Cubs 2024-25 Offseason Minor League Signings

[Seth Stohs]

I know several of these players were given Non-Roster Invites, but some of them weren't. Which minor-league signings do you expect to compete the next few weeks for a 26-man roster spot? Which do you think will contribute over the course of the 2025 season? The likelihood of a minor league signing being a huge star on a team is low, but can a couple become a 7th reliever, or a two-month utility man or filler for an injury? 

Position Players: Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Reese McGuire, Carlos Perez, Travis Jankowski, Greg Allen, Jaylen Palmer. 

Pitchers: Trevor Richards, Brad Keller, Brandon Hughes, Phil Bickford, Ben Heller, Brooks Kriske, AJ Puckett, Chris Flexen. 

[Rex Buckingham]

wouldn't be surprised to see one of Lopez or Jankowski on the 26 man to open (probably Lopez with Nico's injury) one of the catchers will probably be up at some point

seems like Keller has a shot at the pen to open the year, would love to see Hughes back in form and make some appearances

[Bertz]

I think Keller's got a good shot at making the roster.  He's made some pretty real improvements, and there's some buzz around him.

Nicky Lopez probably has a decent shot of making it to Japan because of how behind Shaw and Hoerner are, but I don't think he makes it to domestic opening day.  He's playing well this spring but doesn't seem to be separating himself from Brujan or Workman.

Jankowski might be the backup CF, though I doubt it.

Anyone else feels like it would require an injury that has not happened yet.

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

I think Keller's got a good shot at making the roster.  He's made some pretty real improvements, and there's some buzz around him.

Nicky Lopez probably has a decent shot of making it to Japan because of how behind Shaw and Hoerner are, but I don't think he makes it to domestic opening day.  He's playing well this spring but doesn't seem to be separating himself from Brujan or Workman.

Jankowski might be the backup CF, though I doubt it.

Anyone else feels like it would require an injury that has not happened yet.

I think Jankowski would need an injury to make the team, same with Allen.  Probably Lopez as well.  They're not on the 40-man also, the others are.

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, Rex Buckingham said:

wouldn't be surprised to see one of Lopez or Jankowski on the 26 man to open (probably Lopez with Nico's injury) one of the catchers will probably be up at some point

seems like Keller has a shot at the pen to open the year, would love to see Hughes back in form and make some appearances

They can only carry 4 bench players, and one will be a 2nd catcher.

So 3 of Workman, Brujan, Cowles, Lopez, Cowles, Jankowski, Allen.  The first 3 are on the 40-man.

In Toyko I think they're bringing 5 backups to the 26-man in case of injury, so 31 total.

[Post Count Padder]

Agree that I wouldn't be shocked to see Jankowski and Lopez at some point. All the MiLB deals to pitchers seem interesting. We also just brought back Yency Almonte and he is reportedly healthy. Thought he looked decent last year before the injury. 

I get the feeling one of Reese McGuire/Carlos Perez doesn't make it to opening day. We also have Aliendo and Ballesteros. We don't need 4+ catchers in Iowa. Either the worse of the two gets the boot or one does really well and parlays it into a better roster outlook somewhere else in a couple weeks.

I was hoping for awhile for a deal with Detroit to keep Workman and not worry about losing him off 40 man but he's looked really good in spring. He might end up earning a bench spot.

Edited March 5, 2025 by Post Count Padder

[CubinNY]

Jankowski is getting his work in trying to catch on with a team. He's not going to be playing MiLB ball. If he doesn't make the team, he's either out of baseball or catching on with someone else. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Stop horsefeathers around and roll with Workman and Cowles. Both look like productive hitters in due time. They're 25 years olds with 2000+ pro PA. Don't waste your time with Brujan or Lopez.