Cubs sign Carlos Asuaje to minor-league deal

The Cubs are one of only three MLB teams this offseason to have not signed a player to a fully-guaranteed major-league free-agent contract (Dan Winkler doesn’t count, his isn’t fully guaranteed):

They have made a signing late Monday afternoon, but as it’s a minor-league deal, they’re still on that list:

Carlos Asuaje, who is 28, hit .240/.312/.329 in 175 games for the Padres from 2016-18. He was a much better hitter vs. RHP during that stint in San Diego (.261/.334/.366). He spent the 2019 season partly playing in KBO for the Lotte Giants, where he hit .252/.356/.368 (41-for-163) in 49 games, then was signed by the Diamondbacks June 19 and hit .239/.339/.403 in 59 games for Triple-A Reno.

He’s mostly a second baseman, though has played a bit of third base as well. With a hitting record like that, his value is largely on defense, and as Sahadev Sharma notes, he’d be in competition with Hernan Perez (and others) for the 26th-man spot on the roster. Personally, if I were choosing between the two, I’d choose Perez, who is only a few months older, has a lot more big-league experience and can play more positions.

But look! There’s an actual photo of Asuaje playing baseball at Wrigley Field (above), from August 2018.

This isn’t a major big deal by any means. But it is all we have, for now.

For the record, his last name is pronounced “uh-SWAH-hay,” per MLB’s official player pronunciation guide.