The Cubs and Guardians are in settlement on a commerce sending right-hander Eli Morgan from Cleveland to Chicago, reviews Jeff Passan of ESPN. Chicago is designating infielder Patrick Knowledge for project to open area on the 40-man roster, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers provides. Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reviews that the Cubs are sending a prospect from A-ball again to the Guardians within the swap.
Morgan, 28, isn’t a family identify however nonetheless represents a notable addition to the Chicago aid corps. The previous eighth-round choose is recent off a terrific season in Cleveland, having posted a 1.93 ERA in 42 frames out of the bullpen. Morgan was the beneficiary of a microscopic .222 common on balls in play and a bloated 85.2% strand price, each of which function a portent for some ERA regression. Nevertheless, he’s been a high quality reliever for the previous three seasons, working to a mixed 3.27 ERA in 176 innings for the Guards.
Morgan did see his strikeout price examine in at a career-low 20.4% this previous season, which is one thing of a purple flag. The first wrongdoer has been a drop in swinging strikes in opposition to his four-seamer, although he hasn’t misplaced a lot in the best way of velocity on the pitch. Morgan nonetheless racks up loads of whiffs together with his slider and changeup, and that pair of secondary choices has helped him to maintain each righties and lefties off stability in his four-year MLB profession. Even with the dip in punchouts — Morgan fanned 28.1% of his opponents in 2022 and 25.1% in 2023 — he maintained sturdy command, issuing a stroll to solely 6.6% of opponents.
For the Cubs, Morgan shall be a multi-year choice within the ’pen — and an inexpensive one at that. He’s managed for an additional three seasons and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn simply $1MM this coming season. His position in Chicago will decide the extent to which his price ticket rises over the following few seasons — saves are compensated extra in arbitration than center aid work, as an illustration — however the Cubs will very doubtless pay fewer than $10MM for the three years of service they’re buying.
Along with including Morgan to the bullpen combine, the Cubs are bidding farewell to the slugging Knowledge, who’s tagged 84 dwelling runs in a Cubs uniform over the previous 4 seasons. The 33-year-old has been a constant supply of energy and been a frequent thorn within the aspect of left-handed pitching, however Knowledge’s restricted talent set has lengthy been evident and proved notably restrictive in 2024, when he hit simply .171/.237/.392 in 174 plate appearances.
Strikeouts have been a difficulty for Knowledge all through his profession, however a minimum of from 2021-23, he was productive sufficient in opposition to lefties and inexpensive sufficient that the Cubs have been keen to miss his flaws. He’s fanned in a whopping 36.5% of his journeys to the plate relationship again to 2021 and has reached base at solely a .290 clip — all whereas taking part in sub-par protection at third base (with occasional work at first base and really fleeting appears at second and within the outfield corners). From 2021-23, Knowledge hit .231/.312/.517 in opposition to lefties and a minimum of hit for energy in opposition to righties, despite the fact that his .206 common and .291 OBP have been eyesores. He didn’t produce in opposition to pitchers of both handedness in 2024.
Swartz had projected Knowledge for a $3MM wage this coming season — maybe an affordable price ticket for a defensively restricted nook bat who can torment lefties to the extent he did in ’21-’23. However the Cubs’ veteran-laden roster — which incorporates no-trade clauses for Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki — affords minimal paths to reshaping an offense that merely hasn’t gotten the job finished in latest seasons. Subtracting Knowledge each frees up a bit of money and subtracts a slim talent set from the roster. That spot on the bench can now be allotted to a brand new acquisition, presumably one with a extra well-rounded talent set.
The Cubs can commerce Knowledge for the following week or place him on waivers throughout the subsequent 5 days. Friday’s looming non-tender deadline additionally affords the Cubs the chance to easily non-tender the now-DFA’ed Knowledge, which might enable him to right away turn out to be a free agent with no need to first go by waivers (the one time of yr groups are allowed to take action). They might use that as a mechanism to attempt to shortly re-sign Knowledge on a minor league deal, although he’d doubtless need to canvas the remainder of the league to see if his energy potential may land him a 40-man spot elsewhere.
Cleveland had probably the most dominant bullpen in MLB this previous season, so the Guardians absolutely really feel they’re dealing from a place of power. Morgan’s wage is hardly prohibitive, however even despite his success, the remainder of the Cleveland was so dominant that Morgan not often discovered himself working in leverage spots. Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin all joined Morgan as relievers with 40-plus innings and sub-2.00 ERAs (sub-1.00, in Clase’s case).
The Cubs, in the meantime, handled bullpen points all through the 2024 season and finally wound up releasing final winter’s massive aid acquisition, Hector Neris. Midseason pickup Jorge Lopez grew to become a free agent at season’s finish. Because it stands, their late-inning combine continues to be filled with comparatively inexperienced arms, headlined by Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller, Keegan Thompson, Nate Pearson and Luke Little. Morgan will add some stability to that blend, however Chicago nonetheless appears more likely to pursue additional additions within the months forward.