Cubs shockingly expected to designate former closer for assignment

The Cubs will likely designate former closer Adbert Alzolay for assignment, reports ESPN's Jesse Rogers. That’ll open a spot on the 40-man roster as Chicago keeps prospects out of the Rule 5 draft. Alzolay underwent Tommy John surgery in August and is going to miss most or all of next season.

A DFA would’ve been tough to fathom just a few months ago. After an inconsistent run as a starter, the righty moved to the bullpen for good in 2023. He eventually pitched his way into the ninth inning, picking up 22 saves and six holds while only blowing three leads. Alzolay turned in 64 innings of 2.67 ERA ball with a 26.5% strikeout rate. A late-season forearm strain was the only red flag in an otherwise excellent year.

Unfortunately, the forearm issue proved a precursor to a disastrous ’24 season. Alzolay started the season horribly, allowing 13 runs (nine earned) over 17 1/3 innings. He blew five saves while locking down just four games and quickly lost the closing job. Alzolay’s walks jumped while his strikeout rate dropped by nearly 10 percentage points. The Cubs put him on the injured list with another forearm strain diagnosis in the middle of May.

It seems that’ll mark the end of his Chicago tenure, which began when he signed out of Venezuela at age 18. Alzolay tried to avoid surgery and went on a minor league rehab stint in July. He had a setback in Triple-A and went under the knife a month later. A typical 14-month recovery timeline would cost him the entire ’25 season. That wouldn’t be a roster issue for the Cubs during the season, as they could place him on the 60-day injured list between the opening of spring training and the end of the World Series. Without an IL during the winter, Alzolay would’ve counted against their offseason roster for each of the next two years even though he may not pitch until 2026.

That’s evidently not something they’re willing to do for what could amount to one more year of Alzolay. He has between four and five years of MLB service and would collect service time if he spent all of next season on the injured list. Alzolay is on track for free agency during the 2026-27 offseason.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the 29-year-old for a modest $2.3M salary if he’s tendered an arbitration contract. He’d be in line for a matching salary in ’26 if he misses all of next season. A combined sum in the $5M range would be a bargain if Alzolay recaptures his best form in 2026. There’s no guarantee that’ll be the case, of course, and it seems the Cubs don’t want to carry him on the roster long enough to take that chance.

There are a few ways this situation could play out. Perhaps the Cubs can find a trade partner who is willing to send them a marginal prospect to buy low on a potential high-leverage arm. If they don’t line up a trade, Chicago could put Alzolay on waivers within the next few days. They wouldn’t get anything in return if he’s claimed, but it’d give other clubs an opportunity to retain him on that projected arbitration salary. As a player with at least three years of service time, he’d become a free agent if he went unclaimed.

The Cubs could also simply cut Alzolay loose by declining to tender him a contract at Friday’s non-tender deadline. That’d send him directly to free agency without putting him on waivers. It’s the only time of year in which teams can drop players from the 40-man roster without waiving them. Teams frequently try to re-sign players to minor league deals after a non-tender, but Alzolay and his representatives would be able to look for a major league opportunity elsewhere. In any case, it looks as if he’ll be headed to a new team after spending more than a decade in the Cubs organization.