MLB Trade Rumors dropped the news that the Cubs have designated left-hander Drew Pomeranz for assignment, opening a spot on the pitching staff right as the trade deadline crunch hits. It's a quiet corner of the transaction wire, but it closes the book on one of the better bullpen redemption arcs in recent Cubs memory.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news of the DFA.
This wasn't just Pomeranz getting cut loose in isolation. The Cubs made a full round of roster moves alongside it: Jameson Taillon came off the 15-day IL after a hamstring strain, Aaron Civale (the pickup from Oakland) got activated, and Phil Maton landed on the 15-day IL with right knee tendinitis, his third IL stint of the season. Pomeranz was the corresponding cut to make the numbers work.
The stats explain why he was the one on the chopping block. In six appearances during this stint with the Cubs, Pomeranz allowed 5 earned runs in just 5 2/3 innings, walked 4, and struck out only 1 batter. Combine that with his earlier run in Los Angeles and he's sitting on a 5.59 ERA, a 12.6% strikeout rate and an 11.9% walk rate across 29 innings this year, ugly across the board for a bullpen arm trying to hang on.
It's a stark fall from where he was a year ago. Pomeranz was one of the best relievers in baseball from 2019-2021 before arm injuries wiped out three straight seasons, and his 2025 comeback with the Cubs, a 2.17 ERA and a 28.1% strikeout rate over 49 2/3 innings, looked like a genuine feel-good story. That performance earned him a $4 million deal with the Angels this offseason, but L.A. released him and the Cubs brought him back on a minor league contract, with the Angels still on the hook for the rest of his salary. That arrangement is exactly why any new club could sign him for just the prorated league minimum.
Now he's staring down waivers again. Given the results, it's hard to see another team claiming him outright, and with his service time he can simply reject an outrighted assignment and become a free agent within a few days. For a guy who'd already clawed his way back from three lost seasons once, this is another setback, just not the kind of ending anyone in Chicago was expecting when he re-signed.