The Cubs re-signed righty Caleb Kilian to a minor league contract, reports Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. He’ll return to Triple-A Iowa after being released over the weekend.
Chicago designated Kilian for assignment last Thursday when they acquired Tom Cosgrove in a trade with San Diego. Kilian was on the minor league injured list at the time. Teams cannot place injured players on outright waivers. The Cubs needed to trade Kilian or release him after the DFA. The vast majority of such players will be released. Once they clear waivers, they’re free to talk to all 30 clubs, though it’s common for their former team to try to get them back on a minor league deal.
That’s what happened in this case, so Kilian sticks with the Cubs after a few days on the open market. He’s been in the organization since the 2021 deadline. The Cubs acquired Kilian and outfielder Alexander Canario from the Giants in the Kris Bryant deal. Both players were reasonably well-regarded prospects at the time, though neither has panned out thus far. Canario’s big power has been undercut by huge strikeout tallies. The Cubs moved on from him over the offseason.
Kilian has made eight major league appearances over three seasons. The Texas Tech product has allowed a 9.22 earned run average in 27 1/3 big league innings. He has walked 20 batters with 21 strikeouts. Over parts of four seasons in Triple-A, he carries a 4.37 ERA in 274 frames. His 21.8% strikeout rate is a little worse than average, as is his 9.2% walk percentage. Kilian had only taken the ball once for Iowa this year. He gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings before leaving with the undisclosed injury that sent him to the IL. He’ll work as non-roster rotation or long relief depth once he’s healthy enough to return to the mound.