Cubs Release RP Matt Carasiti to Sign in Japan

So it looks like the Cubs have another spot open on the 40-man roster. A day after signing lefty reliever Dario Alvarez to a major league deal, it was announced that they’d granted right-hander Matt Carasiti his release so that he can sign with NPB’s Yakult Swallows. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick was first with the news.

The 26-year-old Carasiti was acquired from the Rockies near mid-season in exchange for lefty Zac Rosscup, and he was added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster in November. Though Carasiti didn’t look great when he got a cup of coffee with the Rockies in 2016, there was a thought that he could at least serve as bullpen depth for the Cubs in 2018. I mean, there’s always room for a guy with mid-90’s heat.

That said, Carasiti wasn’t going to get regular run with the Cubs and he would have been used exclusively in a relief role. Not only will he earn a significantly higher salary in Japan, but he might even get a chance to start, something he hasn’t done since 2013 in A-ball.

Moves like this aren’t incredibly common, but they’re not unheard of either. Miles Mikolas, a potential bargain starter we profiled a short while back, is one such case. In all likelihood, the Cubs will receive a transfer fee of some sort, maybe up to $1 million. So that’s cool.

The real tragedy of this whole thing is that Cubs fans will never get to see the glorious Carasiti/Caratini battery I’d been hoping for since they first traded for the pitcher. But now that they’ve got another spot open, maybe the Cubs can sign a pitcher from Japan to balance this transaction out. Can you think of one who might be available?