NEWSLETTER
As we’ve been discussing, this period immediately after the World Series is when teams have to get their 40-man roster back into legal shape for the offseason ahead. That means guys who were on the 60-day IL, and thus didn’t count against the 40-man limit, have to be reactivated and go back on the 40-man. In turn, for teams with very crowded rosters like the Cubs, that means a lot of guys will have to be bounced.
Some of that happens organically as free agency arrives – four names rolled off yesterday – and some of it happens as organizational decisions are made.
Per the Cubs transaction log this morning, some of those decisions have been made. Four players have been outrighted off the 40-man roster:
⇒ Outfielder Trayce Thompson
⇒ Outfielder Nick Martini
⇒ Righty Kohl Stewart
⇒ Righty Jonathan Holder
What this means, in effect, is that each player was “sent to Iowa,” but will become a minor league free agent shortly, unless they are sooner retained by the Cubs on a new minor league deal (or if they don’t have enough service time for minor league free agency and/or haven’t been outrighted before in their career – I believe all four will qualify for free agency).
After these outrights, the Cubs’ 40-man roster is down to 34, but they do still have five guys who haven’t yet come off the 60-day IL, officially. That means the 40-man is effectively at 39, which is right where you want to be at this moment, at a minimum, so you have a spot open to grab anyone you like who hits waivers in the coming weeks. There will be a lot of them.
Also, obviously the Cubs are going to want to pare down further from here so that they have room to add free agents, make trades, and protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft. But now that the Cubs are definitively under 40, they can do that stuff on an as-needed basis.
Thompson showed huge power at Iowa this year, and then in flashes with the big league team, but he was not a guy who was going to be retained on the 40-man roster all offseason. Even at 31 heading into next season, Thompson should have no trouble finding another minor league deal. He had 15 very good games with the big league Cubs, and posted a 122 wRC+ at Iowa. If nothing else, he’s solid depth to have.
The story is somewhat similar with Martini, another guy we didn’t expect to stick on the 40-man after this season, but who shouldn’t have a problem securing a minor league deal (be it with the Cubs or another club). Like Thompson, he put up great numbers at Iowa, and will play next season at age 31.
If the Cubs wanted to hang onto either guy on a minor league deal, it wouldn’t be the worst idea, since they clearly took well to the organization, and the Iowa outfield doesn’t currently project to be over crowded (depends a little bit on how you view Greg Deichmann, whether Jared Young plays in the outfield, and whether Nelson Velazquez is at Iowa right away to open the season).
Plus, if you have one of those two around and have a short-term need at the big league level in 2022 because of injury, then you wouldn’t necessarily be compelled to rush a guy like Brennen Davis or Nelson Velazquez for a short-term thing if he wasn’t ready.
Holder, a one-time quality setup man for the Yankees, was actually one of the Cubs’ few big league free agent signings in the first half of last offseason. But he was never healthy this year, and he’ll presumably have to find a minor league deal to try to win a bullpen job somewhere in the Spring.
Stewart got some big league time and flashed big league pitches – it was easy enough to see why the Twins regarded him so highly for so long even without results – but he seemed to struggle after the stick stuff enforcement ban (not an accusation, just a timeline of when the command/spin rate/results sunk). And then he got hurt. Having only just turned 27, I don’t think Stewart will have a problem finding a team that wants to see what he can do in the Spring, and on a minor league deal.
