Cubs Acquire RHP Eli Morgan from Guardians, DFA Patrick Wisdom
As first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Cubs are acquiring righty reliever Eli Morgan from the Guardians for Low-A outfielder Alfonsin Rosario. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, they have designated Patrick Wisdom for assignment two days ahead of when they would have otherwise parted with him via non-tender.
Cubs GM Carter Hawkins is familiar with Morgan, who was drafted 252nd overall by Cleveland back in 2017 and made his MLB debut in 2021. He came up as part of the rotation, making 18 starts as a rookie, but has only started one game in 143 total appearances since. The 28-year-old had a 1.93 ERA over 42 innings last season and has shown the ability to work multiple innings by maintaining reverse career splits. While Morgan was tougher on right-handed hitters last year, he had previously generated better numbers against lefties.
A stout fella who gets decent extension with his 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame, Morgan works with a three-pitch mix that limits hard contact. His 92 mph fastball appears to have a little two-seam action, working slightly arm-side and living in the upper corner of the zone. His 87 mph slider often lands for strikes and his 79 mph changeup likewise hunts the zone, it’s just a little more nomadic. That mix made him one of the best in MLB at getting chases and avoiding barrels.
A lot of you are no doubt celebrating Wisdom’s departure following a season in which he batted .171 with just eight homers and a -0.2 wRC+ over 174 plate appearances. While I expected him to be non-tendered and certainly won’t argue that he should have remained with the team, this doesn’t help a roster that already needed more power. I suppose the flip side is that Wisdom really wasn’t supplying much pop and didn’t have anywhere to play with Isaac Paredes at third.
Rosario isn’t very widely known yet, but he ranked No. 21 on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Cubs prospect list after hitting 16 homers in a park and league not conducive to power. The 20-year-old drew a lot of walks and also struck out nearly a third of the time, which comes with the territory when you’re a young player with 60-grade raw power potential. He’s a ways off and the Cubs have plenty of outfielders closer to the bigs, so this seems like more than a fair price for a solid reliever.
Much more to come this week as the Cubs make more decisions on which arbitration-eligible players will be sticking around, so be ready for that news by Friday afternoon.