Cubs Claim RHP Aaron Civale from White Sox, Designate LHP Tom Cosgrove
Remember when Aaron Civale requested a trade out of Milwaukee after the team removed him from the rotation to make room for Jacob Misiorowski? The Brewers obliged, banishing Civale to the White Sox in return for Andrew Vaughn and cash to offset the salary difference. At the time, the Brewers were 4.5 games behind the Cubs and the White Sox were 22.5 games out of their division lead.
The Cubs claimed Civale off waivers and will pick up the rest of his $8 million salary (~$1.36M) for this season. He now finds himself back in the NL Central after posting a 5.37 ERA with a 4.28 FIP and modest strikeout numbers across 13 Sox starts. That’s a significant departure from the 3.32 ERA and 3.96 FIP — not to mention better strikeout and walk rates — with Milwaukee, so the Cubs are hoping that rescuing him from irrelevance will get his performance back in line.
This move provides rotation depth for a team that just lost Jameson Taillon again and may need to allocate more innings away from Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd down the stretch. Going with some sort of modified six-man rotation makes a lot of sense as the Cubs look to maintain the top Wild Card spot.
See the media release below for more…
The Chicago Cubs today claimed right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. In a corresponding move, left-handed pitcher Tom Cosgrove has been designated for assignment. The Cubs 40-man roster currently stands at 40.
Civale, 30, is 3-9 with a 5.26 ERA (52 ER/89.0 IP) in 18 starts this season between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox. The righthander began the season with Milwaukee, going 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA (12 ER/22.0 IP) prior to being traded to the White Sox for infielder Andrew Vaughn on June 13. With the White Sox, he spun a career-high 15.1-straight scoreless innings from July 26-Aug. 2 and did not allow an earned run in a career-high three consecutive starts (17.1 IP) during the span. Since being traded to the White Sox, Civale owns a 3.06 ERA (12 ER/35.1 IP) in six starts on the road, compared to a 7.96 ERA (28 ER/31.2 IP) in seven starts at Rate Field.
The six-foot one-inch righty is 42-44 with a 4.18 ERA (337 ER/725.1 IP), 651 strikeouts, compared to 203 walks, and a .247 opponent average in 135 career major league games (all starts) with the Guardians (2019-23), Rays (2023-24), Brewers (2024-25) and White Sox (2025). He pitched his only career complete game on August 19, 2020, against the Pirates, allowing just five hits and one run with six strikeouts in the outing. Civale has made two playoff appearances (one start) with Cleveland in 2022 and Milwaukee in 2024, compiling a combined 0-1 record with a 8.10 ERA (3 ER/3.1 IP).
A native of East Windsor, Conn., Civale was selected by Cleveland in the third round of the 2016 draft. He graduated from Loomis Chaffee High School in Windsor and pitched at Northeastern University (Mass.) for three seasons. He was traded from Cleveland to Tampa Bay for infielder Kyle Manzardo in July 2023 and from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee for minor-league infielder Gregory Barrios in July 2024.
Cosgrove, 29, allowed one run in 4.0 IP across two relief outings with the Cubs this season. He was acquired from San Diego for cash on April 10.
The Cubs play against the Colorado Rockies today at Coors Field at 2:10 p.m. CT in a game that can be seen on the Marquee Sports Network and heard on 670 the Score and, in Spanish, on WRTO-AM.
