Cubs make multiple 40-man roster moves, claim Jack Reinheimer on waivers

Friday, in addition to other deadlines, was the deadline for teams to restore players to the 40-man roster who were on the 60-day disabled list at the end of the 2018 season.

And so, the Cubs did that, along with a flurry of other roster moves:

So, the four 60-day DL players (Yu Darvish, Brandon Morrow, Justin Hancock and Mark Zagunis) are back on the 40-man. It would not surprise me to see Zagunis run through waivers at some point.

Terrance Gore, as noted by Tim Huwe here earlier this week, could get a split contract that would give him the possibility of playing in the big leagues at times in 2019, certainly in September and again if the Cubs make the 2019 postseason.

Jack Reinheimer is a 26-year-old infielder originally drafted by the Mariners. He was sent to the Diamondbacks in the deal that also shipped Welington Castillo there, then claimed by the Mets on waivers from Arizona last July. Primarily a shortstop, he can play other infield positions and you might consider him the “next Mike Freeman,” for whatever that’s worth.

The interesting thing is that the Cubs’ 40-man roster now stands at 39 players. That doesn’t leave much room for the guys they’ll have to protect from the Rule 5 draft; those players will have to be protected by November 20. Nor does it leave any room for signing of free agents, or at least not more than one at this time.

Other players could be run through waivers over the next few weeks. But for now, that’s the offseason 40-man roster for the Chicago Cubs.

One other note: The Cubs didn’t make any qualifying offers, for which the deadline was also Friday. They weren’t expected to, either.