Jon Heyman dropped the news and it's a real one for teams scrambling to patch bullpens before the trade deadline: Aaron Bummer has opted out of his contract with the Cubs and is a free agent again.
Aaron Bummer has opted out of his deal with the Cubs and is now a free agent
This whole thing started with a rough stretch in Atlanta. The Braves released Bummer back on May 19 after he posted a 7.63 ERA across 15 1/3 innings over 19 appearances, cutting bait on a lefty they were still owed to pay through 2026 on his 2-year, $13M deal. It looked like the end of the road, or close to it, for a guy who'd been a reliable setup piece for years.
The Cubs scooped him up on a minor league pact in late May and sent him to Triple-A Iowa to rebuild, pairing him with fellow reclamation project Liam Hendriks on the I-Cubs staff. Bummer made his Iowa debut and actually looked serviceable out of the pen, retiring 3 of the 4 batters he faced against Toledo in his first outing there.
That's what makes this opt-out interesting. Minor league deals like this usually come with an escape hatch built in if a guy isn't added to the 40-man by a certain point, and it sounds like Bummer decided he'd rather test the market than keep waiting in Des Moines for a callup that might never come.
For Chicago, it's a low-cost swing that didn't pan out into a big-league roster spot, no harm done. For Bummer, it's a bet on himself with contenders about to start dialing for bullpen help ahead of the deadline. Whether any team views him as a buy-low reclamation arm worth a big-league look is the next thing to watch.