Jason Kipnis (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

Sometimes roster moves are inevitable. It has been clear for some time Jason Kipnis would be a member of the Chicago Cubs 2020 Opening Day roster. Coming in on a Minor League deal with an invite to spring training, Kipnis brought appeal as a reliable veteran presence, and most importantly as a proven left-handed bat to complement rookie Nico Hoerner and utility man David Bote.

Jason Kipnis: “Right now people are looking at second base as kind of a weakness on this team, and it doesn’t have to be that way. I know both of us (Kipnis and Nico Hoerner) are more than capable of stepping in and making it a strong suit.”

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) July 17, 2020

Megill clears waivers

The Rule 5 saga of Trevor Megill is over. The righty reliever has cleared waivers and rather than returning him to San Diego, the Cubs worked out a cash deal to retain his rights. Not only will the Cubs no longer need to carry him on the active roster to retain his rights, but Megill is now off the 40-man roster as well (which opened room for Kipnis). Megill was optioned to the South Bend group.

Here is a quick snapshot of the Cubs current 50-man player pool. They have 3 open spots. Eventually the team will add more prospects, but they may wait until after any potential prior-to-Opening Day cuts or additions are made in order to retain flexibility to add and/or subtract veteran help. 40-man roster players are in bold:

I do not currently have it broken down by the exact fringe players who are assigned to Chicago and those assigned to South Bend as the Cubs have been calling up quite a few guys to fill out rosters for intrasquad games this week, but the players I’ve listed under “Extras” are those I do not consider as fighting for Opening Day jobs, regardless of where they are currently assigned.

Basically, I feel there are 27 locks for the 30-man Opening Day roster who are listed in the first two columns of the chart. The last three spots are still up in the air, with four relievers in competition for one job and three position players vying for two bench slots.

I would say Rex Brothers has the inside track to earn a pen job, but the Cubs will need to clear space on the 40-man roster to add him. The same goes for Josh Phegley and/or Ian Miller. The Cubs will need to trade away or send players to the waiver wire in order to add them in time for the season as there does not appear to be any candidates for the 45-day IL (60-day IL equivalent this season). I’m still expecting to see Descalso waived (and clear) to make room for one, but additional subtractions from the 40-man roster may still be on the horizon.

2021 Cubs Convention Cancelled

This is pretty self explanatory.

Exhibition Opener

The Cubs have no intrasquad scrimmage scheduled for Saturday, instead choosing to do light workouts in advance of Sunday’s exhibition opener against the White Sox at Wrigley.