The Cubs have outrighted infielder Edwin Rios, in keeping with Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. There had been no earlier indication that Rios had been designated for project. Chicago’s 40-man roster drops to 39 because of the transfer. Rios has the requisite service time to reject an outright project, however would forfeit the rest of his $1MM wage in doing so.

A sixth-round decide by the Dodgers within the 2015 draft, Rios made his huge league debut with the membership in 2019 and thrived in a bench function with LA, slashing an exceptional .260/.338/.634 in 139 plate appearances throughout his first two seasons within the majors. The next two seasons, nonetheless, weren’t as fruitful. From 2021-22, Rios battled hamstring and shoulder accidents whereas slashing simply .183/.263/.365 in 152 plate appearances. That mixture of accidents and ineffectiveness led the Dodgers to non-tender Rios this previous offseason.

Upon departing LA Rios joined the Cubs, who signed him to a $1MM main league deal in hopes of Rios offering lefty energy off the bench for the membership. Issues didn’t go in keeping with plan for Rios or Chicago, nonetheless, because the now 29-year-old slugger slashed simply .071/.235/.214 with a large 47.1% strikeout charge in 34 journeys to the plate. That efficiency was sufficient for the Cubs to demote Rios to Triple-A for a lot of the 2023 marketing campaign regardless of the small pattern dimension.

Now, greater than a month faraway from Rios’s final huge league look, he’s off the 40-man roster solely. Assuming he opts to just accept his outright project with a purpose to retain the rest of his wage, Rios figures to function a depth bench choice for the Cubs’ infield, although he’s blocked by the likes of Matt Mervis and Miles Mastrobuoni, each of whom are already on the 40-man roster.

Extra to return…