Chicago Cubs Lose Pitching Depth After Two-Time All-Star Opts Out of Deal

With the Chicago Cubs suffering some pitching concerns this season, they have now lost a depth piece after one of their minor leaguers is opting out of his deal.

Starting pitcher Julio Teheran (49) / Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

June is a new month and offers the Chicago Cubs a new opportunity after their May finish put them in a horrendous spot compared to where they were earlier in the year.

After weathering the storm that came from injuries early on, they couldn't sustain that level of play and now find themselves sitting third in the NL Central entering Saturday's slate of games and outside of a Wild Card spot.

Hopefully the Cubs are able to have a good stretch on their calendar where they remain healthy and can have continuity across their roster.

New manager Craig Counsell has had to dip into the minor league ranks to call up position players and pitchers after many of their expected contributors have been sidelined at different times of the year.

Chicago was able to add two-time All-Star Julio Teheran on a minor league deal in April to give them depth in case they needed to use him. But even as there was a carousel within their starting rotation and bullpen, they ultimately never gave the veteran a look.

That likely had to do with his poor 8.82 ERA over his eight starts with their Triple-A affiliate as he allowed hitters to have a .336 batting average against him and gave up eight homers across his 32 2/3 innings of work.

Now, the Cubs will no longer have him as an option to call upon if needed.

According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the 33-year-old has elected to hit free agency after opting out of his minor league deal with Chicago.

The journeyman has played for five different teams at the Major League level, so he's likely comfortable hitting the open market again in search of a place where he might be able to find his way back into MLB action again.