The Padres announced that they’ve dealt reliever Tom Cosgrove to the Cubs for cash considerations. Chicago designated righty Caleb Kilian for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot. San Diego had designated Cosgrove for assignment over the weekend.
Cosgrove, 28, was drafted by the Padres in 2017. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster during the 2022-23 offseason, a testament to the bat-missing ability he’d shown in the minors. Cosgrove made his major league debut the following April and managed strong numbers as a rookie. He turned in a 1.75 earned run average through 51 1/3 innings. His strikeout and walk profile was pedestrian, but he very rarely allowed hard contact and pitched well against lefty and righty batters alike.
The pendulum swung dramatically in the other direction last year. Cosgrove gave up 19 runs in 14 2/3 MLB innings spanning 18 appearances. Opponents’ average exit velocity jumped by three ticks while his strikeout rate dropped from 21.5% to 19.7%. Cosgrove spent most of the season in Triple-A, where he posted a 4.85 ERA with an above-average 26.8% strikeout percentage in 32 appearances.
Cosgrove did not break camp after a rough Spring Training, in which he gave up seven runs through 5 1/3 frames. He has gotten out to a slow start in Triple-A as well, allowing three runs with four walks and two strikeouts in four appearances. The Cubs immediately optioned him. He’ll begin his Chicago tenure with their top affiliate in Iowa. This is his final minor league option year.
Kilian is in his last option season as well. The Texas Tech product was a decent prospect in the San Francisco farm system whom the Cubs acquired in the Kris Bryant deadline deal in 2021. Chicago also acquired outfield prospect Alexander Canario, whom they DFA and traded away a couple months ago. It’s possible they’ll lose Kilian via trade or waivers within the next week.
The 27-year-old righty never established himself on Chicago’s staff. He has made five starts and three relief appearances going back to 2022. Kilian owns a 9.22 ERA in 27 1/3 innings thus far. He has issued 20 walks while recording only 21 strikeouts. Kilian has better numbers over four seasons at the Triple-A level. He carries a 4.37 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.8% strikeout rate across 274 innings at the top minor league level. Most of that has come as a starter. Kilian has only started one Triple-A game so far this season. He was tagged for six runs on a trio of homers in 2 1/3 innings.
I liked the kid, I wish him well…
A little up and down career so far. Too much talent to write him off totally. Good luck except against SD!
This year Caleb Kilian will pop. TRUST.
Pop what? Hopefully not a tendon.
This dude’s ERA is nearly 12. This is Discount Jed at his finest with the dumpster diving.
And it was 1.75 the year before. He can be fixed.
Assuming Killian is claimed, that closes the books on the Kris Bryant trade.
Bryant was good for SF, and they won 106 games… then lost to the Dodgers in the NLDS. And Canario and Killian haven’t done anything.
Guess the trade was a wash in the end.
I’ll give it a small win for Farhan. He took on the whole salary and kept the prospect cost down.
Bryant gave the Giants 1 WAR and they beat the Dodgers for the division by one game.
The Dodgers got their revenge, but Bryant played well.
Meanwhile Kris Bryant is floundering below the Mendoza line in one of the best places to hit in all of Major League Baseball…but hey, at least he’s not on the injured list again…yet.
Well, so much for the Kris Bryant trade. Of course, the Cubs never should have DFA’d Canario–that is going to be remembered as a major head-scratcher–but losing Kilian is a good thing for two reasons: 1) He was never going to make it, he is awful; and 2) Cubs fans can finally stop misspelling his name in chats like this one (with two l’s).
“Cubs fans can finally stop misspelling his name in chats like this one (with two l’s).”
Reminds me of a beer I used to drink 20 years ago and forgot existed
Although Canario is already on his 2nd team since the Cubs.
Canario is a head-scratcher? What are you confused about, Alan? He was out of options, historically high strikeout rates at AAA, and he’s hitting .071 through 14 ABs with Pirates.
Get back to me about this in a few months, Bill.
Probably more of a sign that the setbacks to Brasier and Miller signify that they aren’t coming back any time soon. Perhaps stockpiling any type of arm in the minors for the time being.
Caleb has than 70 innings thrown as a triple A starter per season. Hurt and ineffective. Never had any success on the big league club. Not a major league pitcher. Carter was on the radio today claiming someone that nobody knows about would be contributing to the pitching staff this summer. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Bopper–that’s a broad brush statement that is 100% correct every season for every team—of course there are guys that nobody knows would be contributing…like last years Tyson Miller, Jorge Lopez, Porter Hodge, Nate Pearson….
……the problem with his statement being correct is that the easiest path for these “nobody knows” guys is that the guys WE DO know—-don’t contribute well enough or get hurt. That’s the scary part.
Kilian will get claimed and will be converted into a stud reliever.
The Cubs have made a savvy move to bolster their bullpen by acquiring Cosgrove, potentially prevent up to 2-3 additional runs per month compared to Kilian, while saving $11M in surplus value. The focus on Cosgrove’s 2024 struggles should be tempered by his proven ability to miss hard contact and perform well in 2023.
Bryant trade – SF wins.
Col-Lost on the deal even if they were not part of the trade they bought the hype
Cubs were never going to resign him so they tried out two prospects that did pan out….can’t say they totally lost.
Always wondered how much these “cash considerations” actually are in these deals. I assume not much, $50,000 or so just to make it worth the trouble of keeping track but, anyone have any knowledge?
It can be as little as $1, but I would think that the Cubs may have paid a little more than $50,000 (the waiver claiming price) in order to acquire him before he was put on waivers.
Any relation to Ken Cosgrove?
Or Miranda?
Just don’t let him near any doggie doors.
Wasn’t that Jacob Nix?
Cosgrove was the other player who was with Nix that evening. He’s the one who pulled him out of the doggie door.
I’ll never forget that he was with Jacob Nix the night he got tased and kicked in the face as they drunkenly (accidently) broke into someone’s house in AZ. I think Tommy boy pulled him out of the doggy door.
finally kilian is gone, he was trash