Today, according to multiple reports, the Chicago Cubs made their obligatory first round of Spring Training cuts at Major League camp, which annually consists of a huge number of the prospect-y types that you’d come to love seeing over the preceding few weeks. The good news is that they can technically still play in Major League Spring Training games, they’ve just got to be brought up temporarily from minor league camp to do so. The bad news is, from this point on, it doesn’t happen a whole lot, save for split squad days.
The cuts include Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora, Arismendy Alcantara, Logan Watkins, Eric Jokisch, Matt Szczur, Jeudy Valdez, Carlos Pimentel, and Aaron Cunningham. All but Cunningham, who was released, were sent to minor league camp.
The only one that is even a modest surprise is Logan Watkins, and even with him, it had become clear that he was not in the running for a bench spot out of camp. That he was sent down in the first set of cuts is really only a surprise because he’s already on the 40-man roster and already has some Major League experience. So, I guess not really a surprise in the end.
You’ll also probably point out that Javier Baez wasn’t yet cut, which is not an indication that he still has a chance to make the team out of Spring Training. It’s simply a reflection of the fact that the big league staff probably wants to continue working with Baez on some things, including his anticipated appearance(s) at second and/or third before he’s sent to the minors.