Cubs make surprising bullpen move as reliever market heats up

With the reliever market starting to catch fire ahead of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs have begun to make room for a future trade acquisition of their own.

According to Marquee's Andy Martínez, the Cubs have designated veteran Chris Flexen for assignment, bringing up Gavin Hollowell to fill his roster spot (for the time being).

Cubs DFA Chris Flexen, creating space for trade deadline acquisitions

It was just a month ago that Flexen was being touted as one of the best moves of Jed Hoyer's career as the President of Baseball Operations in Chicago, though things obviously changed in a hurry for the veteran swingman.

Prior to the start of July, Flexen had made a name for himself among Cubs fans, pitching to a 0.64 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 28 innings. He appeared to be the ideal long-reliever for a team in need of stable innings due to a myriad of injuries sustained in the rotation.

However, his under-the-hood stats—a 3.41 FIP, 13.5% strikeout rate, .185 BABIP, and 92.9% left-on-base rate—all pointed to an eventual dose of reality, and the regression monster came for Flexen hard this month.

In 15 2/3 innings in July prior to being DFA'd, Flexen surrendered 13 earned runs, coming out to a ghastly 7.47 ERA. After allowing a .149/.216/.149 slash line in May and .184/.245/.265 line in June, the 31-year-old was crushed to the tune of a .324/.351/.603 line in July. Keeping him around was simply untenable, especially with the trade deadline just days away.

In his place (for now) steps Gavin Hollowell, a 27-year-old reliever with less than 50 innings of MLB experience. The giant (6'7") right-hander has appeared in five games for the Cubs this season and posted a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 innings, though his 5.24 ERA in 20 games for Triple-A Iowa (22 1/3 innings) shouldn't make fans ooze with confidence..

Rather, Hollowell likely got the call given his status of already being on the 40-man roster, meaning the Cubs' decision to DFA Flexen will open up a roster spot for a potential trade acquisition. Even with Emmanuel Clase off the board due to gambling allegations, the team has been a notable suitor for nearly every available reliever on the market this year.

With Porter Hodge currently rehabbing in Triple-A Iowa, the Cubs could add multiple relievers to their big league roster in the coming days, though that would likely come at the expense of Hollowell's roster spot as well.