A few days ago Bruce Levine reported the Chicago Cubs were interested in adding some outfielder depth and late Friday night they did just that by signing Lane Adams to a minor-league deal.
Adams, 28, has played in 106 career MLB games, most recently with the Atlanta Braves.
Lane Adams signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) May 5, 2018
He made his MLB debut in 2014, with the Kansas Royals, appearing in three games. Then, Adams spent a few years in the minors before coming back up to the Majors with the Braves in 2017.
Adams is a right-handed hitter, who has a career .264/.338/.450 slash line. He played in 15 games with Atlanta this season, going 4-for-17, with a home run, four strikeouts and four walks.
Originally drafted in 2009 by the Royals, Adams has also spent time in the New York Yankees minor-league system and was briefly in the Cubs minors in 2016, prior to joining the Braves.
Adams is exactly the type of player Levine described the Cubs wanted the other day, as he can run and play all three outfield positions. The team reportedly wanted to add some outfield depth in case Ian Happ’s struggles continued both at the plate and on defense.
The interest thing about Adams signing with the Cubs is that he could have signed with anyone after declining to take a minor-league assignment from the Braves. So, he has to at least think he has a good shot at eventually joining the Cubs at some point.
Right now, there’s no spot for Adams on the roster and Joe Maddon has said the team hasn’t discussed demoting Happ to Triple-A, so Adams will still have to wait if he wants a shot the show. However, he’ll be the first guy up if the Cubs have an injury, or ultimately decide to switch things up in the outfield.
Adams has 837 minor-league games under his belt, hitting .269, with a .343 OBP and .755 OPS, while racking up 223 stolen bases.
