Cubs turn back the clock, bring a former 2015 top-100 prospect into the mix

Look, I understand no-risk moves, but bringing in a 34-year-old pitcher that hasn't appeared in an MLB game since 2023 and struggled in the KBO last year doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

But I've been wrong before, and maybe this is one of those times (I doubt it). Regardless, former second-round pick and top-100 pitching prospect Vince Velazquez has signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs and is expected to be in camp as a non-roster invitee this month.

Vince Velazquez seeks a return to MLB mound for first time since 2023

Velazquez last appeared in a big-league game in 2023 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, tossing 37 1/3 innings of 3.86 ERA ball. His season was cut short due to elbow surgery and he didn't pitch at all in 2024 before latching on via a minor-league deal with the Cleveland Guardians last spring. Unfortunately, he was DFAd and eventually released. He then headed overseas for the rest of the campaign, making

Velasquez’s most recent MLB work came with the Pirates in 2023. He logged a solid 3.86 ERA in eight starts, the final two of which lasted only a combined five innings. The righty hit the injured list with elbow troubles shortly thereafter, and the Bucs announced in early June that he’d require elbow surgery which would sideline him for around 11 months. Velasquez didn’t pitch at all in 2024.

He signed a minor-league deal with the Guardians last offseason and was selected to the big-league roster at the end of April, but never appeared in a game for Cleveland. He split the year between the organization's Triple-A affiliate and the KBO's Lotte Giants, having decent success in the minors but really struggling overseas.

Velazquez was initially drafted by the Astros out of high school in 2010 and peaked heading into 2015, when both MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus pegged him as a top-100 prospect. He was part of the Ken Giles trade with Philadelphia in Dec. 2015 and the bulk of his MLB workload came as a member of the Phillies.

Home runs have proven to be a major issue for the right-hander in his career, which has included stints not only with Houston and Philly, but also the Pirates, White Sox and Padres. Best-case scenario, the Cubs stash him away at Iowa as an insurance policy on an already deep rotation in Chicago, but don't expect him to break camp with the team, barring a disaster of epic proportions involving the team's other starting options.