The Chicago Cubs are adding some additional positional depth to their alternate site group in South Bend.
Today the Cubs signed former long-time St. Louis Cardinals prospect Patrick Wisdom to a minor league deal. The corner infielder was recently released by the Mariners, and his signing brings the 60-man player pool up to 58 players.
Wisdom, 29 later this month, was the 52nd overall pick back in 2012, and then was a staple of the Cardinals’ farm system for the next half-decade. He kept climbing the ranks, but things didn’t come together for him offensively until a half-season at AAA in 2018. That earned him a shot with the Cardinals, where he hit well. He was traded that offseason to the Rangers for Drew Robinson, and then was merely average at AAA for the Rangers, never getting a serious shot to crack the big league roster.
What Wisdom can be for the Cubs this year is not likely to be much given that he was unable to crack the Mariners’ roster this year, for whom he’d been at their alternate site. But it’s not a coincidence that, with Kris Bryant going down for an undetermined length of time, the Cubs are bringing in corner infield depth that hits from the right.
Consider him emergency depth for the moment, though. Maybe the Cubs have always liked him and wanted to get him into the system for a look next year as a AAA depth guy.