Chicago Cubs Rumors: Brian Duensing updates; more depth signings

While the starting pitching market remains at a standstill, the Chicago Cubs remain hard at work making depth signings at the minor league level.

The Chicago Cubs have a good thing going. And that’s even without signing a big dog free agent (yes, I’m looking at Yu). We’re just weeks from opening camp in Arizona and the front office remains busy shoring up with some low-level depth additions.

But before we get into that latest signing, left-hander Brian Duensing is in the news. The Oakland Athletics celebrated FanFest this weekend and, according to Susan Slusser, the club worked hard to land the left-hander. Duensing, of course, agreed on a two-year, $7 million deal with Chicago earlier this month.

That bodes well for the Cubs, who needed a left-handed reliever to add to the combination of Justin Wilson and Mike Montgomery. And, based on the report out of Oakland, he left $3 million on the table to return to manager Joe Maddon‘s club.

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Duensing comes off a career year with Chicago. The left-hander made 68 appearances, pitching to a 2.74 ERA with a career-best 8.8 strikeouts per nine. Heading into his age-35 season, it’s unrealistic to expect anything more than what we saw last year. Still, if he can provide quality innings, he’s an asset. Especially with Justin Wilson being a major question mark.

Minor league signings

Outside of that Duensing news, the Cubs added first baseman/outfielder Efren Navarro on a Minor League deal. The 31-year-old is a career .230 hitters across parts of five big-league seasons. The former 50th-round pick appeared in 23 games last year with the Tigers, putting up a .696 OPS.

It’s hard to envision a scenario where Navarro sees much time with the Cubs in 2018. More than anything, he’ll fill a roster spot at either Double-A Tennessee or Triple-A Iowa. A career .303 hitter at Triple-A, Navarro seems to be a prototypical AAAA guy.

Twenty-seven-year-old lefty Michael Roth also comes aboard on a Minor League pact. A former ninth-round pick of the Angels, he’s appeared in just 23 Major League games since making his debut in 2013. His 8.50 ERA isn’t exactly awe-inspiring, but you have to feel just a tad better about his 4.95 FIP. Still, it’s not much to write home about.

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Last year at the Triple-A level, Roth pitched to a 4.84 FIP over 25 games (20 starts). Between the Tampa Bay and San Francisco affiliates, he was largely an innings-eater, covering over 100 frames. Similar to Navarro, it’s unlikely Roth sees more than one or two games at Wrigley – and even that might be generous. But, as they say, you can never have too much depth.