This is about as fast as a big-league marriage can end. Chicago signed Jake Woodford to a major league deal on July 4 after he opted out of his minor league contract with the Brewers, and by July 11 he was already gone. One appearance, three earned runs on five hits in a loss to the Reds, and that was that.
Cubs To Designate Jake Woodford For Assignment t.co/d4f3cNh0o2
For context on why the Cubs even bothered: Woodford had been chewing up innings for Milwaukee to open the season after landing there in a small trade with the Rays, but it wasn't pretty. He posted a 6.94 ERA across 16 relief appearances with the Brewers, though he did flash some deception, holding opponents to 1 run or fewer in 12 of those 16 outings, including 7 scoreless games. That volatility is basically his career in a nutshell — 11-17 with 4 saves and a 5.25 ERA over 127 games and 7 seasons with 5 different organizations.
So the Cubs took a flier, hoping the strikeout-to-walk numbers (20 K's, 7 walks in 23.1 innings with Milwaukee) meant there was still something usable in there. Instead they got the bad version in his lone shot, and with the trade deadline stretch bearing down, Chicago wasn't in a mood to wait around for the good version to show up.
The corresponding move says a lot about the priority here: reliever Phil Maton is coming back off the injured list to take the bullpen spot Woodford briefly occupied. That's a real, established arm the Cubs would rather trust down the stretch than a reclamation project a week into his tenure.
Now Woodford enters DFA limbo — a week for another team to claim him off waivers, or he clears and heads back to the minors if he accepts an outright assignment. Given the workload teams are always hunting for bullpen depth in July, don't be shocked if somebody rolls the dice on him again before the deadline. It's just not going to be the Cubs.