With offseason additions Gage Workman, Vidal Brujan and Nick Berti in tow and the infield combination of Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and top prospect Matt Shaw locked in, the Chicago Cubs saw no path for Luiz Vazquez, designating him for assignment earlier this week.
On Friday, the Cubs traded Vazquez to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash considerations as the roster turnover continues on the North Side. Vazquez, never one of the organization's top prospects, made his MLB debut with the team in 2024, collecting his first big-league hit, but going 1-for-12 in limited action overall.
Vazquez, who has multiple minor-league options remaining, gives Baltimore some nice infield depth and a high-quality defender they can turn to in a bind. How much he'll hit remains to be seen (he has been slightly above-average the last two years at Triple-A) but the glove is a sure thing and is always nice to have in your back pocket.
As for the Cubs, the infield depth still feels somewhat shaky. Assuming Shaw, Swanson and Hoerner are your regulars from third to second, Berti is the only depth option I, personally, would feel alright turning to to give a starter a day off. Brujan has never produced at the big-league level and Workman, who Chicago took in this offseason's Rule 5 Draft, has never taken an at-bat above Double-A.
There are still a handful of free agent options out there - and the hope is Jed Hoyer can bolster the bench depth between now and the Tokyo Series in mid-March when the Cubs kick off the 2025 season with a matchup against the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Right now, it's a fairly uninspired bunch - and after cleaning house of guys like Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal, the hope is to field a deeper group, not somehow take a step backward.