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Matt Duffy will be activated today. What will be the Cubs’ corresponding roster move(s)?

The team has several choices.

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Among the reasons I enjoy baseball so much is that games, and seasons, are slowly developing opportunities to make improvements. To make decisions. Call up this relief pitcher. Send the struggling young player back to Triple-A. Pinch-hit when the other team brings in a lefty reliever. You have scads of opportunities, every game, to assess if your logic is the same as your favorite team's. Sometimes, the moves are obvious, and othertimes less so.

The Cubs have as much as announced Matt Duffy will be activated today from the 60-day Injured list. He was in St. Louis Wednesday night, shown on TV in the dugout. The team will need to create a spot on both the 40- and 26-man rosters to accommodate the move. Which option makes the most sense to you?

A popular cry, since May at the latest, has been to designate Eric Sogard for assignment. Not only did his game-tying pinch double throw cold water on that idea, so did that he was summoned in the first place. Sogard as a lefty pinch-hitter seems a thing with the 2021 Cubs. I doubt Sogard is DFAd today.

One popular response is to option Sergio Alcántara back to Triple-A Iowa. I somewhat doubt that's it, as a 40-man move would have to be made in addition, if this is what happens.

I'm a fan of finding a contender with a troublesome bullpen, and sending Dan Winkler for a prospect in A-Ball. But that might not happen today.

Dillon Maples could be DFAd, but so could Adam Morgan, instead.

The new guy, Frank Schwindel, could be DFAd, but two problems loom, there, as well. A 26-man move would still be necessary. Also, why add a player that was selected in the 2013 draft (like Kris Bryant) on waivers, to set up losing him as a free agent? Signing Schwindel makes sense if he is a default option for DH in 2022. However, if DFAd less than a week after being acquired, he could leave the organization of his own volition soon or in the off-season.

If a trade is looming, the decision becomes moot. Any MLB player being traded for a prospect by 5 p.m. CT solves both problems. As the saying goes, you have most of the information you need. What will the decision be?

Poll

Which Cubs move happens before the first pitch Thursday?

This poll is closed

  • 15%
    DFA Eric Sogard
    (92 votes)
  • 35%
    DFA Adam Morgan
    (216 votes)
  • 6%
    DFA Frank Schwindel
    (38 votes)
  • 3%
    DFA Dillon Maples
    (19 votes)
  • 34%
    Cubs make a trade
    (211 votes)
  • 5%
    Other (note below)
    (33 votes)
609 votes total Vote Now