I’ve written similar articles to this one in the past and there has generally been a good selection of former Cubs to root for in the MLB postseason.
Not this year. The eight clubs remaining as we head to the Division Series round have a total of only 11 former Cubs. Three of the eight Division Series teams don’t have a single player who used to wear blue pinstripes at Wrigley Field.
Here’s the entire list. Note that this article is being published before some of the Division Series rosters have been officially announced and some of these players might not be on those rosters — for one, it appears that Anthony Rizzo is still out with a broken finger.
Also, this list includes only players who played for the Cubs in the major leagues. Players who were Cubs prospects but never played for the MLB Cubs are not listed.
Tigers
Zach McKinstry.
That’s it! Of course, Javier Báez is a prominent former Cub who was a Tiger for most of this year, but he had hip surgery right after Detroit visited Wrigley Field in August and won’t play in this postseason.
Guardians
None.
In fact, of the 50 men who played for the Guardians this year, not one previously played for the Cubs.
Royals
None.
The Royals also had 50 players this year. Just one — Nelson Velázquez — was a former Cub. He hit so poorly — .200/.274/.366 with eight home runs in 64 games — that he was demoted to Triple-A Omaha in June and didn’t hit well there either, .239/.356/.415 with seven home runs in 56 games. He didn’t get a recall in September, either. Looks like that trade was a dud for both teams.
Yankees
Scott Effross, Mark Leiter Jr., Anthony Rizzo, Marcus Stroman
As noted above, Rizzo is probably going to miss the Division Series:
Anthony Rizzo hasn’t attempted baseball activities yet, Brian Cashman said. The Yankees consider him a long shot to be ready for the ALDS.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) October 3, 2024
As for the other Yankees listed above, Stroman pitched poorly in the second half (5.98 ERA in 11 games) and might not make the Division Series roster. Effross pitched in just three games in relief in September coming off Tommy John surgery. Leiter, who didn’t throw all that well for the Yankees (4.98 ERA in 21 relief appearances), might be the only former Cub on the Yankees’ Division Series roster.
Mets
José Quintana, Luis Torrens
Quintana’s good pitching since he left the Cubs suggests that he might have been injured for much of the time he wore the blue pinstripes. Why this wasn’t recognized at the time is beyond me.
Torrens was kept on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster in 2023 and barely played, largely because the Cubs didn’t really need three catchers at the time. He was sent to the Orioles for cash considerations in May 2023 and went through three other organizations (Nationals, Mariners, Yankees) before landing with the Mets, where he’s been a decent backup.
Phillies
Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber
Just two Phillies used to play for the Cubs, but both are significant contributors to their offense.
Castellanos, though, produced just 0.8 bWAR even while batting 254/.311/.431 with 23 home runs. He played in all 162 games this year.
We’ve discussed the massive mistake Jed Hoyer made in letting Schwarber go for nothing many times here and don’t need to re-hash that again. I will say that I know many Cubs fans are rooting for the Phillies this postseason because of Schwarber, who hit 38 home runs and had a 3.5 bWAR season in 2024.
Padres
Jason Adam, Yu Darvish, Jeremiah Estrada.
The Darvish deal has also been hashed over many times so we don’t need to do that again. I’ll say only that it appears the Cubs might have a quality player left from that deal in Owen Caissie.
Adam was another mistake by Hoyer, let go for nothing before the 2022 season. He’s been a quality reliever for the Rays and Padres since then, posting a 2.12 ERA and 0.868 WHIP in 197 appearances, with 24 saves. That would have looked good in the Cubs bullpen both last year and this year, and Adam made a total of $5.375 million combined from 2022-24. That’s a bit more than half of what the Cubs paid Hector Neris this year.
And yet another Hoyer mistake was releasing Jeremiah Estrada after last year. The Padres “fixed” him and made him a leverage reliever.
Dodgers
None.
Of the Dodgers’ 60 players this season, only one was a former Cub, Jason Heyward. Heyward was released by L.A. in August and signed with the Astros, where he lined into the final out of Game 1 of Houston’s Wild Card series against the Tigers. At 35, Heyward might be done.
