SAN ANTONIO, Texas — As the offseason kicks off in earnest, the Cubs made a series of roster moves to bring in the new season, including reuniting with a member from their 2016 championship team. 

The team claimed lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny off waivers from the Brewers on Monday afternoon. Zastryzny appeared in 8 games in 2016 and in 18 total games with the Cubs from 2016 to 2018. 

In other moves, catcher Christian Bethancourt and right-handed pitchers Yency Almonte, Colten Brewer and Enoli Paredes cleared waivers and elected free agency. Right-handed pitcher Jimmy Herget was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Zastryzny. 

The Cubs, along with every other team in the league, needed to add players on the 60-day IL back to their 40-man roster by Monday, hence why the flurry of moves. Zastryzny had ended the year on the 60-day IL with Milwaukee after appearing in 9 games for them last season and was placed on waivers. 

The lefty has appeared in 54 career major league games with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He had a 1.17 ERA in 7.2 innings with the Brewers in 2024, with lefties going 1-for-12 (.083) against him.

Zastryzny’s addition provides the Cubs with a much-needed lefty relief option for manager Craig Counsell. The only lefty reliever on the 40-man roster was Little, who ended the year on the IL with a shoulder injury. The bullpen was a bugaboo for the Cubs in the first half of 2024, and they’ve wasted no time in addressing it. 

There were 8 players on the 60-day IL when the day began and the Cubs had just three open spots on their 40-man roster — Kyle Hendricks and Jorge López had elected free agency and catcher Caleb Knight had been outrighted to Iowa the day after the World Series. The Cubs had declined the mutual option on Drew Smyly over the weekend, opening up a fourth roster spot. 

Almonte, Adbert Alzolay, Brewer, Ben Brown, Luke Little, Julian Merryweather, Nick Madrigal and Brennen Davis all ended the year on the 60-day IL. Alzolay, Brown, Little, Merryweather, Madrigal and Davis were removed from the IL and placed back on the 40-man roster.  

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Moving on from both Bethancourt and Almonte comes as a relative surprise. Bethancourt stepped in as the backup catcher in July and slashed .281/.305/.509 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. That leaves Miguel Amaya as the lone catcher on the 40-man roster. Top prospect Moisés Ballesteros finished the year in Triple-A but seems a longshot to crack the Opening Day roster, especially as Amaya’s backup. 

Almonte was acquired in the Michael Busch deal with the Dodgers, had a 3.45 ERA in 18 appearances and had developed into a leverage arm for Counsell. But he was struck by a shoulder injury and had his season end in early May. He was projected to earn $2.2 million through the arbitration process in 2025. 

Brewer had a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 innings across 16 games for the Cubs. He fractured his left hand after punching the dugout wall at Wrigley Field in his last appearance on July 6. Paredes was claimed off waivers during the last week of the season and struck out 2 in 1 inning of work in his lone appearance for the Cubs. Herget was claimed off waivers from Atlanta in mid-September but never appeared in a game for the Cubs. 

The moves come on the first day of the annual GM Meetings at the JW Marriott resort. It’s the first marquee event of the offseason and a time when front offices begin having a feel for how markets will transpire. 

The next big date on the offseason calendar is Nov. 18, the tender deadline, when the Cubs will have to decide whether or not to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players.