NEWSLETTER
It’s not the signing you’re looking for at this urgent moment, but, hey, these are the signings the Cubs make each offseason in bulk, and you’re just looking for one or two to pay off. Pretty good track record on that front overall.
Per Robert Murray on ‘The Baseball Insiders’ today, the Chicago Cubs are signing lefty Thomas Pannone to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.
Pannone, 29, came up in the Cleveland organization – yes, when Carter Hawkins would’ve been in player development there – after being a 9th rounder back in 2013. He made his way up the system and became a top-20-ish prospect, and was traded at the 2017 Trade Deadline to the Blue Jays in a deal for reliever Joe Smith (whom you may remember from his time on the 2016 Cubs). From there Pannone worked his way to the big leagues with the Blue Jays as a starter, saw mixed results, and was eventually converted to the bullpen.
He was squeezed out of a 40-man spot during the pandemic year, and then pitched at Triple-A for the Angels in 2021, back in a starting role. From there he saw time at Triple-A with the Red Sox and Brewers, and also in Korea – more or less all starting. He made a one-appearance cameo with the Brewers this past season, too, so Craig Counsell would have some familiarity.
Pannone has had the look of the quintessential Quad-A guy to this point in his career: clearly good at Triple-A, getting strong results; not quite establishing himself at the big league level. It’s the kind of guy the Cubs love to take a free crack at.
This is an interesting signing, in that it’s possible Pannone is being signed as starting pitching depth to stash at Iowa – always good to have a variety of fill-in options. But it’s also possible the Cubs see something in his skill set that could translate in relief. He has generally been a command-and-control type starting pitcher, with a fastball only around 90 mph. Who knows, though – you shave off one of the pitches, let a guy come out in bursts to add some velo, so on and so forth.
Gut says this is swing depth, but we’ll see what Pannone is doing in Spring Training.
