Cubs roster move: Wade Miley activated, Luke Farrell designated for assignment

The Cubs had high hopes for Wade Miley when they claimed his $10 million contract on waivers from the Reds last November. He had posted a 5.5 bWAR season for the Reds in 2021 and if he’d come anywhere close to that, the Cubs would have either a) come closer to contention or b) been able to trade him at the deadline.

None of that happened; Miley had a cornucopia of injuries this year and has made only four MLB starts for the Cubs, two of which were quite good. Overall: 2.84 ERA, 1.211 WHIP, and posting 0.5 bWAR in only 19 innings is pretty good.

He’s now been deemed healthy enough to make more MLB starts, so today the Cubs activated him from the injured list. He had been on the 60-day IL, so in order to make room on the 40-man roster the Cubs designated Luke Farrell for assignment.

Farrell made four appearances (two starts) for the Cubs when they needed an extra body to fill in. Two of those outings were pretty good, the others not so much. Thanks to Luke for being there when the Cubs needed him; at age 31 he might very well be done playing in MLB, but could wind up playing some coaching or scouting role in the organization going forward.