The Cubs are re-signing reliever Yency Almonte to a minor league deal, reviews Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Chicago outrighted him off their 40-man roster on the finish of final season.
Almonte, 30, landed with the Cubs as a secondary piece of final winter’s Michael Busch commerce. He stepped into Craig Counsell’s center reduction group and made 17 appearances. Almonte surrendered seven runs (six earned) throughout 15 2/3 innings. He fanned 20 opponents and issued eight walks. That every one got here earlier than the second week of Might. The righty sustained a shoulder pressure and underwent season-ending surgical procedure in July.
Rogers suggests that Almonte is wholesome now. There’s little draw back for the Cubs in giving him one other look as a non-roster participant. Almonte has 223 main league innings below his belt. He owns a 4.44 earned run common with a good 22.5% strikeout share and a 9.9% stroll fee. His fastball has sat within the 95-96 MPH vary at its greatest. It was down a tick within the early going final 12 months.
Almonte has over 5 years of main league service. If the Cubs name him up at any level, they couldn’t ship him again to the minors with out his consent. The Cubs have restricted roster flexibility of their bullpen. They’ve six relievers who can’t be despatched down by advantage of their out-of-options standing or service time: Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier, Tyson Miller, Caleb Thielbar, Keegan Thompson and Julian Merryweather.
If Colin Rea doesn’t get the fifth starter job out of camp, he’d add a seventh reliever with out choices. Porter Hodge is locked right into a late-game position, whereas Nate Pearson and Eli Morgan must be within the combine. Almonte joins Trevor Richards, Phil Bickford, Brandon Hughes and Ben Heller amongst minor league signees who’ve MLB expertise.
