Headlines

  • Juan Soto Open To Extension Discussions With Nationals
  • Nationals Exercise 2023 Options On Mike Rizzo, Dave Martinez
  • Mets To Activate Max Scherzer On Tuesday
  • A’s Designate Adam Kolarek, Option Cristian Pache
  • Blue Jays Sign Sergio Romo
  • Bryce Harper To Undergo Thumb Surgery
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

P.J. Higgins

Cubs Select P.J. Higgins, Designate Ildemaro Vargas

By Darragh McDonald | May 22, 2022 at 10:35am CDT

The Cubs have selected the contract of catcher P.J. Higgins, per Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. In a corresponding move, utility player Ildemaro Vargas has been designated for assignment.

Higgins, 29, was a 12th round selection of the Cubs in the 2015 draft, who worked his way up to make his big league debut last year. Unfortunately, after just nine games in the majors, he landed on the injured list with a forearm strain which ultimately required surgery and finished his season. He was outrighted in the offseason and became a free agent, but quickly re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal. He’s evidently put the injury behind him, as he’s off to a scorching hot start this year. In 22 Triple-A games so far, he’s hitting .417/.500/.569, 193 wRC+.

The Cubs needed to add a catcher to the roster due to Willson Contreras suffering a hamstring injury yesterday. That injury doesn’t seem to be serious enough for a stint on the injured list, though Higgins will combine with Yan Gomes as the club’s catching duo until Contreras is ready to return to game action.

As for Vargas, he’s never hit much in the big leagues, as evidenced by his batting line of .227/.265/.354, 60 wRC+ over 186 career games. However, he’s often proved alluring to teams due to his extreme versatility, seeing time with the Diamondbacks, Twins, Pirates and Cubs. In addition to being a switch-hitter, he’s also slotted into the defensive alignment at every spot on the diamond outside of center field and the battery. In ten games with the Cubs this year, he’s hit .130/.231/.348 for a wRC+ of 64 while playing second base and shortstop. The Cubs will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. If he were to clear, he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, as he’s been previously outrighted in his career.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Transactions Ildemaro Vargas P.J. Higgins Willson Contreras

10 comments

Cubs Announce Seven Minor League Deals

By Steve Adams | December 17, 2021 at 3:00pm CDT

The Cubs announced a series of minor league deals with invitations to Major League Spring Training on Friday, signing infielder Dixon Machado, infielder Ildemaro Vargas, righty Jonathan Holder, catcher P.J. Higgins and lefty Locke St. John. The Cubs also confirmed previously reported minor league deals with lefty Stephen Gonsalves and righty Mark Leiter Jr.

Machado, 30 in February, spent parts of four seasons as a backup infielder with the Tigers from 2015-18 before spending the 2019 season with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. From there, he signed on with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, serving as their primary shortstop in 2020-21 and hitting a combined .280/.358/.393 with 17 home runs, 52 doubles, two triples and 23 steals (in 29 tries) over the life of 1095 plate appearances. Regarded as a quality defender, Machado hit just .227/.285/.295 in 505 Major League plate appearances in Detroit, though he posted a .261/.371/.480 slash in 102 games/393 plate appearances with the Cubs’ Iowa affiliate in 2019.

The 30-year-old Vargas spent nine game with the Cubs in 2021 — a season he split between Chicago, Arizona and Pittsburgh. A versatile defender who’s appeared at all four infield positions and both outfield corners in the big leagues, Vargas is a switch-hitter with a .233/.268/.355 batting line in parts of five MLB seasons with four teams. (He’s also been with the Twins, in addition to three already-listed clubs.) He’s had much more success in Triple-A, where he’s a .324/.368/.472 batter in 1736 plate appearances.

Holder, 28, looked to be on the path toward cementing himself in the Yankees’ bullpen as recently as 2017-18, when he logged a combined 105 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball with a 22.6% strikeout rate and a tiny 6.1% walk rate. Holder had a pair of IL stints for shoulder troubles in 2019, however, the second of which ended his season in early August. He finished that year with an ugly 6.31 ERA, and he managed just a 4.98 mark in 21 2/3 innings with the Yankees a year later, posting career-worst walk and strikeout rates along the way.

This will actually be Holder’s second season in the Cubs organization. He signed a non-guaranteed, $750K Major League deal with Chicago last winter after being non-tendered by the Yankees, but recurred shoulder woes wiped out the year for him. Holder opened the season on the 10-day IL with a shoulder strain, moved to the 60-day on April 26, and never returned. He ended the season on the Major League injured list and would’ve been considered a big league free agent who was ineligible to sign, but it seems (based on Holder’s transaction log at MLB.com) that this deal was actually finalized on Nov. 19 but simply not announced until today.

It’s a similar story for the 28-year-old Higgins, who was on the Cubs’ Major League injured list at season’s end but became a free agent after being outrighted in early November. Like Holder, his player page at MLB.com indicates that this deal came together on Nov. 19 but wasn’t immediately announced. (It should be noted that it’s commonplace for teams to hold off on announcing minor league deals/Spring Training invites individually and instead announce them in batches like this.)

Higgins made his big league debut with the Cubs this past season, appearing in nine games and going 1-for-23 at the plate. A 12th-rounder back in the Cubs’ 2015 draft, Higgins has spent his entire career in the organization, batting .273/.359/.370 in just over 2000 minor league plate appearances.

As for St. John, who’ll turn 29 in January, he was a 32nd-round pick by the Tigers back in 2014 and briefly appeared in the Majors with the 2019 Rangers. He yielded four runs in 6 2/3 innings during that brief cup of coffee but has a solid minor league track record, with a 3.44 ERA, a 22.6% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk rate in 483 1/3 innings (including 79 innings of 4.10 ERA ball with a 28.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A).

Share 0 Retweet 10 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Transactions Dixon Machado Ildemaro Vargas Jonathan Holder Locke St. John P.J. Higgins

18 comments

Injury Notes: Harper, Higgins, Hoerner, Topa

By TC Zencka | June 26, 2021 at 9:38pm CDT

Phillies star right fielder Bryce Harper was hit in the left leg by a Jacob deGrom change-up during a bunt attempt today. He ran the bases, but Travis Jankowski replaced him in the field for the bottom half of the inning. The ball skipped off the ground before hitting Harper’s leg, so it’s likely to be a short layoff for Harper. That said, nothing is certain at this point, including Harper’s availability for Sunday, writes Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

While we await an update on Harper, let’s circle up and check-in elsewhere around the Senior Circuit…

  • Cubs backup catcher P.J. Higgins has been diagnosed with a partially torn UCL that will require Tommy John surgery, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Luckily for the Cubs, starter Willson Contreras was back in the lineup today after getting hit by a pitch on the hand yesterday, Montemurro adds. Higgins collected his first Major League hit this season but went just 1-for-23 at the plate in nine games. [UPDATE: Higgins is actually getting right forearm flexor tendon surgery, Montemurro was among those to report, not a Tommy John procedure.]
  • Nico Hoerner will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A tomorrow, writes Tim Stebbins of NBC Sports Chicago. He strained his hamstring on May 25th after beginning to establish himself as a galvanizing presence on both sides of the ball. With slick glovework at the keystone, Hoerner is one of the Cubs’ better defenders, and he brought his hot bat from spring training into the regular season, batting .338/.405/.432 in 84 trips. Hoerner projects to return to the big-league club sometime in early July.
  • The Brewers don’t have an exact timeline for the return of reliever Justin Topa, but manager Craig Counsell sounds optimistic in saying, “He’s not crazy far from game action,” per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). Topa injured his elbow during spring training and has yet to make his season debut. He made six quality appearances as a 29-year-old rookie for the Brewers in 2020, pitching to a 2.35 ERA in 7 2/3 innings.
Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Brewers Notes Philadelphia Phillies Bryce Harper Craig Counsell Justin Topa Nico Hoerner P.J. Higgins Willson Contreras

62 comments

Cubs Select Robert Stock, Place Dillon Maples On IL

By Anthony Franco | June 16, 2021 at 4:15pm CDT

The Cubs announced a series of moves before tonight’s game against the Mets. Robert Stock was selected to the roster, while Cory Abbott was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Dillon Maples was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 15, with a right triceps strain, and Trevor Megill was optioned to Iowa. To create 40-man roster space for Stock’s selection, Chicago transferred catcher P.J. Higgins from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Chicago claimed Stock off waivers over the winter, but they ultimately outrighted him off the 40-man before the season began. The hard-throwing righty has spent the year in Iowa, where he’s tossed 19 2/3 innings of 4.12 ERA ball. That’s not an eye-catching level of run prevention, but Stock’s peripherals look much better. He’s punched out 30.5% of opponents in Triple-A while walking just 4.9% of batters faced.

The latter number is especially crucial for Stock, who’s been plagued by control issues at the big league level in recent seasons. The 31-year-old walked an untenable 15.3% of hitters with the Padres and Red Sox between 2019-20, contributing to a 7.13 ERA over 24 frames. The Cubs will give him a chance to carry over his seeming newfound control at the big league level. Stock’s 2021 MLB debut will come tonight, as he’s on the mound as an opener against New York.

Losing Maples is a tough blow for the Cubs bullpen. The 29-year-old has appeared in the big leagues in each of the past five seasons, but his 22 2/3 innings this year is easily a career-high. Maples has pitched to a sterling 1.99 ERA over that time with elite strikeout (33.7%) and ground ball (52.3%) numbers. Maples boasts some of the best stuff in baseball, with elite velocity and spin on each of his four-seam fastball, cutter-slider and curveball. He’s always walked a fine line with his control, though, and Maples has continued to dole out free passes at an alarming rate (14.7%) this season.

Higgins went on the IL last week with a forearm strain. He’ll now be sidelined until at least mid-August. Recent testing revealed more significant damage than expected in his elbow, reports Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 28-year-old Higgins has picked up his first 25 MLB plate appearances this season, serving as a backup to Willson Contreras.

Share 0 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Transactions Dillon Maples P.J. Higgins Robert Stock

20 comments

Cubs DFA Tony Wolters, Select P.J. Higgins

By TC Zencka | May 19, 2021 at 2:57pm CDT

The Cubs made a change at their backup catcher spot today, selecting P.J. Higgins from Triple-A and designating veteran Tony Wolters for assignment, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter).

Higgins joined the Cubs as a 12th-round pick in 2015, and he hasn’t yet played in the majors. The 28-year-old has batted .273/.359/.370 with 21 home runs in 2,014 minor league plate appearances. He’ll take over as the Cubs’ backup catcher behind Willson Contreras.

Wolters, 28, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in March. The former Rockie opened this season with a .125/.276/.125 line in 30 trips to the plate before the Cubs designated him. He’s a lifetime .236/.322/.315 batter with seven HRs in 1,262 PA in the bigs.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Transactions P.J. Higgins Tony Wolters

21 comments
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Juan Soto Open To Extension Discussions With Nationals

    Nationals Exercise 2023 Options On Mike Rizzo, Dave Martinez

    Mets To Activate Max Scherzer On Tuesday

    A’s Designate Adam Kolarek, Option Cristian Pache

    Blue Jays Sign Sergio Romo

    Bryce Harper To Undergo Thumb Surgery

    Royals Trade Carlos Santana To Mariners, Promote Vinnie Pasquantino

    Major League Baseball Issues 12 Suspensions For Angels – Mariners Brawl

    Cardinals Place Jack Flaherty, Harrison Bader On Injured List

    Bryce Harper Fractures Left Thumb

    Phillies Select Mark Appel

    Daniel Hudson Suffers Season-Ending ACL Injury

    Salvador Perez Undergoes Thumb Surgery

    Cubs Designate Jonathan Villar For Assignment

    Yankees, Aaron Judge Avoid Arbitration

    Recent

    Dodgers To Activate Mookie Betts From 10-Day Injured List Sunday

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    Cubs Notes: Mills, Stroman, Smyly, Suzuki

    AL Central Notes: Twins, Guardians, Blitzer, Ilitch, Tigers

    Red Sox Place Rich Hill On 15-Day IL

    Aaron Barrett To Retire

    Juan Soto Open To Extension Discussions With Nationals

    Mookie Betts Could Return Tomorrow, May Play Second Base Initially

    Jacob deGrom To Begin Minor League Rehab Assignment

    Royals Activate Joel Payamps, Outright Daniel Mengden

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Story Rumors
    • Frankie Montas Rumors
    • Michael Conforto Rumors
    • Arbitration Tracker
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version