NEWSLETTER
The Cubs’ roster moves yesterday saw Adbert Alzolay and Brennen Davis taken off the 40-man roster in favor of Owen Caissie and Ben Cowles, who needed protection from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Caissie was an obvious prediction, and Cowles fell into that 50/50 group, at least to outsiders.
To the Cubs, clearly, they wanted to make absolutely sure they kept Ben Cowles in the organization, and feared there was at least some chance a team would deem him big league ready and pluck him in the draft. The 24-year-old utility man can play good defense everywhere in the infield, and was hitting .294/.376/.472/142 wRC+ at Double-A for the Yankees when a pitch broke his wrist. He was subsequently traded to the Cubs, together with Jack Neely, for Mark Leiter Jr. Although Cowles did manage to return ahead of schedule from the injury, he played only a little bit at Tennessee and in the AFL. Not really enough to turn any heads anew, so the Cubs must’ve already known that they wanted Cowles available to them as a depth utility option heading into 2025.
Although it’s likely Cowles spends most or all of 2025 at Triple-A, where he hasn’t played yet, his defensive versatility, with some speed and pop, will make him a potential up-down guy for the big league team. You have to have depth upon depth, and Cowles could be solid in that way.
Then again, the Cubs already had a lot of fringy infield depth (most of it right-handed hitting, like Cowles), and also have significant infield prospects on the way. So doesn’t adding Cowles to the 40-man say even more than just what the Cubs think about him?
That is to say, let me take that a step further and speculate on the implications of the Cubs’ decision to add Cowles to the 40-man roster right now.
The move, to me, is strongly suggestive of the Cubs’ plans this week to move out – by way of trade, if possible, or simply a non-tender – at least one other reserve infielder. Friday is the non-tender deadline, which could see the Cubs move on from Nick Madrigal, Patrick Wisdom, Miles Mastrobuoni, and/or Luis Vazquez.
I’d put them roughly in that order of likelihood, by the way, since I don’t think there’s much reason to ditch Vazquez yet (having the plus glove available at shortstop is huge, just in case), and I tend to think the Cubs still like having Mastrobuoni’s all-around skillset (plays everywhere, lefty bat, runs well, and can still be optioned up and down) available in the org. I think any COULD plausibly go, and it’s possible two or three do. It’s an area of considerable crowding on the 40-man and in the upper-levels of the minors, and it’s an area where the Cubs could probably save some payroll without doing much harm to the roster or the team’s 2025 chances.
In other words, the Cubs’ decision to add Cowles yesterday makes it all the more likely that we see departures from Nick Madrigal and/or Patrick Wisdom this week.
Madrigal, 27, barely played in 2024, hasn’t really hit with the Cubs, and is set to make upwards of $2 million in arbitration. I don’t really see how the Cubs could justify keeping him at this point, though maybe they just still believe or whatever, and want him available to play second base early in the season if Nico Hoerner isn’t physically ready, and Matt Shaw/James Triantos aren’t developmentally ready. I don’t know that there’s going to be a trade available, so it’s probably a pure tender/non-tender decision on Friday.
As for Wisdom, 33, he’s coming off his worst year with the Cubs, and no longer has the floor of being a solid defender at the corner infield spots. He is set to make about $3 million in arbitration, and there’s a CHANCE a team would trade for him this week, but I also think he’s probably just a tender/non-tender decision on Friday. Gut says non-tender, given the Cubs’ apparently tight payroll situation, the positional overlaps coming, and the downward trend from 2024. You hate to lose such a huge power bat, but maybe Wisdom isn’t that guy anymore anyway. The argument on the other side here is that, if none of the younger guys are ready, Wisdom might be the best third base back-up that could actually make the big league roster. I’m not sure that’ll be enough to save his spot at this point in the offseason, though.
Caveat on both of those guys: I suppose there’s a very small chance that the Cubs could make them a pre-tender offer for 2025 (i.e., much lower than their projected arb number), and if they accept, then the Cubs keep them on the relative cheap. I really doubt it, but it’s possible.
