What should the Cubs do with Tyler Chatwood's roster spot?

Recently, we learned that Tyler Chatwood took a turn for the worse in his rehab efforts. He's currently on the 10-day Injured List, but it sounds like a transfer to the longer (45-day) list might be justified. Doing that would end Chatwood’s season. If he’s transferred, it opens a few options, as well as questioning the wisdom of a recent roster decision.

The obvious move would be to activate Pedro Strop. He sounds ready to go, and could take Rex Brothers' spot on the active roster without much concern. Brothers still seems to be a low-leverage option, and low-leverage options with no future team control are of limited value in October. The best thing about Brothers having a 40-man spot is that, if anything crazy happens, he provides a low-risk alternative to someone with more of a future.

If you'd prefer a different pitcher, Cory Abbott or Brailyn Marquez could be added. One mild concern with either is that they'd need to bump a player off the 28-man roster. From Ryan Tepera to Josh Osich, most of the current bullpen arms seem to have been somewhat cohesive recently.

One other option might be to bring back Josh Phegley. Not that he'd be that useful of an addition, but I'd be okay with Victor Caratini and Willson Contreras getting most of the White Sox series off. Even a minor ding to either late could be very counter-productive.

Which leads to the final point. I grasp that owners no longer want other owners to have 40 players on the September roster. However, allowing 30 or 32 would give each team an opportunity to get a look at upcoming players in September. I feared that "no additions" down the stretch could impede development for contenders. Alas, it has. If the Cubs weren't contending, Jose Quintana could be put on the 45-day list to let Marquez debut in September. But, since the Cubs are competing, there's no roster leeway to get looks at prospects even if the owners did want to spend anything beyond the essentials. To add a player to the 28- or 40-man rosters in September is unwieldy if you wish to have the “best 28” for the postseason.

Either way, Chatwood's spot should be recycled. If the Cubs play until he's healthy again, the bullpen likely did its job. Strop is my first choice.