Filling Out the Bench

With the signings of Chas McCormick and Dylan Carlson to minor league contracts with Spring Training invites, the Cubs continue to try to build depth for their bench and AAA. Most of these players are fringe major leaguers at this point, so it will be interesting to see if any of them make an impact for the Cubs in 2026. History suggests that expectations should be low.

Here are the position players the Cubs have acquired this offseason who are expected to either make the bench or land in AAA as depth in case of injury:

• Christian Bethancourt – Catcher – Non-roster signing
• Chas McCormick – Outfielder – Non-roster signing
• Dylan Carlson – Outfielder – Non-roster signing
• Ben Cowles – Infielder – Waiver acquisition
• Justin Dean – Outfielder – Waiver acquisition
• Scott Kingery – Infielder/Outfielder – Non-roster signing

In addition, Tyler Austin is on a small enough contract (1-yr, $1.25 million) that he is not guaranteed a roster spot.

Barring a trade, there are three roster spots in question, as all of the starting spots except for DH are filled, as well as the backup catcher (Amaya) and primary utility man (Shaw). Add in Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara and (to a lesser extent) James Triantos are guys who will also be competing for those spots, and we might only see one of those non-roster/waiver signings make the roster.

But they do add depth to the organization, and could be called upon if the Cubs run into injuries – similar to what happened with Reece McGuire in 2025.

Looking back at the moves in 2025, let’s take a look at how the Cubs did with building their bench and depth via trades, waivers and non-roster invites. I’m not going to includede Justin Turner, because his contract was relatively significant compared to these others. To make this find, we’ll give them a rating of Stud, Good, Meh, Subpar or Bust:

* = played in the majors for the Cubs

*Gage Workman – Infielder – Acquired in Rule 5 Draft
Verdict: Bust
Workman managed to post a -0.2 WAR in only a few games, and was not eligible to be sent to the minors. He was release, had similar lack of success with the White Sox, and was finally returned to the Tigers under the Rule 5 draft rules.

Carlos Perez – Catcher – Non-roster signing
Verdict: Meh
Perez, who last played in the majors in 2023, absolutely raked in Iowa (.286/.372/.572), but as he never played for the major league team, so I had to rate it as a meh signing. He had moved on to the Astros in 2026.

*Vidal Brujan – Infielder – Trade (for Matt Mervis)
Verdict: Subpar
Brujan was another disappointment, and possible could have been a bust candidate. He has bounced around to four separate teams’ roster his Cubs release Baltimore, Atlanta, The Twins and now the Mets.

*Jon Berti – Infielder – Free agent signing
Verdict: Bust
I consider Berti a bust based on his $2 million contract. He had a good track record as a utility man, including a season of 41 steals in 2022, but just couldn’t get it done in Chicago. He was given a great opportunity when Matt Shaw struggled, but was only able to manage a .210/.262/.230 slash line, and 11 steals. his best contribution may have been as a mop-up reliever in aa few blow-out games.

*Reese McGuire – Catcher – Non-roster signing
Verdict: Good
McGuire filled in admirably after Miguel Amaya went down with an injury. He showed more power than was expected, and showed the importance of minor league depth. With Amaya back, he was a bit too expensive and would not have had an option to send to Iowa in 2026, so the Cubs signed Bethancourt to take that role. McGuire is still a free agent, so there’s still a small chance he comes back to the Cubs on another minor league deal.

*Nicky Lopez – Infielder – Non-roster signing
Verdict: Meh
Lopez was releases after Spring Training, but came back in April when the Gage Workman experience ended. He played decent defense, but his offense…not so good.

Greg Allen – Outfielder – Non-roster signing
Verdict: Meh
Another player who hit well in Iowa, but did not have a chance in Chicago. He was given his release and had 14 hitless at-bats for Baltimore.

Travis Jankowski – Outfielder – Non-roster signing
Verdict: Meh
He chose to leave the Cubs after not making the roster out of Spring Training and played with the White Sox, Mets and Rays, compiling a .244/.286/.289 slash line.

Overall, these acquisitions were a bit disappointing, with only McGuire making a truly positive impact. Based on the money invested in these players, expectations certainly were not very high, but even having a couple players reach mediocrity – especially Berti – would have been helpful in 2025.

Going back to 2024, here are some players who were brought in for the bench, and how they did:

• Jorge Alfaro – Catcher – Non-roster – Meh
• Dominic Smith – First Baseman – Non-roster – Meh
• David Peralta – Outfielder – Non-roster – Meh (Had 260 PAs for the Padres)
• *Garrett Cooper – First Baseman – Non-roster – Good (0.1 WAR in 12 games – but released anyway)
• *Tomas Nido – Catcher – Free agent – Subpar (-0.5 WAR)
• *Christian Bethancourt – Catcher – Non-roster – Stud (0.8 WAR in 24 games)

And 2023

• *Miles Mastrobuoni – Infielder – Trade – Good (0.6 WAR)
• Ben DeLuzio – Outfield – Non-roster – Meh
• Sergio Alcantara – Infielder – Non-roster – Meh
• *Tucker Barnhart – Catcher – Free agent – Bust (-0.5 WAR)
• *Mike Tauchman – Outfield – Non-roster – Stud (2.7 WAR)
• *Luis Torrens – Catcher – Non-roster – Meh (-0.1 WAR)
• *Edwin Rios – Infielder – Free agent – Subpar (-0.3 WAR)

So there were a couple of diamonds in the rough with Tauchman and Bethancourt, but very few of these players made much of an impact. Something to think about as we head into 2026.