I knew Dan Straily was pitching in Korea, and I knew there was a time in relatively recent memory that he was trying to come back to MLB. But sometime between then and now, he fell off my radar as a guy who could possibly pop back up in a headline like this.
But he is! Old friend Dan Straily, who last pitched for the Cubs a decade ago, is back in the organization:
Straily, now 35, pitched each of the last four seasons in the KBO, with one half-season (in 2022) spent pitching unsuccessfully for the Diamondbacks at Triple-A.
It’s hard to say what he’s got left in the tank in a transition back to the States, but the Cubs are clearly looking out for depth behind their depth. With the starting staff awash in injuries and the bullpen starting to feel the same sting, the Cubs have added Straily and Julio Teheran as veteran just-in-case depth. We certainly anticipate guys coming back healthy, no other injuries befalling the team, and young guys stepping up. But the Cubs have to prepare for every possible path. (Including the small possibility that Straily or Teheran simply look effective enough that you want to give them some big league run even if there aren’t injuries, just to give everyone else a break.)
The split deal Mish mentions simply means that, if Straily is at any point added to the big league roster, he’s going to be making more than the Major League minimum. It’s still a minor league deal.