Cubs DFA Rule 5 Pick Gage Workman
When the season began, the Cubs had rookies Matt Shaw and Rule 5 pick Gage Workman set to handle third base. Now neither is with the team. Shaw was demoted to Triple-A after 18 games, while Workman was designated for assignment on Wednesday, one day after he committed two errors in the Cubs’ game against the Dodgers. Workman’s defense has long been his strongest tool, but he failed to field a ground ball hit by Shohei Ohtani to start Tuesday’s game and he then couldn’t glove a ground ball in the seventh that could have been a double play in a bases loaded situation. Workman was hitting .214/.267/.286 in nine games. Jon Berti has been playing much more third base in the past week as the Cubs sort out who is going to handle third base. Because he was DFA’d, any other club can claim Workman and added him to their active MLB roster under the Rule 5 restrictions. If no club claims him, he will be offered back to the Tigers. If the Tigers opt to keep him, they will return $50,000 of the $100,000 Rule 5 payment to the Cubs. The Tigers can refuse his return, in which case he would remain a Cubs player. Or the two teams could work out a trade.
