Today, the Chicago Cubs officially added a trio of free agents: lefty Daniel Norris, lefty Drew Smyly, and utility man Jonathan Villar.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Cubs placed David Bote on the 60-day IL (shoulder surgery), placed Tommy Nance on the COVID injury list, and placed Alexander Vizcaino on the restricted list (per Jordan Bastian). Bote’s move was largely expected, as his shoulder injury will take a while yet to recover from. Nance hitting the COVID IL was not something I could have predicted, so hopefully he’s OK and it’s not something he’s been dealing with long-term. And Vizcaino to the restricted list for undisclosed reasons is, well, who knows. The restricted list is used when a player is away for reasons unrelated to baseball, and it’s impossible to speculate on exactly what’s going on. Vizcaino, 24, was the pitching prospect included in the Anthony Rizzo trade with the Yankees (together with Kevin Alcántara).