Carlos Villanueva Officially Joins Cubs

The signing of Carlos Villanueva has been pending for a while now, but on Saturday the Cubs officially inked the versatile pitcher to a two year contract. The Dominican spent the past two seasons as both a starter and reliever for the Blue Jays. Villanueva comes to Chicago with eyes on one of the rotation spots, but he of course will have competition in the form of Scott Baker, Scott Feldman, and Travis Wood at the least.

The North Siders had been trying to determine which player would be the resulting fallout from the 40 man roster in exchange for Villanueva. Today that unlucky man turned out to be Lendy Castillo. The Rule 5 pick from the Phillies in 2011 made 13 appearances in 2012, which turned out to be a roughed up cup of coffee for the right hander. Featuring a 7.88 ERA and 12 walks in 16 innings of work, Castillo will need to continue to get some innings under his belt at the minor league level. Whether or not that will be in the Cubs system remains to be seen, as Castillo will need to clear waivers.

Sep 4, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Carlos Villanueva (33) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

As the 40 man roster now stands as of Saturday night, the Cubs still have one more move to make to officially announce the addition of Scott Hairston.