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Cubs Release Julian Merryweather

The Cubs released reliever Julian Merryweather, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He’d been designated for assignment last week when they selected Brooks Kriske (who is himself now in DFA limbo).

Merryweather, 33, lost his roster spot after a rough start to the season. The righty gave up 13 runs (12 earned) through his first 18 2/3 innings. He fanned 15 while issuing 11 walks and surrendering a couple home runs. Merryweather had struggled last season as well, allowing a 6.60 ERA across 15 innings. He lost a good portion of the year to a rib fracture in his back and also battled late-season knee tendinitis.

Since the start of the 2024 season, Merryweather has allowed 6.15 earned runs per nine in 36 appearances. That’s well off the pace he showed two years ago, when he posted a 3.38 ERA across a career-high 72 innings. Merryweather collected 17 holds and a pair of saves as one of Chicago’s best relievers that year. His stuff hasn’t been as crisp over the past couple seasons. He has lost two ticks of velocity on both his four-seam fastball and slider since his 2023 peak.

That’s probably in part due to injury. Last year’s rib issue was the latest in a long line of health questions. Merryweather underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer in 2018. He debuted for the Blue Jays in 2020 but missed a good chunk of the following season due to a significant oblique strain. A 2022 abdominal strain again led to a notable absence, leading Toronto to waive him at the end of that year.

Merryweather is playing on a $1.25MM arbitration salary. Assuming he clears release waivers, the Cubs will remain on the hook for that money. He’ll be free to pursue other opportunities and would only cost his new team the prorated portion of the $760K league minimum for any time he spends on the big league roster.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/05/cubs-release-julian-merryweather.html
 
Cubs Designate Tyson Miller For Assignment

The Cubs have designated right-hander Tyson Miller for assignment after reinstating him from the 60-day injured list, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. He had been pitching on a rehab assignment of late but it seems the club didn’t want to add him back to the roster. Since he is out of options, he has been sent into DFA limbo. Their 40-man roster count stays at 40.

Miller, now 29, is a bit of a surprising roster cut. The Cubs acquired him from the Mariners in May of last year, after Seattle had designated him for assignment. But he went on to finish out the year well with the Cubs. Between the two clubs, he finished 2024 with a 2.32 earned run average in 62 innings. He struck out 23% of batters faced and only walked 4.7% of opponents.

He hasn’t yet had a chance to build on that here in 2025. He traveled with the Cubs to Japan but didn’t pitch in the major league portion of the Tokyo Series. He then landed on the IL ahead of domestic Opening Day due to a hip impingement. He was transferred to the 60-day IL in mid-May when Moises Ballesteros was added to the roster.

Miller started a rehab assignment a few weeks ago and has tossed 13 Triple-A innings with a 2.77 ERA. However, his 19% strikeout rate and 15.5% walk rate in that sample are both poor numbers. He’s only been averaging 88.6 miles per hour on his fastball during this rehab, a drop from last year’s 89.6 mph, though that’s perhaps understandable for a guy working back from a long absence.

As mentioned, Miller is out of options. That’s also true for essentially everyone in the Cubs’ bullpen. Of the eight relievers currently on the active roster, Daniel Palencia is the only one who can be optioned to the minors. He has become the club’s closer of late, so he’s not at risk of getting sent down.

Rather than cut anyone currently on the team, the Cubs have decided to cut Miller. He’ll head into DFA limbo, which can last for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Cubs could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Based on the success Miller had last year, it’s possible some other club takes a shot on him, presumably one with a less rigid bullpen construction. He’s still cheap, having not yet qualified for arbitration. Though he’s out of options, he can be controlled for the rest of this season and potentially four more if he sticks somewhere.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/cubs-designate-tyson-miller-for-assignment.html
 
Poll: Which Contender Should Be Most Aggressive On The Rotation Market?

Trade season is fast approaching, and teams have mostly begun to start sorting themselves between the contenders and pretenders. At almost every trade deadline, there’s one need that teams prioritize filling than any other: starting pitching. There’s no such thing as too many starters, and that’s become even more true in recent years as pitching injuries have skyrocketed. Plenty of teams will want to add an impact arm (or at least some depth) to their rotation this summer, but which need help the most ahead of the stretch run? Here’s a look at some of the league’s top contenders:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have fought their way back into the AL Wild Card conversation recently, and they’ve done so despite a bottom-five rotation in baseball by ERA. Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are both solid veterans who can be trusted to start a playoff game, and Jose Berrios is getting good results despite worrisome peripherals for the second year in a row. After that trio, however, things start to look dire. Bowden Francis has been one of the worst qualified starters in baseball this year, and the team has no defined fifth starter at all for the moment.

Spencer Turnbull is coming to help out sooner or later, but relying on a pitcher who last made even 20 appearances back in 2019 to help turn things around is risky. Alek Manoah and Max Scherzer could both contribute at some point in theory, but they’ve similarly dealt with injuries that have made them major question marks in recent years. For Toronto, one could argue that the question is less about whether or not they need another starter, but whether or not they’ll remain firmly enough in contention to justify the expense come July.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs enter play today with the best record in the NL, and with Kyle Tucker set to reach free agency in November, there’s little question they’ll be buyers this summer. A stacked lineup that features few obvious holes makes pitching the most sensible place for them to look for upgrades, and it’s not hard to argue for starting pitching as the best choice when looking for upgrades. Cubs’ starters have combined for a 3.99 ERA this year, good for 19th in baseball. That’s below average in the league overall despite players like Matthew Boyd (3.01 ERA) and Colin Rea (3.59 ERA) pitching better than anyone would’ve assumed preseason.

Justin Steele is out for the season after undergoing surgery on his UCL, and he’s joined on the IL by co-ace Shota Imanaga while the veteran works his way back from a hamstring strain. Imanaga is expected back at some point this month, but with depth options like Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Brandon Birdsell all also on the injured list, Ben Brown (5.72 ERA) struggling badly this season, and top prospect Cade Horton likely operating on an innings limit, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs not doing something to address their rotation this summer.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers, at least on paper, have more rotation arms than they know what to do with. The reality of their situation is much different, however, as the vast majority of those pitchers are presently on the injured list. In conjunction with disappointing performances from players like Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw, those injuries have left the Dodgers with a 4.35 rotation ERA and the fifth-weakest starting staff in the NL this year. Their two-game lead on the Padres and three-game lead on the Giants in the NL West aren’t nearly as comfortable as they would surely like, and with a stacked lineup that has few obvious holes, that could make starting pitching the most obvious area for them to upgrade this summer.

On the other hand, it’s possible L.A. could simply rely on internal improvements as players get healthier. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is in the NL Cy Young conversation this year, and Dustin May has looked like a capable arm for the middle-to-back of the rotation. Glasnow, Sasaki, and Blake Snell are all expected back at some point or other this year, and Shohei Ohtani is of course working his way back to the big league mound. For a club that managed to win a World Series with a patchwork rotation just last year, perhaps that’s enough to feel comfortable standing pat this summer. Even so, at least another depth arm or two couldn’t hurt.

Cleveland Guardians

Long renowned for their excellent starting pitching development, the Guardians were one of several playoff teams last year who limped into October with major question marks in the rotation. With a 4.07 ERA and 4.55 FIP out of the rotation this year, they look to be at risk of doing so once again. Luis Ortiz looks like a solid mid-rotation arm, but Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams have both seen their peripherals take a nosedive this year despite solid enough results. Cleveland recently lost Ben Lively for the season to Tommy John surgery as well, creating another hole in their rotation mix.

Perhaps an internal option like right-hander Zak Kent can be a surprise contributor, and Shane Bieber’s eventual return from the injured list could provide a big boost so long as he can shake off the rust from a long layoff. That could make an outfield in need of upgrades a more pressing issue but it’s hard to imagine the rotation not being an area worth upgrading this summer. That’s especially true given that the bullpen that helped carry Cleveland to October last year has looked more “good” than “superhuman” in 2025.

Other Teams In Need

These four aren’t the only teams who could use some pitching help this summer. The Red Sox and Diamondbacks have both struggled to get results from their rotation, but have a deep group of arms in-house already and are far enough out of contention at this point that they may end up selling. That latter point is also true of the Braves, whose pitching situation looks more worrisome than ever after Spencer Strider has struggled in his return from surgery and AJ Smith-Shawver was lost for the year. The Yankees and Twins have pitched extremely well this season, but it would be understandable for either team to look for upgrades given the significant blow losing Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) and Pablo Lopez (Grade 2 Lat Strain) dealt to each respective rotation. The Cardinals have gotten middling results from their rotation but have a bigger need in the outfield. The outfield also seems likely to be a bigger priority for the Astros, who have gotten great results from Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez but are currently relying on a patchwork at the back of their rotation while players like Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti heal up on the injured list. Like the Astros, the Padres are currently running a top-heavy rotation a handful of question marks.

Which team do you think ought to be the most aggressive in pursuing starting pitching this summer? Have your say in the poll below:

Take Our Poll

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...e-most-aggressive-on-the-rotation-market.html
 
Cubs To Sign Jake Woodford To Minor League Deal

The Cubs are signing right-hander Jake Woodford to a minor league deal, reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Woodford, a client of Excel Sports Management, is heading to Triple-A Iowa and will start for that club tomorrow night.

Woodford, 28, just opted out of a minor league deal with the Yankees a few days ago. Prior to opting out, he had logged 39 2/2 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over seven starts and three long relief appearances. He allowed 4.54 earned runs per nine with a 21.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 42.4% ground ball rate.

That wasn’t enough to get called up to the Yankees. They had suffered injuries to starters Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman but guys like Will Warren and Ryan Yarbrough have stepped up to stabilize the group.

The Cubs have their own slate of rotation injuries at the moment. Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad are all on the injured list at the moment. Steele required UCL surgery in April and won’t come back this year. That leaves them with a rotation of Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, Ben Brown and Cade Horton. Boyd is having a good year but is up to 68 2/3 innings. The last time he hit 79 in a season was in 2019. Rea is a swingman who has been thrust into the rotation by the injuries. Horton is a big prospect but has only five big league appearances thus far.

In terms of depth, Chris Flexen was previously in the Triple-A rotation but is now in the big league bullpen. Jordan Wicks is on the 40-man but has a 4.86 for Iowa this year. The Cubs will likely be looking for starting pitching prior to the deadline but adding Woodford gives them an experienced arm to call upon if their rotation suffers another injury in the coming weeks.

He has had some major league success as a swingman in the past, mostly by keeping the ball on the ground. With the Cardinals in 2021 and 2022, he logged 116 innings with a 3.26 ERA. He only punched out 15.4% of opponents but got opponents to hit the ball into the dirt at a 45.6% clip. His ERA spiked to 6.23 in 2023, which pushed him towards journeyman mode. He posted a 7.97 ERA last year between the White Sox and Pirates. Here in 2025, he signed a minor league deal with the Rockies but opted out at the end of spring. That led to his Yankee deal, which he also opted out of.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/cubs-to-sign-jake-woodford-to-minor-league-deal.html
 
Jed Hoyer: Cubs Planning To Look For Pitching At Deadline

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer joined the New York Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman for an interview on the latest edition of The Show podcast (YouTube link), and discussed a number of topics about both his team and baseball at large. Though we’re still several weeks away from the July 31 trade deadline, Hoyer did address his first-place team’s likeliest need.

I think we’re going to be looking for pitching, both rotation and in the bullpen,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think that’s a secret. That’s not a knock on the guys we have. But I think in today’s game, you’ve got to keep building depth.”

Justin Steele pitched in just four games before his season was prematurely ended by a UCL revision surgery, thus robbing Wrigleyville of one of its top arms for almost the entirety of the 2025 campaign. Javier Assad hasn’t pitched at all this season due to a pair of oblique injuries, and since he only started playing catch a couple of weeks ago, it would seem that a return prior to the All-Star break might not be in the cards. Shota Imanaga hasn’t pitched since May 4 due to a hamstring strain, and Hoyer said “the hope is” Imanaga will be able to return to the rotation before the end of June.

Without their two top pitchers and another hurler in Assad that expected to at least compete for a back-end rotation job, Chicago has done well to hold its own on the rotation front even with such a depleted set of starters. Hoyer made a point of praising his in-house starters and his team’s defense for helping the run-prevention efforts, yet bringing at least one starting pitcher into the fold seems like a logical way to reinforce the roster heading into the pennant drive.

As one might expect, Hoyer didn’t share any hints about how big of a splash the Cubs are looking to make at the deadline, and still couched his comments within the framework of “if” the front office chose to make any additions by July 31. It could be that Hoyer may not know the answer to such questions himself at the moment, as the Cubs’ trade pursuits may hinge on Imanaga’s assumed healthy status by July 31, Assad’s progress, or any other injuries or pitchers who are under- or overachieving in the coming weeks.

Hoyer also said that Porter Hodge is expected to return from his own oblique injury before June is out, which will bring another high-leverage candidate back to help the relief corps. As Hoyer put it, however, bullpens are “always a work in progress…I don’t think you ever get to a point of feeling comfortable or feeling like it’s a set thing.” With this in mind, the pen will be a focus both on July 31, and “we’ll keep on making small transactions [before the deadline] as well to get marginally better.”

On the flip side of the equation, Hoyer doesn’t see the Cubs doing much to alter its impressive core of position players on the trade front. The Cubs have been one of baseball’s best hitting teams, with the powerful offense helping make up for any of the pitching staff’s shortcomings.

“Barring injury, there are probably some small things [we’ll consider] on the offensive side, but really I think that our position-playing group has been really good….The depth we have, top to bottom, I think we’re getting production both offensively and defensively from all our spots. That’s made a huge difference. As I think about it, pitching is the likely direction we would take if we were adding [at the deadline],” Hoyer said.

In terms of other topics, Hoyer said he wouldn’t comment publicly on either the existence of any extensions talks between the Cubs and Kyle Tucker, or even any talks between himself and the team on a new deal, as Hoyer’s current contract is up after the 2025 season. Hoyer repeated past comments about how he hoped Tucker would stay in Chicago over the long term, and how much he has enjoyed his own 14-season tenure in the organization as first a general manager and then the head of the baseball operations department.

Hoyer did go into a little more detail about what might now be the most impactful trade of his five-year run as PBO — the July 2021 deadline deal that brought Pete Crow-Armstrong to the then-rebuilding Cubs from the Mets for Javier Baez, Trevor Williams, and some cash considerations. New York took Crow-Armstrong 19th overall in the 2020 draft so it wasn’t as if PCA was an unknown quantity, yet a shoulder surgery limited the outfielder to only six games in his first pro season.

The Mets weren’t willing to discuss moving more highly-touted prospects at the time, as Hoyer said such players as Francisco Alvarez, Matt Allan, and Brett Baty were “off the table” in trade talks. Mark Vientoswas a guy that was kind of discussed a little bit but it was clear they didn’t want to part with him,” Hoyer noted, so discussions turned towards elsewhere on New York’s minor league depth chart.

Crow-Armstrong “was sort of out of sight, out of mind, I believe,” Hoyer said. “Looking back, I think his injury didn’t allow him to perform, and therefore I think he became a guy [the Mets] were willing to trade in that deal. So I think it was good fortune for us that they did take some really good players off the table, and most of those guys are helping the Mets right now, but Pete’s injury allowed that to happen and it worked out really well for us.”

While Hoyer felt Crow-Armstrong was going to improve as a hitter during his second full Major League season, even the executive admitted to being a little surprised at the extent of the breakout. PCA has been one of the very best all-around players in the sport, delivering 17 homers, 21 stolen bases, and a .277/.313/.559 slash line over 275 plate appearances while also playing Gold Glove-level defense in center field.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/jed-hoyer-cubs-planning-to-look-for-pitching-at-deadline.html
 
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