Right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. is opting out of his minor league deal with the Cubs, as first reported by The Bigs Media on X. Edwards signed the minors pact with Chicago back in January, though as an Article XX(B) free agent Edwards received the ability to opt-out from his contract yesterday if not added to the 40-man roster.
Edwards, 32, got his start a professional in the Rangers system after being selected in the 48th-round of the 2011 draft. Despite that lack of prospect pedigree, Edwards broke out to become a consensus top prospect after he was traded to the Cubs as part of the return for Matt Garza back in 2013. After making his debut in Chicago in 2015, Edwards pitched to an excellent 3.06 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 159 innings spread across four seasons. He struck out an excellent 33.9% of batters faced during that time, though it was accompanied by an elevated 13.6% walk rate.
The right-hander’s performance took a turn for the worse as he battled injuries and ineffectiveness from 2019 to 2021, with a 7.90 ERA across 34 appearances split between the Cubs, Padres, Mariners, Braves, and Blue Jays. That led to him signing a minor league deal with the Nationals back in February 2022, and he enjoyed something of a career resurgence in D.C. Over his two seasons with the club, Edwards pitched to a 3.07 ERA with a 4.11 FIP. While the run prevention numbers were similar to that of his peak years in Chicago, the right-hander’s strikeout rate had declined as he punched out just 20.1% of batters faced while maintaining a slightly elevated 10.5% walk rate. Even so, he provided solid results for the Nationals while generating groundballs at a 47.1% clip.
A stress fracture in Edwards’s shoulder brought his 2023 season to a premature end, though he appeared to be fully healthy upon arriving in camp with Chicago last month. This spring, he’s allowed just two runs (one earned) while striking out six and walking three in seven appearances with Chicago. Those solid results evidently weren’t enough to crack the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, but it would hardly be a shock if they caught the attention of another club in need bullpen help in the coming days. At the very least, Edwards appears to be a safe bet to find another minor league deal elsewhere in the league if he cannot secure a spot on a big league roster to open the season.
As for Chicago, the Cubs appear poised to enter the season with Adbert Alzolay, Hector Neris, Drew Smyly, Julian Merryweather, Yency Almonte, and Mark Leiter Jr. locked into spots in the club’s bullpen. That leaves two spots to be filled as things stand, one of which Edwards was in contention for. With him no longer a factor, optionable relief arms already on the 40-man roster such as Luke Little, Jose Cuas, Daniel Palencia, and Keegan Thompson figure to be in the mix for the final spots in the club’s relief mix.
Liked Edwards, but have better choices. Adbert Alzolay will be exceptional as the closer.
If the Cubs didn’t have so many relievers who are already out of option then Edward’s probably would have made the team.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, they only have a couple relievers they can cycle through the minors and those select few are their better bullpen pieces. Kind of feel for Wesneski, Little, Caus, since they will be the guys shuttled through the minors
Back to NASCAR !!
COTA is the only decent Road Race.
He was actually pretty decent this spring, But it’s more and more obvious that Hoyer and Counsell are more than willing to ride the younger pitchers as far as they’ll take them. And really it’s the smart play. Brown and Wesneski are ticketed for Iowa as 1 and 1A in the rotation. Little’s last outing was a bit rough but I think he was working on a change up or something because he wasn’t throwing very hard and got lit up pretty good but that’s one of those things that we as outsiders won’t know. I’m not worried about him anyway. Last guy Cuas? Palencia has been erratic and needs some seasoning. Sanders could be a valuable piece before it’s over. Interesting decision to be made.
Nice breakdown!
Man, UncleMike has been watching a lot of spring training baseball!
Not just Spring Training baseball, The MLB.com app for 149 bucks and you can watch any MINOR LEAGUE game you want. You can click on all 4 Cubs MILB games if they’re on at the same time and pick which prospects you want to watch. It’s a phenomenal way to the see the farm. Since I’m retired I have a lot of free time on my hands and watching the Cubs farm is fun again.
While Horton will only be called up when they are ready to start him, Brown could be called up this year as a reliever.
I’d forget about Horton this year. Brown, Wesneski, Hodge will all get crack after Steele, Imanaga, Tallion( When he comes back), Wicks, Assad, Smyly. This is another build year for Horton. As it stands now, The Cubs will have at least 50 million under the tax after this year and 80 million if Bellinger opts out. Next year they can even resign Hendricks for all I care if he’s healthy and pitches well. He won’t be a drain on the payroll anymore and the Cubs will have no major holes to fill as somebody will take 3rd and if Bellinger leaves they’ll have options. It’s a nice problem to have.
Oops left out Hendricks. My bad
They can’t force Hendricks to retire unless for some reason they offer him and extra 10 Million. Resign and Re-sign is misused and spelled frequently. In all seriousnes, I would love for The Professor to remain a cubs the rest of his career. And maybe even be a coach for the cubs when he hangs up his cleats.
Retire? As long as he isn’t injured somebody will sign him. It just doesn’t have to be the Cubs. A plaque, A hearty handshake and thank you and wish you the best would be fine. Depends on who the Cubs identify as they’re future starting staff going forward. His sentimental value is over for me. The coaching thing I love.
Yes you said the cubs could resign Hendricks. Resign means to retire or quit from a work position.
I’m going to have to disagree, if Horton pitches anywhere near as well as he did last season he will be given a look in Chicago.
We all have seen how aggressive Hoyer has been in the past with prospects during competitive windows, plucking Nico straight out of AA, Schwaber and Happ hardly spent any time in the minors as well. Plus, if Horton proves/looks like a guy who is going to give the Cubs the best chance to get to and win in the playoffs, he will definitely be up.
I personally would not be all that surprised to see Horton up before the trade deadline if an opportunity presents itself.
I do think Browns trajectory is going to be similar to Samardjizas, probably start out in the pen before transitioning to the rotation
Horton hasn’t pitched more than 5 innings since the Cubs signed him. They’ve kept him on a solid pitch count for 2 years. They’ve been very careful with him and I don’t see any reason for them to stop now. I’m guessing, And it’s just my opinion that he’ll start out in AA as he only pitched a few games there including the 2 games he started to help them win the Championship. Brown, Hodge, and Wesneski are all stretched out and would be the first ones up IMO. I’d be very surprised to see Horton in MLB unless there were some catastrophic injuries. But hey, I’ve been wrong before. I expect them to stretch him out this year to 100 pitches eventually.
When Steele and Thompson were initially called up to make starts, they pitched 3-4 innings max. It also doesn’t look like Brown or Hodge are “stretched out” any more than Horton.
Regardless of who gets called up first, it doesn’t change the fact that if Horton is dominating and Cubs feel like he can help the team make/win in the playoffs, he will be up eventually.
Also, if Horton is pitching like he was last season, the Cubs will want to see him at a higher level regardless. I like Assad but I feel like he’s going to be a Travis Woods/mike Montgomery role for the Cubs (reliever/swing man). With Hendricks hitting free agency at the end of the year, I think the Cubs would like to see if Horton can slide into his slot.
Again those are things you don’t know who’s stretched out. These guys toss a couple of innings and then go to the back fields and pitch more innings there. Hodge, Brown and Wesneski are all probably up to 80 pitches at least. Again these are things nobody knows but the Cubs. There isn’t enough innings for everyone to get up to a pitch count in the games.
Aloha UMike, agreed. I thought Edwards had a nice spring but with all the talent now in the farm, finally, it’s time to give these spots to the younger folks. Brown had a very good outing today! I hope he can eventually be a starter to go with Horton. Been waiting for a while to have a minor system this good, deep in talent. I pray they don’t trade it all away! I wish Edwards well. Mahalo!
Others may step up this year, but Brown and Horton are the future right now.
Palencia got hammered again today, I don’t see how he starts anywhere but Iowa.
I’d rather have Edwards in Chicago and Cuas at Iowa, but that will require trading or releasing someone from the 40-man tonight or tomorrow morning.
BHouse- Like I said though Palencia had already been reassigned yesterday so we don’t know what he was told. They could have sent him out there telling him to work on one pitch that they said he needs to get back. Those are things you have to be privy to to have an opinion.
Edwards would only have value to the Cubs if he signed a split contract, it would still require a 40 man manipulation but adding another guy without options is pointless.
thanks for that solid breakdown.
White Sox could definitely use him in the back of our bullpen!!
Why not join a rising team like Pittsburgh on a minor league pact. Injuries happen or if Adonis Chapman falls flat, he could be called upon. Pirates have plenty of depth for the bullpen and it would be a tough road to reach the major league club. But a veteran like him could inspire Shelton and the front office to call him up in a months time.
Why would a player opt out of one minor league contract where the team has a higher probability to make the playoffs only to sign another?
Edwards is looking for a more direct path to the majors, either a major league deal or a split contract. He may sign another minors deal but only with another opt out and with a team that looks like they have a shaky bullpen.
When Edwards signed with the Cubs, their pen was kind of shaky, then they added Neris and Little has been lights out, making Edwards pretty much a non-factor.
His only direct path to the majors might be with the A’s or Rockies.
More direct path… there are actually several teams that are dealing with injuries in their bullpen right now, he could very well get a major league deal but odds are he is going to have to settle for a split contract, if not a minor league deal but one where he is higher on the depth chart.
Come on, Carl, come back to Papa—come back to the Nats!
Why is Cuas on this team? I’d take Edwards over him.
He has options, he gives hitters a much different look, he had an ERA just above 3 and when used properly, is dominate. Oh, and he has options.