The Chicago Cubs made an interesting roster move, which shows up on the team transactions register as having been made yesterday, the final day of the season: reliever Julian Merryweather was transferred to the 60-day IL thanks to his knee injury, opening up a 40-man spot for catcher Caleb Knight, who was added and then optioned.
And here’s where you say … wut?
Why would the Cubs move a guy to the 60-day IL when it didn’t matter at all, and add another guy to the 40-man roster if he was just going to be immediately optioned anyway?
Well, the answer, as suggested by Arizona Phil at TCR, is simply that the Cubs were being classy:
‘Although it might seem pointless to do this, it appears to be a way to give a thank you to a minor league player who has worked tirelessly as a virtual player-coach for most of his pro career, and is probably on the verge of retiring as a player to pursue a career as a minor league coach, manager or coordinator, and this way he can retire as a “major league player.”’
Knight, 28, has been in the Cubs’ organization since 2018, and has been bumped up and down levels as needed for catching coverage. The big league thing is maybe not going to happen for him, and so the Cubs can give him this nod – make him officially a Major League Baseball player, however briefly – as a big thanks for all that he’s done. I don’t know for sure whether Phil’s right about that, but it certainly makes sense, and is the kind of thing I WANT to believe is the case. Just seems like a good way to treat a player.
There is another reason, though, and it’s a bit more procedural/strategic: by moving Merryweather to the 60-day before the season ended, the Cubs effectively open up a 40-man spot for waiver wire maneuvering until five days after the World Series (when the 60-day IL guys have to be activated).
Once the Cubs have to add the 60-day guys back to the 40-man roster following the World Series, they will have to make a variety of roster moves to clear room. Knight is going to be one of those moves if not sooner, so his stay on the 40-man will last only one regular season day, and then as long as it takes until the Cubs have some waiver claim they want to make.
Still, it seems like a nice move by the Cubs.