NEWSLETTER
As I mentioned recently with the signings of Jose Almonte and Matt Warkentin, now that the Independent Leagues have been underway for a couple weeks, you were likely to see a flurry of quickly-scouted signings for an aggressive team like the Cubs. And sure enough, there are two more to report.
First, the Cubs signed 24-year-old righty Jarod Wright (not to be confused with former big leaguer Jarret Wright), who had been pitching with Westside in the United Shore League in 2020. Wright pitched at Southern Mississippi before going undrafted and catching on with Westside last year. In the summer in college, he’d pitched in the Northwoods League, which is where I found his only scouting video:
Wright has already been assigned to, and appeared at, Low-A Myrtle Beach. He’s more of a traditional prospect-type signing.
Second, the Cubs signed 31-year-old righty Mike Hauschild, a former big leaguer with the Rangers and Blue Jays, and who last pitched in affiliated ball at Triple-A for the Cardinals in 2019. After that, he pitched with the highly-scouted independent Sugar Land Skeeters (now the Triple-A affiliate of the Astros), and most recently the Lexington Legends of the Atlantic League. Hauschild has always been a starting pitcher, so you can presume this is a depth signing, and a guy the Cubs want to get into the system maybe to even contribute in the second half (either because a starting emergency pops up, or because they’ve refined his mix to turn him into a reliever).
Hauschild has already been assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, and with their rotation in disarray, it wouldn’t at all surprise me to see him get a start very soon.
