I really liked Tsuyoshi Wada as a minor league deal flyer for the Chicago Cubs coming into Spring Training.
Here’s the thing about minor league flyers and why you like them, though: most of them don’t make the team – many don’t even stick with the organization – and the cost when they don’t stick is virtually nothing. So you take a shot on upside, and if it doesn’t work out, you cut bait and move on.
Thus, although I liked signing Wada to a minor league deal, I also have no problem with him now moving on. The Cubs today granted Wada his unconditional release, and the 33-year-old lefty will presumably try to catch on elsewhere. Or he may head back to Japan.
Wada has never pitched in the bigs in the States, succumbing to Tommy John surgery immediately after the Orioles signed him prior to the 2012 season. He showed some nice stuff late in the year at AAA in 2013, so that’s why he was worth a shot. He didn’t quite show as much for the Cubs this Spring, and it was likely that he was going to be able to opt out of his minor league deal eventually anyway. So the sides apparently elected to just part ways now.
With Wada officially out of the picture, the 5th spot in the rotation is formally down to Carlos Villanueva and Chris Rusin, though we already informally knew that to be the case.
The Spring roster now stands at 35.