Cubs Make Trade with Mets

June 1 arrived and that meant several players across the league had the opportunity to opt out of their minor league deals and elect free agency if they weren’t added to a team’s 40-man roster. The Chicago Cubs had two pitchers down at Triple-A that reportedly opted out and ultimately one has been traded to the New York Mets.

On Friday, the Cubs announced that 32-year-old reliever Vinny Nittoli has been traded out to the East Coast for cash considerations. And I mean, Vinny Nittoli in New York? What a perfect match, right?

The right-handed relief pitcher will be added to the Mets’ 40-man roster, but New York can still option Nittoli to the minor leagues.

The Cubs signed Nittoli to a minor league deal back in January, one of many relievers that the organization brought in to add depth at Triple-A. It certainly is curious as to why Nittoli really just has not be given a shot at the major league level, especially in recent years when he has put up good numbers in Triple-A.

Nittoli was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2014, selected in the 25th round out of Xavier. He was in the minor leagues for a long time before he made it up to the big leagues, making his MLB debut on June 6, 2021, with the Mariners. But after only pitching one inning against the Colorado Rockies, Nittoli was optioned back down to Triple-A and never made it back with the Mariners.

At the end of July in 2021, Nittoli was released by the Mariners and in late August the Minnesota Twins scooped him up. He pitched well at Triple-A for the Twins, but didn’t get called up and after the regular season ended Nittoli was once again a free agent. That’s when the New York Yankees signed him to a minor league deal, but even after a few solid months, the Yankees let Nittoli go in mid-July.

Then it was onto the Toronto Blue Jays, who signed Nittoli a week later, but that didn’t last long, as Toronto traded Nittoli to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Karl Ellison on Aug. 31, 2022.

Nittoli did pitch in the majors for the Phillies, tossing two scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins, respectively, in early September, before he was sent back to Triple-A to end the season.

And that brings us to 2023, when Nittoli posted a 3.48 ERA in 16 appearances for the Iowa Cubs. He had a decent 1.21 WHIP, while striking out 22 batters in 20.2 innings. In 2022, Nittoli recorded a 3.81 ERA in 52 relief innings with three different organizations.

But hey, hats off to Nittoli, who after a decade in pro ball with limited chances to stick around in the majors, is still chasing his big league dream. The Mets are now the eighth MLB team Nittoli has been a part of and that includes two different stints with the Blue Jays and Mariners, while also spending two years pitching in Independent Ball after he was first let go by Seattle in April 2017.