The Cubs officially announced their signing of right-hander Shelby Miller today, and in a corresponding move designated infielder Ben Cowles for assignment.
Cowles, who celebrates his 26th birthday today, has not yet made his MLB debut. He was a tenth-round pick by the Yankees back in 2021 and climbed his way through the minors before being traded alongside right-hander Jack Neely to the Cubs in exchange for right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. at the 2024 trade deadline. Cowles was injured at the time of the trade and appeared in just four games with the Cubs organization that year, but was promoted to Triple-A headed into the 2025 season.
His age-25 campaign wasn’t anything to get excited about. Cowles hit a middling .238/.304/.382 in 462 trips to the plate with the Iowa Cubs, with nine homers and 16 steals while playing mostly shortstop and also getting occasional reps at second and third base. He was designated for assignment by the Cubs in September to make room for Carlos Santana on the 40-man roster, and was claimed by the crosstown rival White Sox shortly thereafter. Cowles appeared in just 15 games for the team’s Triple-A affiliate down the stretch and was DFA’d once again in January to make room for Munetaka Murakami on the 40-man roster.
That allowed the Cubs to reclaim him, and while he doesn’t have a clear path to a bench role in the majors at this point given the presence of Matt Shaw on the roster, it wouldn’t have been a shock to see him make his big league debut in a bench role for Chicago at some point this year in the event of an injury somewhere on the big league club. Now, however, Chicago will have one week to either trade Cowles to try to pass him through waivers. If he gets through waivers unclaimed successfully, he’ll be assigned outright to Triple-A and serve as non-roster depth for the Cubs going into the season. Should he be claimed, he’ll join the claiming team’s 40-man roster and depart the organization for the second time in the past six months.
Even without Cowles, the Cubs have decent infield depth behind Shaw for a bench role if needed. Scott Kingery and Owen Miller are veterans who joined the organization on minor league deals this winter, while prospects James Triantos, B.J. Murray, and Pedro Martinez all figure to start the year at Triple-A but could be depth options for the Cubs at some point this year if a need should arise.
