Chicago Cubs might need to say goodbye to Grimm and Butler

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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Cubs will have some decisions to make come spring training, including the fates of Justin Grimm and Eddie Butler.

Signing Yu Darvish to join the top of the Chicago Cubs starting rotation could cause make or break ramifications for the bottom of the Cubs roster, specifically Justin Grimm and Eddie Butler. Grimm and Butler are out of minor league options, which means if the Cubs try to send them to the minor leagues they must be exposed to the waiver process and then another team could claim one or both of them.

Projected rotation

Yu Darvish

Projected bullpen

Carl Edwards

Justin Grimm

Since the Cubs current competitive window opened up in 2015, there has been very little room on the roster for players to try to make the team in spring training. For the most part, the roster has been set in the offseason. Spring training has been mostly about players getting the reps necessary to knock off the rust and hopefully getting out of Arizona with everyone healthy. This spring training appears to be the same situation with perhaps Grimm and Butler as the only two pitchers potentially trying out for the major league squad.

Where to go?

Since Butler isn’t currently projected to be in either the starting rotation or the bullpen he is the one who is most at risk for not making the team out of spring training. Butler might have been pushed off the Cubs roster even before Darvish signed.

Montgomery was the pitcher was most likely to grab the No. 5 in the rotation. However, it is possible that the Cubs would have preferred to keep Montgomery in the bullpen and have Butler in the rotation.

Last year the Cubs depended on Butler to be their primary starting pitching depth in the minor leagues. Alec Mills and Rob Zastryzny dealt with injuries for most of the season. Jen-Ho Tseng eventually made a start in Chicago at the end of the season. However, he began the year at Double-A, so he needed most of the year to get to the point where the Cubs considered him as a possibility to make an emergency start.

The Cubs will have an impressive group of starters on the 40-man roster. Mills, Tseng, Zastryzny and Luke Farrell will all have either previously made starts at the major league level or have at least pitched in the majors and are starting pitchers at the Triple-A level.

So last season the Cubs had almost zero starting pitching depth at the minor leagues aside from Butler. This season even without Butler the Cubs should have several options to choose from if the need arises.

Grimm is at the bottom of the bullpen list on purpose. With the possible exception of Wilson (if you judge him based only on his time with the Cubs) Grimm had the worst 2017 out of everyone else who is projected to be in the Cubs 2018 bullpen.

There are severa other relief pitchers likely begin the season at Triple-A but could be called up anytime in 2018. This group includes Dillon Maples, Dario Álvarez, Cory Mazzoni and Randy Rosario.

Pushing to the front

So there will be several other pitchers pushing for a place in the Cubs bullpen. Last season when Grimm struggled some, he could and was sent down to Triple-A. This year that is not a possibility without losing him.

Despite getting a contract through arbitration if Grimm is cut during spring training he only gets a prorated portion of his salary. Arbitration contracts do not become guaranteed for the year until after spring training. So financially, cutting him during spring training is a realistic option.

While Joe Maddon prefers to carry eight pitchers in the bullpen, seven is more common. The positional versatility of several of the Cubs hitters makes this more of a realistic option for the Cubs than most other teams. But the Cubs don’t usually have an eight-man bullpen during the entire season.

An injury or two during spring training could change all of this. But ultimately baseball is a battle of survival of the fittest. Maddon says baseball has a way of working these things out.

Grimm and Butler have had chances in the past to show their value to the Cubs. Jason Hammel was allowed to leave after the 2016 season to give someone like Butler the chance to grab hold of a spot in the starting rotation. Perhaps the Cubs would have non-tendered Grimm if they knew that they were going to be able to resign Duensing.

The Cubs might be able to trade Grimm and Butler if it comes down to it. However, all of the other teams will know that is exactly what the Cubs will be trying to do, so the return will not be great. Think of the kind of trades the Cubs were able to make when they traded away Darwin Barney, Matt Szczur and Zac Rosscup.

Next: A farewell to Jake Arrieta

Unless there is a spring training injury to at least one starting pitcher (more likely it would take two), Butler probably isn’t a Chicago Cub on opening day. The Cubs have a lot of other Triple-A pitchers they could put into the major league rotation after opening day. Butler had his opportunities last season. The harsh truth of the situation is he just wasn’t good enough last season. And Butler is probably out of time.

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The Chicago Cubs will have some decisions to make come spring training, including the fates of Justin Grimm and Eddie Butler.

Projected rotation

Projected bullpen

Where to go?

Pushing to the front

Schedule