Cubs Sign LHP Lucas Lester Luetge to Minors Deal

The Cubs have had tremendous success with former Red Sox left-handers named Lester, so perhaps they’ll strike gold once again with Lucas Luetge (LIT-key). The southpaw’s middle name is Lester, but there’s unfortunately no connection to Jon Lester since Luetge is only three years younger. There is, however, a more tangible tie with Craig Breslow running baseball ops for Boston after serving in the Cubs’ front office. Except that doesn’t necessarily reflect well on the potential here.

Luetge has the distinction of being drafted on three separate occasions: once by the White Sox out of high school in 2005; again by the Sox out of juco the following year; and by the Brewers out of Rice in 2008. He was taken by the Mariners in the 2011 Rule 5 Draft and debuted in 2012, at one point recording an out in a six-pitcher combined no-hitter of the Dodgers. Hey, there’s another connection.

After being outrighted in 2015, Luetke elected free agency and caught on with the Angels on a minor league deal. He was activated and almost immediately DFA’d, then was outrighted and eventually became a free agent again. Minors deals with the Reds in 2016 and Orioles in 2017 yielded no big league time, then he was out of baseball entirely in 2018. He pitched in the Diamondbacks organization in 2019, then joined the A’s later that year and didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the pandemic.

I’m beginning to think the Cubs like this guy because he’s a grinder who was willing to wait almost six years for another shot at the bigs. Luetge finally got that chance with the Yankees in 2021, eventually making 107 appearances over two seasons. He was DFA’d and traded to the Braves in December of 2022 but had an awful time in 12 appearances for Atlanta and was DFA’d twice more before catching on with the Red Sox on a minors deal this past February.

Dude’s actually had moderately solid numbers over the course of his career, with most of his success coming in those two seasons in New York. His 129.2 innings represent more than half of his career total, though, and he’s not exactly a spring chicken. A typical crafty lefty with a low-90s fastball combo, a sweeper, and a curve, Luetge may have enough gas in the tank to serve as organizational depth should the Cubs need it.

In the end, it’s a risk-free flyer on a guy who clearly has the chutzpah to battle through adversity.