Cubs Outright Three Players

The Cubs have assigned right-handers Jeremiah Estrada and Nick Burdi as well as infielder Jared Young outright to the minor leagues, reports Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Burdi has the requisite service time to reject the assignment and elect free agency, while Estrada and Young will have the opportunity to enter minor league free agency later this month unless added back to the 40-man roster. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 37.

Estrada, who celebrated his 25th birthday yesterday, was a sixth-round pick by Chicago in the 2017 draft. Estrada dealt with elbow troubles early in his career before being hospitalized with COVID-19 in August 2021, leaving him with just 40 professional innings prior to the 2022 campaign. Estrada’s rise in 2022 was impressive, however, as he posted a 1.30 ERA while striking out 40.4% of batters faced in 48 1/3 innings of work across three levels of the minors that year. The reliever’s exceptional minor league numbers earned him a brief cup of coffee with the big league club last season, during which he posted a solid 3.18 ERA and a 4.17 FIP over 5 2/3 innings of work.

Estrada’s strong 2022 earned him a longer audition as a member of the Chicago bullpen this season, though his stint in the majors did not go well with a 6.75 ERA and a 9.07 FIP as he walked a whopping 12 batters in 10 2/3 innings of work across 12 appearances. His minor league numbers also suffered, with a 5.97 ERA in 28 2/3 Triple-A innings of work, though he still struck out 31.5% of batters faced at the level this season. In the event Estrada hits free agency, he figures to be an attractive candidate for a minor league deal to clubs interested in adding relief depth thanks to his youth and big strikeout numbers in the minor leagues.

Burdi, 30, was a second-round pick by the Twins in the 2014 draft and eventually made his big league debut with the Pirates in 2018. He managed just 16 appearances from 2018-20 due to injuries, posting a 9.49 ERA along the way. Ugly as his run prevention numbers were, he struck out 38.3% of batters faced over that time. Burdi did not pitch in 2021 or 2022 due to injuries, but joined the Cubs through the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft last offseason. Unfortunately, Burdi managed just three innings of work before once again hitting the injured list, this time due to appendicitis. Overall, Burdi sports a career 9.39 ERA in 15 1/3 major league innings.

Young, 28, was a 15th-round pick by the Cubs in the 2017 draft and first made his major league debut in a six-game cup of coffee last year, slashing .263/.364/.368 in his 22 trips to the plate in the majors. That slash line more or less reflected his numbers at Triple-A that year, where he posted a .230/.311/.420 slash line in 109 games. Young returned to the Cubs at the Triple-A level and took a step forward with the bat, crushing the ball to the tune of a .310/.417/.577 slash line with 21 home runs in just 90 games. Unfortunately, that success did not translate to the big league level, where he hit just .186/.255/.465 across sixteen games. Nonetheless, Young could be an attractive candidate for teams on a minor league deal this offseason due to his strong Triple-A numbers and ability to play capable defense at all four corners.