The Chicago Cubs will, for as long as the offseason goes on, be trying to add as many potentially interesting players at the margins of the roster as possible. That will mean reclamation arms signed to minor league deals. It will mean positional depth brought in. It will mean injury rehabs taken on. And it will mean waiver claims on guys who just might flourish in a new organization.
The first move in that latter category has arrived, with the Cubs claiming righty reliever Eric Orze off of waivers from the Twins. Orze, 29, is a former Mets prospect who was traded in 2024 to the Rays, and in 2025 to the Twins. Although he’s not know for having elite velocity, he does get elite extension and ride on his four-seamer, which is probably something the Cubs found appealing. He also gets some pretty strong movement on his splitter compared to the average righty who throws one. When going after these fringier relief types on low-risk deals, the Cubs like to target outlier traits.
As you can see, Orze has reached a point in his career where he can dominate at Triple-A, but isn’t yet fully solidified in MLB:
(via FanGraphs)You may be wondering why the Twins would even let Orze go, though, given how great he’s been at Triple-A, how good he was for the Rays in the bigs in 2025, and how it looks like he suffered from some bad luck on the results side in 2026. I think there are a few major reasons: (1) the velocity trend is not great, nor is a 93 mph base fastball all that compelling for even a middle reliever in today’s game; (2) the strikeout rate has fallen off; and (3) he has no minor league options remaining.
That last one is probably the biggest factor when you’re talking about a guy who was at the margin of the 40-man roster for a club with a lot of decisions to make. It’s understandable that the Twins would try to get Orze through waivers if they might wind up having to do that at the end of Spring Training anyway. Indeed, the Cubs may at some point this offseason try to do the same thing – if they can get Orze through waivers and outright him to Iowa, they get to keep him there on what is effectively a minor league deal for 2027, without taking up a 40-man spot. Otherwise, if he stays on the 40-man into Spring Training, he’ll have to make the Opening Day roster or hit waivers anyway.
For now, Orze is the first arrival in the “let’s see what happens” middle relief group for the Cubs, and, unless they do try to outright him, the plan would be for him to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training.
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