Never stop trying to find new talent. The calendar doesn’t matter.
The Chicago Cubs have signed minor league lefty Jack Aldrich, formerly of the Kansas City Royals organization. Aldrich, the Royals’ 20th rounder in 2021, must’ve gotten squeezed out for some reason, and the Cubs must alternatively believe they can make it work.
Now 23, Aldrich posted a 4.15 ERA last year over 56.1 relief innings at Low-A and High-A for the Royals, striking out 48 and walking 18. I don’t have much yet in the way of a scouting report on him, but you can see some video of Aldrich in college just before he was drafted, via BP:
The Cubs must see something they think they can work with, because they’re not hurting for lower-level relief prospects at the moment. Given their success, though, I give them the benefit of the doubt in wanting to bring in Aldrich. We’ll just have to monitor his progress.