The Cubs made a flurry of roster moves before Friday’s game.
The Cubs acquired four new players by trade before Thursday’s deadline: Willi Castro, Taylor Rogers, Andrew Kittredge and Michael Soroka.
This is a bit confusing and I’ll try to make clear all the roster moves, both 40-man and 26-man, here.
Kittredge and Soroka were added to the 40-man early Thursday with no corresponding moves needed, as there were two open spots at the time.
Castro and Rogers were added to the 40-man late Thursday and the corresponding moves were Ryan Pressly being designated for assignment and Miguel Amaya being moved to the 60-day injured list. Note that the placement of Amaya on the 60-day doesn’t change anything regarding his possible comeback, as that placement can be backdated.
All four new players are now on the Cubs’ 26-man active roster. Rogers, essentially, replaces Pressly.
To make room for Castro, Kittredge and Soroka, the following moves were made:
- Moises Ballesteros was optioned to Triple-A Iowa
- Gavin Hollowell was optioned to Iowa
Some of you might have preferred to keep Ballesteros — but then who would go? Jon Berti? That would give the Cubs a very inflexible bench, as Ballesteros at this stage of his career is really only a PH/DH in MLB. He might return in September.
These moves give the Cubs a much better bullpen. It isn’t clear yet whether Soroka will start or relieve or be a swingman. For now, Ben Brown is still in the rotation and will start Saturday’s game against the Orioles.
As always, we await developments!