Cubs roster move: Johnny Field claimed on waivers from Twins

Over the last several offseasons, the Cubs have moved quite a few players through waivers.

Here’s someone who might fit that bill going forward:

Johnny Field was the Tampa Bay Rays’ fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft. He had pretty decent power in the Rays system, peaking with a .455 SLG in 2016. Then last year he was claimed on waivers twice, by the Indians on July 24 and then the Twins on August 3.

He’s shown some power in the major leagues. In 83 games and 221 at-bats for the Rays and Twins in 2018, he hit 13 doubles and nine home runs for a .403 SLG. But he strikes out... a lot. 72 K’s in 221 at-bats isn’t good, and he walked just seven times. He had a two-homer game against the Tigers September 26. Here’s one of those homers [VIDEO].

Outfield depth at Iowa is about all I can think of here; Field will turn 27 just before spring training 2019. And apart from that, I’m not sure I understand what the Cubs are doing filling up 40-man roster spots with guys like this, when they’ll eventually have to protect some players from the system from the Rule 5 draft. The 40-man roster now stands at 36, and soon, the four players on the 60-day DL (Yu Darvish, Drew Smyly, Justin Hancock and Mark Zagunis) will have to be added back to the 40-man.

As always, we await developments.