The Chicago Cubs keep chipping away at the 40-man roster in advance of the full offseason really opening next week.
Today’s moves include another trio of players moved off of the 40-man roster, and potentially heading for minor league free agency: catcher P.J. Higgins, utility man Trent Giambrone, and starting pitcher Adrian Sampson. Each has officially been outrighted off the 40-man roster, and now it’s a matter of whether the Cubs will retain them on minor league deals before they hit free agency.
The Cubs’ 40-man roster is now down to 32, with 4 players still on the 60-day IL (so the 40-man is effectively at 36). The Cubs might now safely be at a place where they can make other cuts only as necessary when other moves come along, because they might not wind up protecting more than four prospects from the Rule 5 Draft. That protection deadline comes a week from Friday.
Higgins, 28, was part of the interminable parade of back-up-back-up catchers this year for the Cubs, and although he has pretty much shown that he can hit at Triple-A at this point, he wasn’t able to break out with the big league club over 25 short PAs before he was injured. It’s a bit TBD on what the future holds for him, as the glove also didn’t quite look big-league-capable to me, and I don’t know how the arm will do after the injury recovery. You’d tentatively like to keep that bat around at Iowa if possible, though, especially if he’ll be fully healthy and you think the defense behind the plate can at least be serviceable. In a world where the Cubs might wind up dealing Willson Contreras (sigh), they’re going to need as much upper-level catching depth as possible.
Giambrone, 27, is a long-time Cubs farmhand, like Higgins. He got a look in the big leagues during the COVID outbreak at the end of the season, but I don’t think anyone was expecting him to remain on the 40-man roster for the offseason. He dealt with some challenging personal stuff this year, and the numbers at Iowa reflected it. I’m not sure if the Cubs will hang onto him or not, even on a minor league deal, as his last productive season came back in 2018 at Double-A. He is versatile and a well-regarded teammate, though, and sometimes those are valuable things to have at Triple-A if a guy wants to keep grinding.
Sampson, 30, was a baffling dude this year, getting great results for the big league team – with good command and good pitch movement – but constantly giving up some of the hardest contact you’ve seen. There was nothing in his recent past, in Korea or in the minor leagues, to suggest a breakout was coming, or that we should doubt the peripherals. You never hate having a guy like Sampson around as depth at Iowa, but for him to take up a 40-man spot all offseason really would’ve been a stretch. Appreciate the fill-in time, no question, and he’ll probably have at least a few minor league offers to sort through.