The Cubs have claimed right-hander Aaron Civale off waivers from the White Sox, according to a team announcement. Left-hander Tom Cosgrove was designated for assignment to make room for Civale on the 40-man roster. In addition the White Sox announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Bryse Wilson to replace Civale on the club’s active and 40-man rosters.
Civale, 30, made his big league debut with Cleveland back in 2019 and posted a 3.77 ERA across 76 starts with the organization, but is now on his fifth team in the past three years as he’s changed hands between Cleveland, Tampa, Milwaukee, and now both Chicago teams. His numbers haven’t been nearly as good since he left the Guardians; since he was traded to Tampa, he’s pitched to a lackluster 4.78 ERA in 59 appearances with a 4.53 FIP and a 22.1% strikeout rate against a 7.5% walk rate. The numbers have been even less impressive this year, as he’s posted a 5.26 ERA with a 4.60 FIP in 16 starts between the Brewers and White Sox this year.
All of that might make it seem somewhat surprising that a Cubs team with designs on making it back to the postseason for the first time in a 162-game season since 2018 would have interest in his services. Despite Civale’s middling results, however, he’s still an appealing addition for Chicago thanks to the fact that he can log reliable innings for the club and help keep their top pitchers fresh ahead of the postseason. 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd has already logged 153 1/3 innings this year despite having last thrown even 80 innings in a single season all the way back in 2019. Meanwhile, rookie Cade Horton has racked up 127 1/3 frames between Triple-A and the majors despite having never even thrown 90 innings in a season before.
Those heavy workloads could come with consequences by the time October rolls around, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported this morning that the Cubs are already keeping a close eye on Boyd’s workload after he posted a 4.10 ERA in his last seven starts. Horton, meanwhile, has been among the very best pitchers in baseball since the All Star break with a 0.86 ERA in eight starts, but even he has thrown more than 74 pitches in just one of his six starts during the month of August. With Horton and Boyd likely to join Shota Imanaga at the front of Chicago’s rotation for the playoffs, it would make sense for the Cubs to try and ease off the gas for those players while leaning on their depth for the stretch run.
The problem with that plan is that Chicago’s depth has been taxed heavily by injuries. Front-of-the-rotation lefty Justin Steele has been out almost the entire year due to UCL surgery, and since then the Cubs have also lost both Jameson Taillon and deadline addition Mike Soroka to the injured list. Javier Assad has looked quite good since returning from his own stint on the injured list, but other arms will need to join him in helping lift up the front of the rotation if the Cubs are going to be able to rest Boyd and Horton this September.
That’s where Civale comes in, as he can join with other back-end starters and swingmen the Cubs have at their disposal like Assad, Ben Brown, and Colin Rea to help take the load off of Chicago’s projected playoff starters. At the very least, he should be able to serve as a capable bridge to players like Soroka and Taillon, who may be activated off the injured list before the end of the regular season. It’s also possible the Cubs will be able to get something more than innings out of Civale, given his past success and the solid enough 4.28 FIP he posted during his time with the White Sox.
In exchange for Civale’s services, the Cubs will pay the remainder of the right-hander’s $8MM salary for the 2025 campaign. That should free up some money for the White Sox as they look ahead towards the 2025-26 offseason and hope for better days next year. It will also provide opportunities for other arms to step into the rotation and show what they can do ahead of the offseason. Perhaps that will include Wilson, who was outrighted off the White Sox roster back in June after surrendering a 6.95 ERA in 45 1/3 appearances. Now that he’s back on the roster, perhaps Wilson will be able to finish the season strong at the big league level as he heads towards what will likely be free agency in the offseason, unless he pitches so well that the White Sox are convinced to tender him a contract for 2026.
As for Cosgrove, the lefty has a 2.25 ERA across four appearances with the Cubs this year after spending most of the season at Triple-A. He’s logged 70 big league innings in total over the past three years, the majority of which came as a member of the Padres, and in that time he’s pitched to a 3.86 ERA with a 4.07 FIP. The Cubs will have one week to try and pass Cosgrove through waivers, at which point they’ll have the opportunity to assign him outright to the minors if he goes unclaimed.