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The Cubs have reportedly signed outfielder Carlos González to a minor league deal and plan to bring him up soon to be on their bench.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers first reported the signing on Thursday.
Jon Heyman then confirmed the signing.
González, 33, was recently let go by Cleveland after struggling in 30 games. The left-handed hitter slashed .210/.282/.276, with two home runs in 105 at-bats.
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Last year he played in 132 games and hit .276 with 16 home runs in 432 home runs with the Rockies.
According to Paul Sullivan, González will be in the minors for a few games and then he’ll be called up to be on the bench.
González last played on May 21.
Right now the Cubs have Jim Adduci as the last man on the bench. Mark Zagunis was the 25th man to begin the season before he was sent back down to Iowa. For the first three weeks in May, Zagunis got less than 10 at-bats.
So, González is going to be that extra bench bat and Jordan Bastian does a pretty good job breaking down why this signing happened.
Adding to the first point on just bringing up Ian Happ, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer was on 670 The Score Thursday morning and said the team doesn’t want to bring Happ up to just send him back down.
Plus, at this point, Happ wouldn’t be getting regular playing time if he was called up.
González had some awesome years with the Rockies and was a three-time All-Star and three-time gold glove winner with Colorado. His last All-Star appearance was in 2016. He finished that season with a .298/.350/.505 slash line, hitting 25 home runs, 100 RBIs in 584 at-bats.
So, González brings some much needed depth with the departure and unknown future status of Ben Zobrist.
