Cubs Sign Wesley Wright

There's been no official announcement from the Cubs, but this tweet indicates the team has signed lefthanded relief pitcher Wesley Wright, who was non-tendered by the Rays on Monday:

Can confirm tweet by @BNightengale that Cubs signed LHP Wesley Wright. 3.69 ERA in 70 games with Houston and TB in 2013.

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) December 5, 2013

You're probably familiar with Wright, as he spent five and a half seasons with the Houston Astros, most of those while Houston was a member of the National League Central. He has 25 career appearances against the Cubs, and overall, Wright has been a pretty consistent lefthanded reliever who is used almost exclusively as a LOOGY (Lefthanded One-Out Guy, in case you don't know the acronym).

Wright actually pitched pretty well for the Rays after they acquired him from Houston on waivers last August 12 -- 12⅓ innings in 16 appearances, with a 2.92 ERA and 0.973 WHIP.

The Cubs haven't really had an effective LOOGY in quite some time. Recent managers have used James Russell that way, but he's not really a LOOGY. For his career, he has held lefthanded hitters to a .231/.313/.342 mark, with just seven home runs in 506 plate appearances.

Wright will turn 29 in January, and as is becoming common in modern baseball, he announced the change himself by changing his Twitter description to read "Relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs."

The move leaves the Cubs' 40-man roster at 38. No, this isn't a big move either. But it could be a useful one.