Cubs bet on speed with Greg Jones as deadline looms

The Cubs added a low-cost, high-speed depth piece Tuesday, agreeing to a minor league deal with outfielder Greg Jones just days after the Brewers removed him from their 40-man roster and he elected free agency. It's the kind of move that barely registers on a normal Tuesday, except this year every Cubs transaction gets read through the lens of the trade deadline.

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Cubs Sign Greg Jones To Minor League Deal t.co/0P472Z63ES

Jones's path here is a wild one. Tampa Bay took him 22nd overall out of UNC-Wilmington in the 2019 draft and paid him a $3 million bonus, betting on a toolsy shortstop with plus-plus speed and a cannon arm. He never actually played a big league game for the Rays, who flipped him to Colorado in a deal for lefty Joe Rock heading into 2024. Since then he's bounced through the Rockies, White Sox, Astros and Brewers organizations, picking up all of 21 major league games and a.100/.129/.200 batting line along the way.

What keeps him employed is speed that hasn't faded a bit. Jones stole 46 bases in just 89 minor league games in 2024, and he's swiped 21 more in only 40 Triple-A contests this season. For a Cubs org thinking about the stretch run, that's a cheap, low-risk way to stash a burner in Iowa who can pinch-run or fill in on the bases if the big league roster needs a jolt in August.

None of this is a headline-grabbing addition on its own — it's a depth signing, not a blockbuster. But the Cubs have been active on the margins all month while they sort out what they actually want to do at the deadline, and moves like this are how contenders quietly stock the shelves. Worst case, Jones is organizational filler in Des Moines. Best case, he's a September speed weapon nobody saw coming.

Watch how the Cubs use the next 10 days to decide whether Jones ever sniffs Wrigley Field. If Chicago's outfield picture gets muddied by a deadline trade or an injury, a track guy with a first-round pedigree sitting in Triple-A is exactly the kind of name that gets a surprise call-up.