The Chicago Cubs’ (presumed) attempt to get infielder Ben Cowles through waivers didn’t work out.
He’s been claimed by the Blue Jays:
The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed INF Ben Cowles off waivers from the Cubs. Cowles had been DFA’d to make room for Shelby Miller, who is expected to miss most if not all this year after Tommy John surgery in October.
— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) 2026-02-18T20:03:09.500ZRecall, the discussion on this front was entirely about why the Cubs would risk losing Cowles instead of simply placing Justin Steele on the 60-day IL to open up a 40-man spot for Shelby Miller. I suspect the thinking was two-fold: (1) if there’s even a 1% chance that Steele could return earlier than the 60-day cut-off in the regular season (May 23), then the Cubs might as well hold open that possibility so long as it doesn’t hurt them on the 40-man, and (2) having claimed Cowles last month, the Cubs might’ve been planning all along to try to get him through waivers at some point, and they decided now was the best time to try.
Obviously, if that was the thinking, it didn’t work out. The Cubs will get their small waiver fee from the Blue Jays, and Cowles gets a 40-man spot with the Blue Jays – who may ultimately DFA him later on and try, themselves, to sneak him through waivers. The goal being that you’d get to keep Cowles on what is effectively a minor league deal for 2026, and he would not take up a 40-man spot. All the best to him on however that winds up playing out.
For the Cubs, though, it’s a hit to their Triple-A infield/utility depth. Then again, in the interim between claiming Cowles and DFA’ing him, the Cubs signed Owen Miller to a minor league deal, and I’ve gotta believe his big league experience and relative success at Triple-A (much more than Cowles so far) had him ahead of Cowles on the pecking order anyway when it comes to versatile emergency bench depth.
I still don’t think it is likely that Justin Steele returns before May 23 (or that the Cubs would want him accumulating that many innings before October), and therefore I still think it’s likely that, when the Cubs next need a 40-man spot without an easy other move, the 60-day IL will be on the table. Then again, with Shelby Miller on the 40-man and DEFINITELY out until the end of the 2026 season at the earliest, he’s going to be the first one on the 60-day, not Steele. So the Cubs can punt a little longer on Steele anyway.
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