblique strain at the end of July, and thanks to previous IL trips due to a left hamstring strain and a left forearm strain, Hoerner has played in only 39 games.  The former top prospect has at least hit decently well (.312/.388/.388 in 152 PA) when he has been able to play, and the Cubs will certainly be interested in evaluating Hoerner over the season’s last two weeks to help determine his role with the 2022 team and beyond.

Cubs Select Trayce Thompson

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The Cubs announced they’ve selected outfielder Trayce Thompson to the big league roster. Jason Heyward is landing on the seven-day concussion injured list in a corresponding move. To open space on the 40-man roster, Chicago transferred outfielder Michael Hermosillo from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Thompson is back in the big leagues for the first time in three years. The right-handed hitter broke in with the White Sox in 2015 and saw some MLB time in each of the following three seasons, with his biggest workload coming with the 2016 Dodgers. Thompson hit for a fair amount of power and can cover all three outfield spots, but his overall productivity was limited by swing-and-miss issues. In 589 big league plate appearances, he owns a .206/.276/.389 mark with 22 home runs but an alarming 28% strikeout rate.

He’s split the 2021 season between the Triple-A affiliates of the D-Backs and Cubs, spending most of the campaign with Chicago’s top farm team in Iowa. Thompson has popped 21 round trippers in 358 plate appearances there but continued to punch out quite a bit. He owns a .233/.344/.492 line with a 32.4% strikeout rate with Iowa this season.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/10/21

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Today’s minor transactions:

  • The Marlins have passed infielder Deven Marrero through waivers, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. While Marrero had the right to elect free agency, he has again accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he was in tonight’s starting lineup. It’s familiar territory for Marrero, who has been selected to the big league roster and then quickly outrighted on five separate occasions this season. The 31-year-old owns a .280/.310/.355 line in Triple-A this season but has only tallied twelve big league plate appearances.
  • The Cubs signed reliever Jackson McClelland to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa, according to the transactions tracker. The right-hander had previously spent his entire career in the Blue Jays’ system, topping out at Triple-A before being released in July. McClelland has posted strong numbers up through Double-A, although he’s scuffled in his first couple cracks at the minors’ top level. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote last March that the 27-year-old’s fastball has been clocked as high as 100 MPH in the past, so he adds some hard-throwing bullpen depth to the highest levels of the Chicago system.

Cubs Select Nick Martini

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The Cubs announced they’ve selected corner outfielder Nick Martini to the big league roster. Fellow outfielder Michael Hermosillo is landing on the 10-day injured list with a left forearm strain. Chicago already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after designating Andrew Romine for assignment earlier in the week.

Martini is back for his second stint with the Cubs this year. The Illinois native signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the offseason and was selected to the major league roster in early May. He only appeared in twelve games over the next few weeks before being designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers. Martini has spent most of the year with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa, where he’s hit .267/.387/.444 with eleven home runs over 323 plate appearances.

That’s in line with Martini’s general production over the course of his career. He has long drawn walks at a very strong clip and posted gaudy minor league numbers, and he’s found some success against big league pitching as well. Over 303 MLB plate appearances, the left-handed hitting Martini owns a solid .261/.363/.366 line. He has yet to carve out a consistent regular role in the majors, though, with teams deterred by his lack of power and limited defensive value.

Hermosillo will not return this season, bench coach Andy Green told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). The 26-year-old was called up a few weeks ago after a monster season at Iowa. He popped three home runs in just 38 MLB plate appearances, but Hermosillo also struck out twelve times and drew just one walk en route to a .194 batting average and a .237 on-base percentage.

Cubs Designate Andrew Romine For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Monday that they’ve designated infielder Andrew Romine for assignment in order to open a spot on the active roster for fellow infielder David Bote, who is returning from the 10-day injured list.

Romine, 35, appeared in 26 games with the Cubs and tallied 64 plate appearances, batting .183/.234/.267 with a homer and a pair of doubles along the way. He also had the opportunity to team with his younger brother, Austin, for the first time in their big league careers.

The elder Romine brother was a staple on the Tigers’ bench from 2014-17, known best for his ability to play anywhere on the diamond. The Tigers let him play all nine positions in his penultimate game with the club at the end of the 2017 season. He’s since spent time in the Mariners, Rangers, Twins and Cubs organizations, though he didn’t appear in the big leagues in Minnesota.

All told, Romine is a career .233/.288/.300 hitter through 1391 plate appearances that have been scattered across parts of 11 Major League seasons. The Cubs will now either place him on outright waivers or release him in the coming days.

Cubs Activate Willson Contreras, Place Keegan Thompson On 10-Day Injured List

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The Cubs have activated Willson Contreras from the injured list, and in a corresponding move, they have placed Keegan Thompson on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).

Contreras went on the injured list back on August 12 because of a right knee sprain. He’s the rare familiar face in the Cubs lineup, though he hasn’t been there of late. Austin Romine and Robinson Chirinos have handled the catching duties in his absence. On the year, Contreras has hit .226/.333/.417, good or a 105 wRC+, a solid mark from behind the plate.

Thompson was excellent for the Cubs in small samples out of the pen, but he has struggled while getting a few turns in the rotation. In total, the 26-year-old righty owns a 3.54 ERA/5.13 FIP across 48 1/3 innings with the big league club. Thompson’s spot in the rotation is due to come up again on Tuesday against the Reds.

Cubs Expected To Begin GM Interviews By Mid-September

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The Cubs’ search for a new general manager is underway, and the team is aiming to start interviewing candidates by the middle of the month, The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma report.  For now, the Cubs are looking at candidates from outside the organization.

The next GM will work under president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who was himself promoted from the GM role last November when he signed a five-year contract extension.  The PoBO/GM structure was in place in Chicago throughout Theo Epstein’s tenure, with Hoyer working as Epstein’s second-in-command.  Hoyer said last December that he wanted to wait to hire his general manager, in order to conduct a more proper and in-depth interview process that would be less hampered by the pandemic.

This is an even more necessary step if the next GM did come from another team, and wasn’t already a known quantity to Hoyer.  Though obviously Hoyer and Epstein share different personal perspectives despite their long working relationship, adding a general manager who is completely new to Hoyer and the Cubs would help bring new ideas into the mix and perhaps create more of a firm delineation between the Epstein era and Hoyer’s tenure in charge of the front office.

It remains to be seen which names will emerge as part of this search, and which areas of expertise Hoyer will look to draw from in naming his chief lieutenant.  For instance, Mooney and Sharma write that Hoyer could target an executive “with a strong background in player development” considering that the Cubs’ trade deadline selloff brought several new young players into the organization.

The new hire will immediately have a lot of their plate, considering the decisions the Cubs face this offseason in the wake of their revamp.  With plenty of future payroll space now available, the Cubs could look at a quick return to contention by adding some higher-priced talent this winter.  Conversely, the team might prefer to spend another year bolstering their younger core before making a bigger push in the 2022-23 offseason.  By that time, the Cubs will also fully know what to expect from the new collective bargaining agreement, as this winter’s hot stove action could well be interrupted or even frozen by CBA negotiations between the league and the players’ union.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Dodgers Claim Jake Jewell, Ryan Meisinger From Cubs

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The Dodgers have claimed right-handers Jake Jewell and Ryan Meisinger off waivers from the Cubs.  Both pitchers were designated for assignment over the weekend.

Jewell and Meisinger become the latest names to join a Dodgers bullpen that has been increasingly shuffled by injuries.  Of the current roster mix, Phil Bickford, Shane Greene, and Evan Phillips have also been acquired just within the last few months, with Greene and Phillips both also joining the club in August.  Since today is the last day for teams to acquire players who can eligible for postseason play, L.A. is exploring all avenues to find pitchers who could very end up providing some important innings some October.

Both Jewell and Meisinger are looking for a fresh start after brief and rocky tenures with the Cubs.  The duo signed minor league deals with Chicago during the offseason, and the Cubs selected Jewell to the big league roster on July 29 and Meisinger on August 12.

Jewell ended up posting a 9.90 ERA over 10 innings in Wrigleyville, allowing five home runs in that small sample size.  Over 38 1/3 career innings with the Angels and Cubs, Jewell has a 7.75 ERA and below-average strikeout and walk rates, though he has induced grounders at a 56.6% rate.  Jewell has consistently posted high groundball rates throughout his seven pro seasons (all in the Angels organization prior to 2021) but consistent results have been hard to come by.  His Triple-A numbers did improve to some extent after he was converted to full-time relief work in 2018.

Meisinger’s MLB resume isn’t dissimilar, as has surrendered a lot of homers en route to a 7.26 ERA over 31 career innings with the Cubs, Cardinals, and Orioles since the start of the 2018 season.  Walks have been Meisinger’s biggest issue at the big league level and at Triple-A Iowa this year, though his six years in the minors have shown some promise as a reliever.  Meisinger has a 2.68 ERA and 29.8% strikeout rate over 272 innings in the minor leagues, starting only three of his 171 appearances.

NL Injury Notes: Moustakas, Lopez, Contreras

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Mike Moustakas left tonight’s game due to right hip tightness, replaced by Asdrubal Cabrera at third base to begin the bottom of the second inning.  Moustakas struck out in his lone plate appearance (in the top of the second) and Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer noted that Moustakas “hopped on his left leg a couple of times” following a game-opening single from Miguel Rojas.  This was one of four balls hit in Moustakas’ direction during what ended up as a five-run inning for the Marlins en route to their 6-1 win over the Reds.

The severity of the hip problem isn’t known, though the 2021 season has already been an injury-marred campaign for the veteran infielder.  Moustakas has played in only 45 games due to missing more than 11 weeks due to a right heel injury, which eventually necessitated a trip to the 60-day injured list.  The result is a .216/.309/.417 slash line and six home runs through 162 plate appearances, and a 92 wRC+ that would count as the Moose’s lowest since the 2014 season.  Cabrera was claimed off waivers just yesterday to help the Reds’ infield depth, though he could be in line for quite a bit more playing time if Moustakas’ hip issue results in another IL visit.

More injury updates from around the National League…

  • Pablo Lopez was scratched from a scheduled rehab start on Thursday and is now returning to Miami, Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola).  A right rotator cuff strain sent Lopez to the injured list (retroactively) on July 14, yet even with just over a month remaining in the season, Mattingly didn’t commit to the idea of potentially shutting Lopez down.  “Nothing more than…just slowing him down, making sure we’re careful with him.  Sounded like a minor setback for sure,” Mattingly said.  “Probably not minor to Pablo, who’s wanting to get going.  But I know the medical staff’s going to be careful with him.”  Lopez has posted a 3.03 ERA/3.50 SIERA over 101 innings for Miami this season, with above-average strikeout (27.1%) and walk (6.1%) rates and strong hard-hit ball numbers.
  • Willson Contreras is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment within a few days’ time, Cubs manager David Ross told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters.  Contreras has been on the 10-day IL since August 12 due to a sprained right knee.  One of the few veterans still on the roster following the Cubs’ trade deadline fire sale, Contreras is enjoying another solid season, hitting .226/.333/.417 with 17 homers over 403 plate appearances.
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