At last, Matt Duffy (back) returns, and it’s actually another position player heading out, which means the Cubs will say up an extra reliever at the moment. Eric Sogard has reached the end of the line, and has been designated for assignment.
Probably-not-entirely-coincidentally, the Cubs will now have seven days to trade, waive, or release Sogard. That takes the DFA window exactly to the Trade Deadline, which allows the Cubs to see if some team gets urgently needy for a bench player. If not, it’ll be up to him if he wants to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Iowa, or wants to become a free agent.
Sogard, 35, was brought in on a minor league deal but has mostly been a part of the big league roster all season, despite unimpressive overall numbers at the plate. He’s been an excellent pinch-hitter, and, perhaps together with his good glove at multiple infield spots, some team might want to add him to their bench. I would not expect a meaningful return, but maybe the Cubs could get some salary relief.
Duffy, 30, was something of a revelation earlier in the year for the Cubs, combining a good plate approach with high contact and line drives, handling premium velocity well, and generally changing the shape of the lineup. It’s not entirely a coincidence that when he went down two months ago, the offense sank.
Although he’s a free agent after the season, I tend to think the interest here is going to be more about the Cubs and Duffy seeing over the next few months if they want to marry back up for 2022, rather than the Cubs playing him for a week so that they can try to trade him next Friday. Just not sure that market is going to be in a place where the modest return is worth more than just keeping Duffy and seeing about next year.