NEWSLETTER
Yesterday was the universal opt-out date for veterans signed to minor league deals – if they weren’t added to a 40-man roster by yesterday, they could opt out and head back into free agency.
For the Cubs, that meant relievers Tyler Duffey and Vinny Nittoli were going to be heading out. I noted that Nittoli seemed compelling enough to want to try to retain on a sweetened deal, but it turns out, there was a team that wanted Nittoli even more than the Cubs.
The Cubs today traded Nittoli to the New York Mets for cash.
Basically, with Nittoli triggering his opt-out, the Cubs *COULD* have added him to their 40-man roster to retain him, but that wasn’t going to happen. So, instead, the Mets send the Cubs some cash and they get to add Nittoli to their 40-man without having to compete on the market for his services. I wouldn’t expect that the Cubs’ return here is a significant chunk of change, but here’s hoping they can put it to good use all the same.
Nittoli, 32, had a 3.48 ERA at Iowa with a 4.08 FIP over 20.2 innings. He’s generally had a lot of success in recent years at Triple-A, but not a lot of big league opportunities.
