The Cubs have released right-handed relievers Cody Allen and AJ Ramos, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com was among those to report. They also outrighted catcher Josh Phegley and outfielder Ian Miller to their alternate site after the pair cleared waivers, Jay Cohen of the Associated Press tweets.
Allen, who signed with the Cubs in July, was a dominant closer during his heyday. The former Indian logged a sub-3.00 ERA in each season from 2013-17 and racked up 122 saves during that span. Allen totaled another 27 saves in 2018, his final season with the Indians, but his production tailed off significantly then and continued to worsen during a 23-inning run with the Angels in 2019. The Halos signed Allen to an $8.5MM contract before last season, but after he struggled to a 6.26 ERA/8.38 FIP with 7.83 BB/9 and a career-worst 92.3 mph average fastball velocity, they released him in June. The 31-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since then.
Ramos, who will turn 35 on Sept. 20, had a terrific run in Miami from 2012-17, when he notched 99 saves and posted a 2.78 ERA in 327 1/3 innings. They traded him to the Mets in the last of those seasons, though, and Ramos proceeded to slump to a 5.59 ERA in New York over 38 2/3 frames in parts of two seasons. Ramos hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2018 after undergoing shoulder surgery, though he hoped to make a return to the bigs as a member of the Cubs. He’ll now have to try to latch on elsewhere if he still plans on continuing his career.
Both Phegley and Miller became Cubs on minor league contracts last offseason, but the team designated the two for assignment in recent days. Phegley, formerly the A’s starting catcher, went 1-for-16 as a Cub before they kicked him off their roster. The fleet-of-foot Miller appeared in one of Chicago’s games, but he didn’t record a plate appearance.
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I think you forgot “Dumpster divin’ Theo” forces roster moves!
ROFL! I don’t have a dog in this fight. That was just really funny, ChiSox. =D
Here’s something even funnier:
Pirates beat up the lowly Cubbies today!
Only Theo’s ability to fill a dumpster overshadows his ability to empty it
Hey MLBTR——put a “block the troll” button on the site and your subscriptions will triple in a day. All the White Sox fans may leave the site to look for a day job, but everyone should try something new.
Well, they were due. The Cubs had beaten them the previous 5 times that they had played this year.
chisox fan and chitown311 is the same guy. The moron logs on to reply to his own comments
Yep
Allen could be headed back to Cleveland
Maybe as a private citizen, but his playing days are clearly over.
Allen’s collapse can’t help but highlight the difference between the Indians talent evaluation dept and the Angels’.
L.A. outspends Cleveland 2-1 but knows nothing of how to build a winning organization. If Cleveland had the money to spend that LA has, we’d be talking about the Tribe dynasty.
It’s the “has the money” part which changes everything…..
Just as they did with Bryan Shaw, CLE rode that horse for all he was worth until his career was literally gassed. Made no attempt to keep either one, and the FO look like geniuses.
Teams rarely get credit for the deals they don’t make.. which is a shame. It is hard to imagine the Indians being in contention right now if of they had $20 million a year wrapped up in some combination of Allen, Miller and Shaw.
Hopefully Allen will bounce back at some point and get another few seasons.
The only career option Allen has left is to camp outside of Tampa Bay’s facility until he gets a contract.
Ol’ Dumpster Tossin’ Theo!
And to think Allen and Ramos were once closers. Yikes!
I phegley remember Josh.
I have a sinus infection, and have been producing a lot of phegley.
‘Phegley’, I barely knew her!!….
Cody Allen’s decline has been downright shocking. When he and Andrew Miller struggled in 2018, I didn’t really think much of it other than the fact that it pretty much eliminated any chance of either coming back. They’ve both fallen off a cliff since then though.
As I’m typing this, I’m realizing that it’s interesting that a lot of Francona’s most used relievers from his time in Cleveland have all dropped off significantly since leaving the Indians (Bryan Shaw too). Could it be that Tito burned them all out, could it be leaving the development staff of the Indians, or both?
Third option, had a few relievers during their best few years. Similar to I’m guessing 90 percent of RP. Just they got recognition and money, which used to be unusual.
You can’t blame Tito for Cody Allen because he was used no more than a typical closer on a good team. Shaw was used a ton though. He was the most used reliever in baseball for about a five year stretch. Him being available to pitch every night was the main thing that made him valuable though. He was never overpowering but pretty reliable. Colorado was insane to give him that deal. He was already beginning to diminish here.
Cleveland is great at evaluating talent. Yes, Allen, Shaw but see Kluber. None of these guys were damaged goodS but Cleveland saw something they didn’t like. I liked Clevenger but his mechanics have him coming down hard on his leg in his delivery. He was injured earlier but healed. I think the Indians were uncomfortable with his future. I hope I’m wrong because the kid is talented.
Considering how bad the Giants bullpen is, I’d like to see them grab Cody Allen. Well worth a shot considering his many years of outstanding results.
Allen could not even make the Rangers and Cubs very weak bullpens who were desperate for help, He is being passed along the league without making teams for a reason, he is not all the sudden going to find it again somewhere. Past results mean nothing when you cannot pitch like that anymore.
Allen needs to try to reinvent himself and hopes it works, that is all he has left.
Craig Kimbrel looking on.