It’s the annual culling of the herd.
As of Monday, 513 players have been made minor-league free agents, per this article at Baseball America.
Usually, the reason for this is that players get to six years of minor league service, at which time they are automatically free agents. Some of these players are being let go for other reasons.
Here’s the list of Cubs minor leaguers who are now free agents:
RHP Luis Devers (Advanced-A)
RHP Jimmy Endersby (Double-A)
RHP Manuel Espinoza (Double-A)
RHP Saul Gonzalez (Low-A)
RHP Daniel Missaki (Double-A)
RHP Eduarniel Nunez (Triple-A)
RHP Cameron Sanders (Triple-A)
RHP Trey Supak (Triple-A)
RHP Riley Thompson (Triple-A)
RHP Blake Whitney (Double-A)
LHP Lucas Luetge (Triple-A)
LHP Blake Weiman (Double-A)
C Caleb Knight (Triple-A)
3B David Bote (Triple-A)
SS Reivaj Garcia (Triple-A)
SS Fabian Pertuz (Double-A)
SS Luis Verdugo (Double-A)
OF Ezequiel Pagan (Double-A)
OF Cole Roederer (Double-A)
OF Trayce Thompson (Triple-A)
Of note in that list:
- Saul Gonzalez was acquired by the Cubs in the Mychal Givens trade in 2021. He was injured and did not pitch at all in 2024.
- Lucas Luetge pitched in part of seven MLB seasons for the Mariners, Yankees and Braves from 2012-23. The Cubs signed him in August and he pitched in 13 games for Triple-A Iowa with a 6.48 ERA. He’s 37 and likely done.
- Caleb Knight was added to the 40-man roster on the last day of the 2024 season after six years in the system, likely as a thank-you for the years of service. He was recently outrighted off the 40-man, and now is a free agent.
- David Bote, you all know about. He might wind up catching on with another team. He did hit .304/.333/.391 in 37 games for the Cubs this year.
- Cole Roederer was the Cubs’ second-round pick out of high school in California in 2018. He never hit well enough in the system to move up, beyond 56 games at Iowa. You’ve likely heard his name often in recent years as he played in quite a few major-league Spring Training games.
- Trayce Thompson played in a few games for the Cubs at the end of 2021, then cycled through the Padres, Dodgers, Tigers, White Sox and Mets organizations before the Cubs picked him up again last July. He batted .240/.335/.429 with seven home runs in 45 games at Iowa. He’ll always be best known for being NBA star Klay Thompson’s younger brother.
The Cubs will likely sign a player or three from the list of minor league free agents. Here’s the list again — feel free to scan through it to see if there’s anyone on it you think might help the team. Not that I’d want to bring any of these guys back, but among the players let go are former Cubs Cory Abbott, Albert Almora Jr., Tucker Barnhart, Carl Edwards Jr., P.J. Higgins, Jake Marisnick and Jake Slaughter — who the Cubs traded to get Tyson Miller this past spring.