In what was technically the second cut of the Spring, the Chicago Cubs
today shuffled loose 18 players, bringing the Spring roster down to
40.
Among the cuts were pitching prospects Jay Jackson, Trey McNutt, Chris
Carpenter, Alberto Cabrera, Kyle Smit and Rafael Dolis. Though all
have potentially promising futures, none were expected to break camp
with the big club. The same goes for Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters,
who also got the axe.
Perhaps the only two players to be cut who had a chance of making the
Cubs out of Spring were pitchers Robert Coello and Thomas Diamond.
Coello, whom the Cubs acquired a few weeks ago for second base
prospect Tony Thomas, was impressive at times, but, with an option
available, it isn’t surprising to see him cut. Assuming he performs
well at AAA Iowa and stays healthy, he’ll be among the first guys
called upon should a need arise in the bullpen. As for Diamond, he was
never particularly impressive in his appearances with the Cubs last
year, so he’ll be stashed away in Iowa in the hopes that he’ll get
another shot down the line.
Jim Aducci, Steve Clevenger, Bryan LaHair, Lou Montanez, Scott Rice,
Chris Robinson, Marquez Smith, and Brad Snyder were also cut.