We’ve reached the point in Spring Training where teams will soon be confronted by tough roster decisions, involving both additions and subtractions, which means the pool of available fringe players is about to increase. That’ll happen not only organically as out-of-options players don’t make a given team, but also as organizations try to free up 40-man roster space by slipping guys through waivers.
Example – the Cubs apparently put lefty Dario Alvarez through waivers in the hopes that they could get him off of the 40-man roster but keep him at AAA Iowa, and … no dice:
#Mariners roster move: Claim Dario Alvarez off waivers from the Cubs. He'll be optioned to Tacoma and report to minor league camp. 38 spots on 40 man
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 21, 2018
The 29-year-old lefty has had some big league success, but was a very early signing for the Cubs in the offseason, and was not going to make the big league bullpen in the near-term. It would have been nice to keep him around as depth and see how his command played at AAA this year, but you can’t keep everyone.
The Cubs’ 40-man roster will now stand at 38.