The Cubs made a series of procedural roster moves today, activating Mike Olt from the 60-day disabled list, and then optioning him to AAA Iowa (where he already was on rehab assignment). To make room for Olt on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated pitcher Donn Roach for assignment.
Olt, who has been recovering from a broken wrist, is hitting .192/.222/.327 in 14 games at AAA Iowa as he gets his baseball footing back under him. It’s possible he’ll return later in the year as a bench bat, but he’ll likely need to turn things around a bit at Iowa first.
Roach got a one-start look-see from the Cubs before they replaced him with Clayton Richard, returned him to Iowa, and have now designated him for assignment. The Cubs must feel modestly confident about their emergency pitching depth to risk losing Roach (unless they’ve already decided that he’s not going to be quality emergency depth going forward, which would be a surprise). They’ll have 10 days to trade, waive, or release Roach. If he clears waivers, he would have to accept an outright assignment to Iowa if the Cubs wanted to send him there (he’s already been outrighted once in his career, thus giving him the right to choose free agency if he’s outrighted again). So, we’ll see what happens with him.