Cubs DFA Hernan Perez and Ian Miller

 With the acquisition of Andrew Chafin, Josh Osich, and Cameron Maybin today the Cubs had to do some 60-man roster managing to fit them on the roster, and they did just that by designating utility infielder Hernan Perez and outfielder Ian Miller for assignment.

Perez, signed to a minor league deal in December and appeared in just three games for the Cubs going 1-6 with two strikeouts. Perez never really stood out at anything with the Cubs, and his spot is easily replaceable.

It's a bit of a surprise to see Miller DFA'd, but his only real asset to the Cubs was his speed and defense and the Cubs already have a lot of outfield depth and just added two more pieces that can contribute right now.

Perez is ultimately replaceable, but it would be nice if they are able to stash Miller. His speed and defense could be a real weapon for the Cubs if needed in a pinch, even if his bat isn't good.

Cubs acquire Cameron Maybin

 In a last minute deal before the deadline the Chicago Cubs have acquired righty outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Detroit Tigers according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Maybin has made 45 plate appearances for the Tigers this season hitting .244/.311/.415 with a home run and four doubles. The 33-year old saw a bit of a career resurgence last season posting a .858 OPS and 127 OPS+ in 269 plate appearances for the Yankees.

Although Maybin is a right handed batter he is actually a reverse platoon guy as he has posted a .714 OPS against same handed pitchers, compared to .670 against lefties throughout his career. He is a roughly league average defensive outfielder. with a DRS of -1 in 96 innings in right field.

Despite that, he is definitely a significant upgrade over Albert Almora Jr, who has become completely unplayable with the bat thanks to his very high ground ball rate and inability to hit the ball hard.

Update: In return the Cubs are sending 25-year old shortstop Zack Short to the Tigers. Short made it up to AAA in 2019 and managed to post a .338 OBP in 160 plate appearances. In .371 minor league games he has hit .241/.377/.405 in 1588 plate appearances. He shows decent pop for his size along with good plate discipline, but he profiles as more of an organization depth guy.

Cubs trade for Josh Osich

 Just 30 minutes after acquiring Andrew Chafin from the Arizona Diamondbacks the Chicago Cubs have acquired another lefty reliever in Josh Osich from the Boston Red Sox. According to Jon Heyman the Cubs will be sending a player to be named later for Osich.

Osich, 32 in three days, has really struggled in 2020. He has posted a 5.74 ERA in 13 appearances and 15.2 innings pitched. He has given up an obscene six home runs while striking out 20 and walking five. Osich has been fairly effective against lefties as they have hit .231/.286/.462 in 28 plate appearances.

The lefty primarily relies on an 87 MPH cutter that he has thrown 47.6 percent of the time in 2020. Hitters have batter .229 off the pitch, but five of their hits off of it have been home runs.  It's worth noting that the velocity has dropped over two MPH from where the pitch was in 2019, and that could be a reason for the amount of slugging off the pitch. 

Osich is a guy that should have his exposure to right handed hitters to a minimum. He has held lefties to a .665 OPS throughout his career, but righties have destroyed him to the tune of a .892 OPS along with a significant decline in both his strikeout and walks numbers.

Overall it's a fairly disappointing deadline for the Cubs, but that was to be expected. Although they are in first place in their division, they ultimately face a very challenging path to the World Series as they would have to get through the Dodgers just to reach the Fall Classic.

Cubs working on acquiring Andrew Chafin

 The Cubs went into the trade deadline with needs for a lefty-masher and a lefty reliever. On Sunday they acquired the lefty-masher in Jose Martinez, and now it appears they could be landing the lefty reliever in Andrew Chafin. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post the Cubs are working on acquiring the reliever.

Chafin has appeared in 11 games in the 2019 season allowing six runs over six and two-thirds innings pitched, he has flashed good stuff with 10 strikeouts, but four walks and nine hits allowed have taken away from the good strikeout numbers. Chafin has been on the injured list since August 19 with a left finger sprain.

Although his numbers this year are rough, he had been a very good reliever for the Diamondbacks in years past with a 3.46 ERA in 225 appearances from 2017-19. Most notably he struck out 182 while walking 64 in 153.2 innings pitched.

He has traditionally been much better against lefties as they have hit just .230/.307/.310 in 541 plate appearances over his career. He is a nice addition to Kyle Ryan and the bullpen could be getting an even bigger boost when Brad Wieck comes back.

Chafin has significantly increased his four-seam fastball usage this season to very poor results as opposing batters have slugged .571 with an average exit velocity of 96 MPH. This came at the expense of his slider which had been his best pitch holding hitters to a .286 slugging percentage this year and .294 the year before.

The return of this deal is currently unknown, and frankly it's a slightly confusing deal for the Cubs. Chafin is currently injured with no timetable for his return. The Cubs needs guys that can contribute as soon as tomorrow, not someone that is currently hurt and has struggled when he is healthy. There is definitely upside to this move, especially if he can come back and be what he has been in the past, but it's just a strange move to make right now.

Cubs acquire Jose Martinez from Rays

 In what could be the first of a few trades prior to Mondays trade deadline the Chicago Cubs have acquired Jose Martinez from the Tampa Bay Rays for a couple players to be named later according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Although Martinez has just a .239/.329.3888 overall split this year, he has a tremendous amount of success against lefties, he has traditionally been known as a lefty masher with a lifetime .319/.392/.554 line in 336 plate appearances against southpaws throughout his career.

Getting his bat against lefties is a huge benefit to a team that has been very sad against lefties, the Cubs as a team are hitting just .208/.325/.333 against them.

Martinez, 32, was acquired by the Rays from the St. Louis Cardinals in the offseason. He is owed a pro-rated $2.125 million this year and is under team control through the 2022 season.

His position is listed as an OF/1B, but he likely receive the most of his playing time in the designated hitter spot as his defense is considered absolutely terrible.

In a corresponding move the Cubs have designated catcher Josh Phegley for assignment. Phegley had been a star of summer camp, but went just 1-16 with a home run and three strikeouts in the regular season.

Late rally falters as Cubs fall to Tigers

 Before I start this game recap I want to give a shout out to Jason Heyward, who sat out of tonights game most likely in protest of the horrific shooting of Jacob Black. He joins the entire NBA, and several MLB teams who chose not to play tonight. Black Lives Matter and all lives can't matter until black lives do too. I am white, so I do not know the struggle of being black in America, but I am in full support of the movement.

If you want to make a donation, here is a link to some causes.

The Cubs dropped the rubber match 7-6 to the Tigers tonight to drop their record to 18-12.

Jon Lester was solid through five innings giving up one run on eight hits while striking out five and walking one. He was giving up contact, but did a good job to limit the damage.

Most of the damage came off of Rowan Wick (two) and Ryan Tepera (three) who gave up five runs in the sixth. It was an especially disappointing outing for Tepera who had been dominant since being brought up to the active roster.

The Cubs got the scoring started early in the third when they put runners on the corners with one out and Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with an RBI single and Javier Baez followed up with a sacrifice fly to put the Cubs up 2-0.

Kyle Schwarber would hit an opposite field home run for his sixth of the season, but that would be it for the Cubs offense until the ninth inning.

In the ninth the Cubs got four straight hits to start the inning off of Kyle Farmer including an RBI single by Nico Hoerner and RBI double by Albert Almora Jr. Rizzo would come up with a chance to give the Cubs the lead and he absolutely smashed a ball to center, but the deep center field in Comerica made it just a sacrifice fly. Baez would then hit a deep fly ball to left that was caught, and Schwarber would line out right to the pitcher to end the rally and the game.

The Cubs are off tomorrow, but go to Cincinnati to start a four game set against that includes a doubleheader. Kyle Hendricks will take the mound against Anthony DeSclafani.

Tigers stomp Cubs

 Tyler Chatwood looked extremely rusty in his first start back from the IL and Tigers broke the game open late against the Cubs bullpen to win the game 7-1.

Chatwood lasted just an inning and a third giving up two runs on two hits while walking five and striking out two. He threw only 27 of his 55 pitches for strikes and left with the bases loaded, though no runs ended up scoring.

Jose Quintana made his season debut in the third and was good for his first three innings, but things fell apart for him in the sixth when he gave up a lead off single that was followed by an RBI double and he was pulled after a walk. Overall it was a fine season debut for Quintana, he was good early on and just seemed to run out of gas in the sixth.

After Quintana, Casey Sadler would come in and allow the Tigers to put the game out of reach. After a walk and a ground out he gave up a grand slam to Jonathan Schoop to make the score 7-0.

Kyle Ryan and Dan Winkler would both pitch scoreless innings. For Ryan it was nice to see as he has really struggled this year after being one of the most important pieces of the Cubs bullpen in 2019.

The Cubs got their only offense in the ninth when Willson Contreras ripped a solo home run in the ninth.

The series concludes tomorrow as Jon Lester will look to bounce back from his atrocious outing against the White Sox. Michael Fulmer will take the mound for the Tigers.