Roster moves for the Cubs today.
In another thing that feels like it was a lifetime ago, the Cubs took huge righty reliever Trevor Megill in the Rule 5 Draft from the San Diego Padres. He’d had some success in the upper levels of the minors, and the Cubs wanted to get him into their Pitch Lab to see what they could do. Even going back to when he was Rule 5 drafted, though, we’d always said that it was possible he wouldn’t make the big league club out of Spring Training, and the Cubs would simply thereafter “acquire” him from the Padres so that they could hang onto him and have another optionable reliever at AAA Iowa.
Fast-forward to seven months later, and that’s what happened. And it comes in conjunction with second baseman Jason Kipnis, in on a minor league deal, officially making his way onto the 40-man roster:
Cubs have selected the contract of Jason Kipnis from AAA and have sent cash considerations to San Diego in exchange for rights to Rule 5 pick Trevor Megill. Megill taken off 40 man and sent to South Bend
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) July 17, 2020
So Kipnis swaps spots with Megill on the 40-man roster, and Megill heads to South Bend to be bullpen depth. He’s off the 40-man roster for now, but the Cubs could add him back at any time (and he has minor league options left from there). Glad the Cubs were able to hang onto him for nothing more than cash (teams aren’t giving up much for players right now, so even a little cash was probably a welcomed receipt by the Padres).
There was never much doubt that Kipnis was making the team at this point, and he’ll be in the mix for starts at second base. We don’t quite know whether his decline in production the last three years is going to continue, but there were some mixed signs under the hood that maybe things were improving as of last year. Odds are good that he gets most starts out of the gate, at least against righties.
More on Megill:
For more on Megill, this is my report after the Cubs drafted him.
There’s lots to like and be intrigued by, but it’s not a huge shock that all the work involved in getting him MLB ready couldn’t have been completed by now.https://t.co/iLYPyvDrXd
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) July 17, 2020