The Chicago Cubs have been clearing room on their 40-man roster and recently they outrighted a trio of players that played with the team at various points of the 2023 season. Now, a few days later, two of those players have been claimed by other teams.
Left-handed hitter Jared Young was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals. Young, 28, played in 16 games with the Cubs in 2023, first called up in late June and then again in September. The corner infielder and outfielder also had a cup of coffee at the end of the 2022 season, appearing in six games during his first MLB call up.
The Cubs picked Young in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Old Dominion. He has put up good numbers in the minor leagues and the 2023 season was one of his best, posting a .995 OPS with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A. During his small sample size in the majors, Young has a slash line of .210/.290/.435, in 22 games.
Oh and you just know that Young will end up with a clutch hit against the Cubs at one point with the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Estrada was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres. Estrada, 25, made his MLB debut in Aug. 2022, and then had a chance to become a solution to a struggling Cubs bullpen early on in 2023, but he couldn’t take advantage and was back down at Triple-A by mid-June.
Overall, Estrada made 17 relief appearances with the Cubs in 2022-23. He posted a 5.51 ERA and 2.02 WHIP, with 21 strikeout in 16.1 innings. There were certainly some flashes of a good pitcher shown from Estrada, but his struggles to find the strike zone and consistently light up the radar gun were his downfall.
Still, at 25, Estrada has some potential left and if he can get back to finding the strike zone with his off-speed pitches, then he can definitely stick around in a major league bullpen.
In other notable roster moves by the Cubs, Nick Burdi cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. Burdi only pitched in three games with the Cubs in 2023, but he showed off a lively arm, hitting 100mp+ with his fastball, which no Cubs pitcher had done since Aroldis Chapman in 2016. Burdi did go down with an arm injury, but was able to get back on the mound at Triple-A on a rehab assignment later in the summer. He’s been through so many injuries throughout his baseball career, but hopefully the Cubs can keep him around and maybe Burdi can remain healthy for a season.
Finally, 24-year-old Luis Vázquez was added to the 40-man roster. Great story here, as Vázquez wasn’t much of a hitter from 2017-22, and then suddenly hit 20 home runs between his time at Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. He posted a 112 wRC+ and .817 OPS, with a .271/.361/.456 slash line in 454 plate appearances.
But what makes Vázquez truly valuable is his incredible defense.
Vázquez has primarily played shortstop in the minor leagues, but he does have starts at second and third base as well.
On Monday, the Cubs also traded former first round pick Brendon Little to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The following minor league players have also been released by the Cubs.
Michael McAvene
Scott Kobos
Jake Washer
Derek Casey
Jarod Wright
Malcom Quintero
Raino Coran
Tomy Sanchez
Bryaan Altuve
