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Cubs Place Miguel Amaya On 10-Day IL, Select Reese McGuire

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TODAY: The Cubs officially placed Amaya on the 10-day IL and selected McGuire’s contract from Triple-A.

SATURDAY, 11:00pm: Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that McGuire is likely to be the Cubs’ choice to replace Amaya on the roster.

10:16pm: The Cubs were dealt a blow to their lineup today when catcher Miguel Amaya exited their game against the Reds due to an oblique issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia after the game, the issue was described by the club as a left oblique strain and will require a trip to the injured list according to manager Craig Counsell. Petraglia adds that Amaya is expected to undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue on Tuesday, which will likely give the club a clearer timetable for his return.

In the meantime, it’s safe to assume that Amaya will miss at least the next ten days and quite possibly much longer than that. Teammate Ian Happ required only a minimum stint on the shelf for an oblique issue earlier this month, but it’s not uncommon for more serious strains to require weeks or even months of recovery. It’s impossible to know exactly how long Amaya will be shelved until results from the imaging come back, but an absence of any length is frustrating for the 26-year-old given his brilliant start to the season at the plate this year. Through his first 98 plate appearances this season, Amaya has hit .286/.320/.516 with a 131 wRC+.

The youngster’s .333 BABIP is unlikely to be sustainable and 22.4% strikeout rate that’s five points higher than last year stands as a cause for concern, but even Amaya’s .313 xwOBA suggests at least league average production in his future. That’s a solid outcome for a young a catcher, but figuring out exactly where Amaya’s offensive future is headed will be put on hold for the time being. In the meantime, veteran Carson Kelly figures to step into a larger role behind the plate. The 30-year-old entered the season as the backup to Amaya on paper but forced himself into something of a starting role with a sensational start to the season.

He’s hit an unbelievable .287/.416/.574 in 125 plate appearances entering play today. That 176 wRC+ leads all catchers with at least 80 plate appearances, his nine home runs so far have already tied his total across 91 games last year, and he’s even walking (17.6%) more than he’s striking out (13.6%). It’s superstar level production from Kelly overall, and while he can’t realistically be expected to keep these numbers up forever, he smacked another two hits (including his ninth homer of the year) to improve his numbers for the month of May, which had dipped a touch below league average after a recent cold spell.

With Kelly now more firmly poised to take up the mantle of primary catcher in Chicago, the question remains of who will serve as Kelly’s primary backup while Amaya is injured. Moises Ballesteros is the only other catcher on the Cubs’ 40-man roster at the moment. He made his big league debut while Happ was on the IL earlier this month, but served exclusively as a DH while Seiya Suzuki shifted over to right field to cover for Happ. Ballesteros went 3-for-16 with two walks and a strikeout in his first five-game cup of coffee in the majors but did not take the field as a defender at any position, including catcher. Scouts have long considered his work behind the plate to be questionable, and while his .349/.410/.490 slash line at Triple-A this year shows there’s little left for Ballesteros to prove offensively in the minors it remains to be seen if the Cubs would be comfortable with him serving as a backup catcher in the majors at this point in his development.

If not Ballesteros, the Cubs will need to select the contract of a veteran in the organization on a minor league deal to the 40-man roster. The most likely candidate for that role would seemingly be Reese McGuire, who has 355 games under his belt at the big league level and is considered a quality defender despite being held back somewhat by a lackluster .252/.300/.364 slash line at the plate for his career. Another option would be 34-year-old veteran Carlos Perez, who offers even less with the bat than McGuire but does have five years of MLB experience under his belt and has a strong defensive reputation of his own. Neither player is as exciting as Ballesteros, but for a club that already has one of the league’s best offenses this year it’s fair to wonder if prioritizing defense behind the plate could make sense.

Cubs Designate Julian Merryweather For Assignment

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The Cubs announced they’ve designated reliever Julian Merryweather for assignment. He’ll be replaced on the active and 40-man rosters by Brooks Kriske, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.

Merryweather, 33, loses his roster spot thanks to a rough start to the season. The hard-throwing righty has given up 13 runs (12 earned) through his first 18 2/3 innings. He has fanned 15 while issuing 11 walks and surrendering a couple home runs. He’d fallen down the bullpen hierarchy and was working in mostly low-leverage spots. The Cubs called upon him down by two runs in the fifth inning against Cincinnati yesterday. He retired only two of six batters faced and gave up a pair of runs while struggling through 32 pitches.

The Cubs erased the four-run deficit and went on to a fairly comfortable 13-6 win, but Merryweather likely would not have been available for a couple days. His performance didn’t make all that compelling a case to retain his middle relief spot anyhow. Merryweather has allowed 6.15 earned runs per nine in 36 appearances since the start of the 2024 season — a marked dip from a ’23 campaign in which he posted a 3.38 ERA across a career-high 72 innings.

Chicago has five days to explore trade possibilities before they’ll need to place him on waivers. Merryweather is playing this season on a $1.225MM arbitration contract. Any team that claims him would assume the remainder of that salary. If he clears waivers, he’d quite likely accept a minor league assignment to Triple-A Iowa. Merryweather has the requisite three years of service to decline an outright assignment, but he’s a handful of days shy of the five-year service cutoff. That’s the point at which he could elect free agency while still collecting the rest of his salary.

The 31-year-old Kriske could make an MLB appearance for the first time since 2023. He signed an offseason minor league deal that’ll pay him a prorated $900K for his time in the majors. Kriske had spent time on the 40-man rosters of the Reds and Orioles last year but did not make it into a big league game. He’d combined for a 3.39 ERA across 58 1/3 Triple-A innings, though, making him a solid depth addition on a minor league deal.

Kriske is out to a similar start this year in Iowa. The righty sports a 3.38 ERA with a massive 36% strikeout rate through 18 1/3 frames. He has walked over 10% of opponents, but he’s missing plenty of bats behind a three-pitch mix (fastball, splitter, slider). Kriske has a long history of big strikeout and walk tallies in his minor league career. He was hit hard in scattered MLB stints between 2020-23 for the Yankees, Orioles and Royals. He carries an 11.22 earned run average over 20 career big league outings.

Cubs Making Push To Host 2027 All-Star Game

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The Cubs’ efforts to host the 2027 All-Star Game appear to be “gaining momentum,” writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported on Thursday afternoon that the game “will be awarded” to the Cubs later this summer, but a team spokesperson subsequently told reporters that no decision has been finalized.

In any case, it’s clear the Cubs are hoping for the Midsummer Classic to be held at Wrigley Field. Mooney writes that MLB has security concerns around hosting the event in the tightly-packed Wrigleyville neighborhood.

Fran Spielman of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote on Wednesday that an alderman introduced an ordinance in the City Council for an approximate $30MM project to widen the sidewalks and install security bollards around the stadium. If approved, the Cubs would pay at least $8MM, while the state of Illinois would contribute $12MM and the city would pay no more than $10MM. That plan is not conditional on the Cubs hosting the All-Star Game but would seemingly strengthen their bid for the festivities.

Wrigley Field has hosted the All-Star Game on three occasions, most recently in 1990. (The game was last held in Chicago at the White Sox’s home park in 2003.) This year’s festivities will be at Atlanta’s Truist Park, while the 2026 game will be at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia as part of the celebration of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary. MLB typically announces the host cities two years in advance — though the Philadelphia game was decided long before that. Commissioner Rob Manfred said in February 2024 that the Cubs and Blue Jays were under consideration for future hosting assignments.

Nicky Lopez Elects Free Agency

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Infielder Nicky Lopez went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Chicago sent him outright to Triple-A Iowa, but Lopez has instead elected free agency. He can now sign with any team.

The 30-year-old Lopez is a versatile, glove-first utility player who’s seen considerable time at shortstop, second base and third base in his professional career. He grades as a plus defender at second base and third base, in particular, and is a roughly average runner by measure of Statcast’s sprint speed metric.

Lopez had a nice season at the plate with the 2021 Royals when he hit .300/.365/.378 in 565 plate appearances, but that’s been a clear outlier in an otherwise lackluster career with the bat. Since that time, the 2016 fifth-rounder (Royals) has mustered a meager .229/.300/.283 batting line (66 wRC+, or 34% worse than league-average offensive output). He’s played a combined 19 games between the Cubs and Angels this season but produced just one hit in 24 at-bats. He’s only struck out four times and has also drawn four walks.

Lopez isn’t going to return to that 2021 peak, but he can plausibly be expected to provide more with the bat than he’s managed in 2025’s small sample thus far. A team looking for some depth at any of the three infield positions left of first base — particularly some defensive-minded help — figures to give him a look before long.

The Cubs scooped him up on a major league deal and plugged him right onto the big league roster last time he was a free agent. It’s possible another team will do the same in the coming days, but signed a minor league deal in the offseason and could need to bide his time in Triple-A with whatever club takes a flier on him next. In 91 career games at the top minor league level, he’s a .304/.399/.444 hitter with more walks (50) than strikeouts (35) through 407 plate appearances.

Cubs Activate Ian Happ, Option Moises Ballesteros

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2:35pm: The Cubs have announced the Happ/Ballesteros swap as well as Hodge landing on the IL. Right-hander Ethan Roberts has been recalled as the corresponding move for Hodge.

10:28am: The Cubs are welcoming Ian Happ back from the injured list for tonight’s game in Miami, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer tells the Mully & Haugh Show on 670 The Score. Rookie Moisés Ballesteros will be optioned to Triple-A Iowa.

That’s not the only forthcoming roster move. Manager Craig Counsell told Maddie Lee of The Chicago Sun-Times last night that Porter Hodge is heading to the 15-day IL with a left oblique injury. They could recall someone from Triple-A this afternoon to take Hodge’s bullpen spot, though it’s possible they’ll activate Ryan Brasier from his own IL stint instead.

The Happ/Ballesteros swap is a reversal of last week’s roster move. Chicago placed the veteran outfielder on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 10, with a left oblique strain. That was evidently very mild, as he’s back after a minimal stint despite the tendency for many oblique strains to linger for weeks. Ballesteros was called up for the first time. Hoyer said this morning that Ballesteros was aware at the time that it’d be a brief promotion no matter how well he played, as the Cubs always intended to send him back down once Happ returned from what they expected to be a minimal IL stint.

Ballesteros, 21, was raking at .368/.420/.522 clip over 34 games in Iowa. He’s a career .288/.371/.459 minor league hitter despite consistently being one of the youngest players at each level at which he’s appeared. He didn’t produce much in his first look at MLB pitching, going 3-16 with a pair of walks over five games. He hit a run-scoring single off the White Sox’s Yoendrys Gómez for his first big league hit on Friday and had his first multi-hit effort in last night’s loss to the Marlins.

The Cubs used Ballesteros strictly as a designated hitter over the past week. He’s a polished offensive player but needs to continue developing as a catcher in Iowa. Happ’s return to the lineup will push Seiya Suzuki back to DH from left field. Happ will presumably slot back at the top of the batting order. He’s hitting .269/.364/.381 through 187 plate appearances.

Hodge, 24, has been Counsell’s most frequent choice in high-leverage situations. He has allowed a 5.12 ERA through 19 1/3 innings. His 22.6% strikeout rate is way down from last year’s excellent 31.7% mark. It’s not especially strong production overall, though the lackluster ERA is mostly attributable to one six-run blowup at the hands of the Diamondbacks a month ago. He has allowed three earned runs in 9 2/3 frames since that appearance, albeit with six strikeouts and walks apiece.

Ryan Pressly entered the season as the Cubs closer. He has not pitched well and has not recorded a save since April 13. Hodge had been leading something of a committee approach to the ninth inning. Daniel Palencia has stepped up as one of Counsell’s more trusted late-game arms. The Cubs called on him for what would’ve been his first save of the season last night. He entered the ninth inning with a 7-6 lead and quickly recorded the first two outs before allowing a double, a walk, and a two-run walk-off triple to Jesús Sánchez.

Cubs Designate Nicky Lopez For Assignment

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Infielder Nicky Lopez has been designated for assignment by the Cubs, reports Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. That was the expected corresponding move when it was reported earlier that Matt Shaw was coming back up to the big leagues. The Cubs’ 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Lopez, 30, has been bouncing in and out of the Cubs’ plans this year. He signed a minor league deal with them in the winter but opted out of that deal when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He then signed a big league deal with the Angels but was released by that club after a bit less than a month on the roster. At that time, Shaw had just been optioned to the minors after a sluggish start to the season, so the Cubs brought Lopez back and gave him a big league deal.

He didn’t get too much out of the opportunity, mostly getting plugged in as a defensive specialist. In almost a month with the Cubs, he got into 19 games but stepped to the plate just 28 times. He only hit .042/.179/.042 in those.

That’s a bit of an extreme microcosm of his whole career, as he has generally been a glove-first infielder. In 2,374 plate appearances, he has a .245/.310/.311 batting line and 72 wRC+. But he has generally received strong grades for his infield defense. He has spent most of his time at the middle infield positions but also has logged some work in the corners and in left field.

With Shaw coming back up, Lopez has been nudged from rarely-used bench piece into DFA limbo. He is likely to end up on waivers in the coming days. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so he might be on the open market soon. He could perhaps garner interest from clubs looking for a bench infielder who’s good with the leather.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Cubs Expected To Recall Matt Shaw

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The Cubs opened the 2024 season with top prospect Matt Shaw in their lineup, hoping he could immediately step up and seize the everyday job at third base. The former first-round pick struggled in 18 games before being optioned to Triple-A, but it seems like he’s set to rejoin the roster after an impressive run in Des Moines. Cubs skipper Craig Counsell told the team’s beat yesterday that another promotion for Shaw was “under consideration” (link via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic). Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports this morning that Shaw is indeed expected to join the roster today — likely at the expense of veteran infielder Nicky Lopez, whom Chicago will try to trade (presumably after a DFA). Lopez did not travel to Miami with the Cubs for their upcoming series against the Marlins, Heyman adds.

Shaw, 23, hit just .172/.294/.241 in 68 plate appearances during his trial run to open the season. He walked an impressive 10 times in that small sample (14.7%) but also fanned on 18 occasions (26.5%). His batted-ball metrics were at the bottom of the scale; he averaged only 82.7 mph off the bat, barreled just one ball and posted a lowly 22.5% hard-hit rate (all per Statcast).

Sharma reports that the Cubs sent Shaw to Triple-A to scale back the size of a leg kick that had been part of his mechanics at the plate for years — a trait they believed would help his swing play better against big league pitching. Shaw struggled a bit early on, with three hits in 27 plate appearances after being sent down. Sharma notes that he wasn’t working with the new leg kick in games yet until this past week, but Shaw got hot at the plate with his old mechanics as he worked to hone his new ones — and upon incorporating that new, quieter leg kick into Triple-A games this weekend he homered four times in two games.

It’s hard to attribute that solely to the change in his timing mechanism, but Shaw currently boasts five round-trippers in his past six games and is hitting .321/.418/.641 with more walks (13.2%) than strikeouts (12.1%) in his past 91 trips to the plate. He’s piled up a dozen extra-base hits (six homers, five doubles, one triple), gone 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts and seen jumps in his batted-ball data (88.6 mph average exit velocity, 109.9 mph max exit velo, 43.8% hard-hit rate).

By measure of wRC+, the Cubs have had the second-worst production in MLB from their third basemen in 2025, leading only the division-rival Brewers. Chicago third baseman have turned in a feeble .184/.271/.222 batting line — 53% worse than league-average production at the plate. Much of that is due to Shaw’s own struggles early on, but the Cubs have received negligible production overall from the group of Lopez, Jon Berti, Gage Workman, Vidal Brujan and Justin Turner when they’ve manned the hot corner as well.

Lopez, 30, has appeared in 14 games since signing with the Cubs but has just 22 plate appearances. He’s been used more as a defensive specialist and has gone just 1-for-18 with four walks and three strikeouts in 22 plate appearances overall.

Cubs, Dodgers Among Teams With Some Interest In Ryan McMahon

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Since the 8-37 Rockies are already well out of playoff contention, teams have started to scope out Colorado’s roster as a possible source of help at the trade deadline.  USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Cubs and Dodgers are two of multiple teams that “are closely monitoring” third baseman Ryan McMahon as a potential trade candidate.

This is far from the first time that McMahon’s name has surfaced in trade rumors, as the Rockies’ lack of success over the last several seasons have brought pretty much experienced name on the roster onto the radar as a possible trade chip.  As much as the Rox have struggled, however, the team has generally been pretty quiet on the trade front.  Both ownership and the front office are seemingly resistant to a full rebuild, and the Rockies have often (curiously) opted against even dealing some players heading towards free agency.  Even in the high-profile cases of Trevor Story and Jon Gray, both players were retained beyond the deadline, and Colorado was left with nothing when both players signed elsewhere in free agency.

As it relates to McMahon specifically, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored the infielder’s situation in a subscriber-only piece earlier this month, noting that McMahon is reportedly a particular favorite of Rockies owner Dick Monfort.  The team also showed its faith in McMahon back in March 2022 when he was locked up on a six-year, $70MM contract extension covering the 2022-27 seasons.  McMahon can opt out of the final year of that contract if he finishes in the top five of NL MVP voting this season, though that appears to be a moot point since McMahon is hitting only .209/.330/.379 (for an 89 wRC+) through 182 plate appearances in 2025.

The chief point of Anthony’s post was that the Rockies missed their ideal window for trading McMahon, as the team could’ve saved some money and gotten some decent young talent if the third baseman had been dealt before the All-Star break.  Instead, there was no suggestion that Colorado was even considering moving McMahon, and any chance of a deal then further dried up after McMahon’s production cratered in the second half.

His struggles continued through the first month of this season, but McMahon has quietly been on fire in May, hitting .333/.443/.667 over 61 PA.  It seems like McMahon’s extended slump may finally be over, and through all of his ups and downs at the plate, he has still continued to deliver elite glovework at third base.

As bad as the Rockies have been in recent years, their dismal play in 2025 is a new low, as the team is on pace to challenge the 2024 White Sox as the worst team in modern baseball history.  Against this backdrop, the Rox already acted in uncharacteristic fashion by firing manager Bud Black last week, and Monfort perhaps hinted at some more changes coming.  As part of the club’s official statement on Black’s dismissal, Monfort said “We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball.”

It remains to be seen if this evaluation will lead to a rebuild or a deadline fire sale, and if Monfort’s perspective has finally shifted since his team is on course for a particularly embarrassing season.  If so, moving McMahon would be a logical move, and any number of rival clubs could be interested in seeing what the third baseman can do with a full change of scenery.

For the Cubs, the need is obvious.  Chicago has gotten very little out of a revolving door of third basemen that has included the likes of top prospect Matt Shaw, Jon Berti, Nicky Lopez, and Justin Turner.  Shaw was optioned to the minors just a few weeks into the season and he figures to be recalled at some point, as Shaw has continued to crush the ball at Triple-A Iowa.

If the Cubbies wanted a more established option, they could look to obtain McMahon and take care of the third base position through the end of the 2027 season.  It would be a more costly endeavor since McMahon is owed the remainder of a $12MM salary this year and is then owed $16MM salaries in 2026 and 2027, though that price point roughly matches the Cubs’ tendency to spend but only in modest average annual values.  Acquiring McMahon would block Shaw, but Chicago could potentially then shop Shaw to address other needs, or perhaps Shaw could even be part of a trade package with the Rockies.

Given the Rockies’ reluctance to trade altogether, it is particularly hard to imagine the Rox moving an ownership favorite like McMahon to a division rival like the Dodgers.  Max Muncy is also installed at third base, though Muncy has only just started to heat up after a very slow start at the plate.  L.A. could conceivably make Muncy part of the second base mix in the event of a McMahon trade, and such a deal could probably signal the forthcoming end of Muncy’s time in Dodger Blue.  Muncy is in the final guaranteed year of his contract and the Dodgers hold a $10MM club option on his services for 2026, so the team might already be considering future possibilities at third base.

The big question facing any team interested in McMahon is whether or not he can reach a higher level at the plate.  With only an 89 career wRC+ and decidedly better splits at Coors Field than on the road, it isn’t clear if McMahon is anything more than a glove-only option at third base.  While quality defense is certainly a plus, paying $16MM for such glovework may be viewed as too steep for some suitors.  Having to eat some money to accommodate a trade may add to whatever misgivings the Rockies may already have about moving McMahon.

Cubs Sign Kenta Maeda To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs are signing veteran righty Kenta Maeda to a minor league contract, as first reported by Japanese news outlet Daily Sports. Cubs skipper Craig Counsell confirmed the signing to the team’s beat today (link via Vinnie Duber for the Chicago Sun-Times). Maeda, a Boras Corporation client, was released by the Tigers last week.

“He has had success,” Counsell said of Maeda today. “He’s struggled. … It’s a player you’ve got to have constant conversations with and see where we can make some adjustments and see where he’s at.”

Maeda, 37, has a lengthy big league track record of success. He signed with the Dodgers via the MLB/NPB posting system ahead of the 2016 season and spent the next four years with Los Angeles, pitching to a sharp 3.87 ERA in 589 innings between the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen.

In the 2019-20 offseason, the Twins sent righty Brusdar Graterol and outfielder Luke Raley to the Dodgers in exchange for Maeda and catching prospect Jair Camargo. Maeda was sensational for Minnesota in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, firing 66 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 32.3% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. His got out to a sluggish start in 2021, however, and wound up requiring Tommy John surgery. That procedure knocked out his entire 2022 campaign.

Maeda returned to the Twins for the 2023 season — the final year of his original eight-year pact with the Dodgers. It was an uneven year, with Maeda stumbling early and hitting the injured list again after serving up 10 runs to the Yankees in late April. He returned a triceps injury in June and looked very much like the 2020 version of himself; in his final 88 2/3 innings that year, Maeda pitched to a 3.36 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate.

Entering the 2023-24 offseason, Maeda appeared a strong candidate for a multi-year deal. The Tigers signed him to a two-year, $24MM contract that seemed eminently reasonable given his strong finish to the ’23 season and his broader track record of success. Instead, it proved to be a misstep.

Maeda ate 112 1/3 innings for the Tigers in 2024 but struggled considerably as a starter. Detroit moved him to the bullpen in early July, and Maeda quietly turned his season around, at least to an extent. He made a dozen appearances as a long reliever over the next couple months, pitching to a 3.86 ERA with a 23.8% strikeout rate and 4.1% walk rate in 42 innings.

It was a nice run of quality contributions from a right-hander who is plenty familiar with that sort of long relief/swingman role. The Tigers gave him one final start in late September, and Maeda was tagged for five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Overall, Maeda finished the 2024 season with a grisly 6.09 earned run average.

Spring training 2025 brought reason for some cautious optimism. Maeda’s 4.91 ERA in 14 2/3 innings wasn’t much to look at, but he posted a gargantuan 39.7% strikeout rate against a microscopic 1.7% walk rate. That, coupled with some health troubles elsewhere in the rotation, earned Maeda another chance to carve out a role on Detroit’s staff.

It didn’t go well.

Maeda was deployed as a multi-inning reliever and yielded runs in four of his seven appearances. By the time the Tigers designated him for assignment, he was sitting on a 7.88 ERA with a career-low 18.6% strikeout rate and a career-worst 14% walk rate. He’s never been a hard thrower, but this year’s 90.2 mph average fastball is a career-low.

The Cubs’ rotation at the moment is quite banged up. Justin Steele is out for the year after undergoing UCL surgery. Shota Imanaga is on the 15-day injured list due to a hamstring strain. Javier Assad opened the year on the IL with an oblique strain, began a rehab assignment late last month, and was pulled back after experiencing renewed discomfort. Subsequent imaging revealed a Grade 2 oblique strain. He’s on the 60-day IL and won’t return anytime soon. The Cubs’ rotation currently includes Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea, Ben Brown and top prospect Cade Horton.

Maeda is hardly a guarantee to bolster the staff, whether as a starter or long reliever, but there’s little harm in the Cubs taking what amounts to a free look at the seasoned right-hander. The Tigers are on the hook for Maeda’s $10MM salary this year, minus the prorated portion of the $780K MLB minimum for any time he spends on another team’s big league roster. For now, it seems likely that Maeda will head to Triple-A and look to get back on track. He could be an option if Chicago needs a spot start or some length in the bullpen within the next few weeks.

Tony Kemp Announces Retirement

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Veteran infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp has announced his retirement via social media (X link, Instagram link).

“After 12 years of professional baseball and nine seasons in the big leagues, I’ve decided to hang up the spikes,” Kemp wrote. In a lengthy farewell, he went on to thank his parents, his wife, his brother, Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, all of the organizations for which he suited up in the majors (Astros, Cubs, A’s, Orioles) and all of the training staffs who incredibly helped him avoid spending even one day of his career on the injured list. The 5’6″ Kemp also offered a heartfelt message for “undersized” ballplayers everywhere:

“To the undersized ballplayer: I see you, I hear you, and I understand you. With all of the metrics and data in the game of baseball today, there is still one measurement they can’t compute: your heart. Continue to play the game the right way and respect it. The game will reward you, I promise. Leave no doubt and give everything you have like someone is watching you play baseball for the first time. I’m rooting for you all.”

Kemp, 33, was the Astros’ fifth-round pick out of Vanderbilt back in 2013. He was in the big leagues three years later, appearing in 59 games and hitting .217/.296/.325 in a small sample of 136 plate appearances. Kemp received a fleeting cup of coffee with the 2017 Astros (39 plate appearances) but landed his first real look in the majors in 2018. He totaled 97 games and 295 plate appearances for Houston that year and delivered a nice .263/.351/.392 batting line (110 wRC+) with a strong 10.8% walk rate against a tiny 14.9% strikeout rate.

The following season, Kemp turned in a decent performance through 66 games with Houston before being flipped to the Cubs in a deadline deal that brought catcher Martin Maldonado to the Astros. He struggled in a short 44-game tenure with the Cubs, who traded him to the A’s in an offseason deal netting them first baseman Alfonso Rivas III.

It proved to be a terrific move by the Athletics. Kemp delivered the best work of his career in green and gold, spending four seasons with the A’s and playing quite well for the first three. From 2020-22, he posted a .252/.341/.361 slash (105 wRC+) with savvy baserunning and quality defense at both second base and in left field. Kemp never hit for much power, but during that three-year peak with the A’s he drew walks at a 10.5% clip and flashed continually plus bat-to-ball skills, fanning in only 12.5% of his plate appearances.

The 2023 season was a tough one, as Kemp hit just .209/.303/.304 in 417 turns at the plate. Oakland cut him loose that offseason. Kemp went on to sign minor league deals with the Reds, Orioles and Twins. He briefly appeared in the majors with Baltimore last season, getting into five games but going hitless in 10 plate appearances.

Kemp spent a dozen years in pro ball, saw MLB time in nine seasons with four teams, and will retire with a .237/.324/.351 batting line in 739 MLB games and 2247 plate appearances. He picked up more than six years of big league service and, per Baseball-Reference, secured more than $8.5MM in career earnings (in addition to his $250K signing bonus out of the draft). Kemp was a popular teammate and a fan favorite based on his self-described “grinder mentality” on the diamond. Congrats to Tony on a successful career, and best wishes in whatever steps lie ahead.

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