When the Cubs announced their minor league rosters on Friday, reliever Pedro Strop was not listed for the Iowa Cubs. I wondered if that was a matter of an opt-out possibility, or if some other transition move was in the works.
Then I noticed today that Pedro Strop’s Instagram Story appeared to indicate that he was in the Dominican Republic, which would be a little odd given the Triple-A season is going to begin in just two days and he was still, at last check, in on a minor league deal:
Based on the visuals & the account he tagged in his IG Story, looks like Pedro Strop was in the Dominican Republic today. He wasn't listed on Iowa Cubs initial roster, though – at last check – he was still with Cubs on a minor league deal. Minor league season begins in 2 days. pic.twitter.com/3GGbjkio6Y
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) May 3, 2021
Well, shortly thereafter, Gordon Wittenmyer reported that Strop has indeed taken a personal leave from the organization for unspecified reasons:
Pedro Strop has taken undetermined personal time away from the Cubs.
More from @GDubCub:https://t.co/pwjUSvVsD8
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) May 3, 2021
It’s not clear what will happen, from a contractual or roster standpoint, if and when the Iowa Cubs season starts and Strop is not involved. Moreover, it’s not clear what would happen if and when the Cubs wanted to bring Strop back up to the big league team. That is to say: I don’t really know anything about what’s going on, and I don’t really want to speculate.
Strop, 35, looked like a big-league-capable reliever in Spring Training and in his brief call-up earlier this year, though the ability to study the performance was rather limited.