Cubs cut ties with veteran lefty to add former top-10 prospect

Genesis Cabrera's Cubs outing on Friday was the writing on the wall.

Chicago was already trailing, and Cabrera was getting shelled. Despite that, he stayed in. At that point, his role was to just get out of the inning, no matter how many pitches it took (and it ended up taking 31).

Less than 24 hours later, the Cubs designated Cabrera for assignment, removing him from the 40-man roster.

The 28-year old lefty will go on waivers, where another team can claim him. If he clears waivers, he can accept an assignment to Triple-A or elect free agency.

Cabrera entered this season with a sub-4.00 career ERA, but he's been rocked this season to the tune of an 8.68 ERA with the Cubs in nine outings.

He began the year with the Mets (3.52 ERA) before being discarded by them after six outings.

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Cabrera was with the Cardinals for five seasons to start his big league career, but he's definitively in the journeyman stage of his career now.

Given his raw talent and the never-ending desire for left-handed bullpen arms, it's likely a new team will take a chance on Cabrera. But his days in Chicago appear to be coming to an end, at least for now.

In his place, the Cubs have called up Nate Pearson. The big right-hander was once a top-10 prospect in all of baseball for the Blue Jays.

Pearson has never lived up to the hype, but he's a hard-throwing reliever who can be useful in a pinch.

In eight MLB outings this season, Pearson had a 10.38 ERA, but at Triple-A Iowa, his ERA has been 2.22.

The Cubs may wind up needing more bullpen help at the trade deadline, but for now, this is what they've got.

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