You assume someone else would sign him and put him on their ML roster. Even if that happened, it would save the Cubs however much money the other team was paying him. If his agent told him, "sorry, there's nothing out there, nobody wants a reliever with an ERA of over 10 who can't throw strikes to save his life" then he'd go to AAA. He wouldn't like it, but he would. If nobody wanted him, I don't know why he would go to Triple A. He would force the Cubs to either keep him in the majors or pay him to sit on his couch. Well, that's better than paying him to sit on the bench. If he isn't going to be used, he needs to be removed from the roster. Hopefully he'll be off the team next week.