Cubs lose critical pitching depth as veteran arm opts out of his minor league deal

The Chicago Cubs' starting rotation is hanging by a thread. With the bulk of its starters coming off rocky months of June, everyone is anxiously awaiting Jed Hoyer's trade deadline moves, hoping they'll come sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, the organizational pitching depth took a hit on Wednesday, with veteran right-hander Jake Woodford exercising the opt-out in his minor league deal and quickly signing a major league pact with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 28-year-old could help alleviate the stresses borne by a decimated Arizona bullpen that's already lost Justin Martinez and AJ Puk, not to mention a rotation down Jordan Montgomery and Corbin Burnes. The Diamondbacks have been on everyone's mind lately, as the industry waits to see if they'll sell at the deadline. Arizona entered Wednesday 10 1/2 games back in the NL West, but just three games out of a wild card spot in the National League.

A whirlwind of a season continues for veteran Jake Woodford

This marks the third minor-league deal Woodford has opted out of already this year. He spent spring training in camp with the Colorado Rockies on one, opted out and then joined the New York Yankees. After 10 appearances with the Yankees' Triple-A club, he once again opted out and tested the waters, landing with the Cubs in early June.

He made just three starts and a lone relief appearance for the Iowa Cubs, allowing 24 earned runs in 21 innings of work. Woodford had looked sharp his last couple times out, but with a crowded bullpen picture and what felt like a small chance he'd raise the floor of the rotation should he swap in there, he's off to Arizona to close out the first half.

This year, all of his game action has come at Triple-A. He's punched out just over 21 percent of hitters, walking 7.4 percent of opponents. He's done a little bit of everything in his career, bouncing from the pen to the rotation on what feels like an annual basis, so he's got a good deal of flexibility there.

The Cubs regularly make these types of signings during the year (just look at Kenta Maeda, etc.) - and, more often than not, they don't factor much into the big-league team's win-loss record. With (hopefully) multiple moves coming shortly, there was little path for Woodford to stick with the team in Chicago, even if they decided to give him a look in the short term.