The Chicago Cubs continued their offseason tinkering with their major league roster by trading for catcher Matt Thaiss in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The deal was made after the Angels signed Travis d’Arnaud last week and designated Thaiss for assignment as a corresponding transaction. Thaiss is heading to Chicago to pair with Miguel Amaya to try and improve the Cubs’ catching situation, a weakness on the roster since losing Willson Contreras to the St. Louis Cardinals. In exchange for Thaiss, Chicago sent cash considerations to Los Angeles.
The acquisition of Thaiss is the latest in a string of stints for veteran catchers trying to be productive as a backup to Amaya. Last season, Chicago went through Yan Gomes, Tomas Nido, and Christian Bethancourt in the backup role, and the club was forced to rely heavily on a struggling Amaya throughout the year. The acquisition serves a dual purpose. If Amaya continues to struggle in 2025, Thaiss can hopefully be a reliable backstop and keep top-catching prospect Moises Ballesteros in the minors until he is ready to make his major league debut.
Chicago Cubs Add Matt Thaiss from Angels
The Chicago Cubs made their second transaction of the offseason, and like the first, it is a small yet positive move. After adding a pitcher earlier in the week, the Cubs added a position player in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Thaiss is heading to Chicago after he was designated for assignment by the Angels, who signed d’Arnaud last week. Thaiss is coming off a tough season where he couldn’t get into any rhythm at the plate and had his share of struggles behind the plate. Chicago is hoping that he can bounce back in 2025 with some tinkering from the Chicago coaching staff.
Thaiss has been with the Angels for his entire six-year career. He debuted in 2019 and has been a fringe major leaguer ever since. He has a good eye at the plate and can play a solid backstop, but the holes in his game have been exploited during his career. At the plate, Thaiss swings and misses too frequently in the zone and struggles with breaking balls at the bottom of the strike zone.
Behind the plate, Thaiss is a below-average pitch framer and struggles to throw base stealers out, especially with the new rules that have been implemented. His struggles have been well documented, but he can still generate some pop at the bottom of the batting order and play a respectable catcher in a back-up role, which is what the Chicago Cubs will ask him to do.
Fitting In with the Cubs
The backup catching role was a turnstile in 2024 for the Chicago Cubs. Yan Gomes came into the year as the incumbent starter but was replaced by Miguel Amaya after he slumped to start the year and was eventually released. Tomas Nido had a cup of coffee with the club and started off great after being acquired from the Mets. The strong start wouldn’t last, and Nido was gone after roughly two months. His replacement was Christian Bethancourt, who stayed with the team through the end of the season
n. With Thaiss entering the fold, the Cubs hope they have solved their catching situation for at least one year with Amaya starting and Thaiss in a backup role. If Amaya struggles in 2025 as he did at points during 2024, though, don’t be surprised if the catching duties are platooned between the two, with Thaiss possibly getting a crack at the starting position during the year.
The main objective of the Cubs’ catching situation in 2025 is to see if Amaya can turn a corner on what has been an underwhelming start to a major league career, and if he can’t, don’t feel pressured to rush top catching prospect Ballesteros to the show before he is ready just because there is a need for a change at catcher. That is where Matt Thaiss comes in, which is why the Chicago Cubs traded for him.
To make room for Thaiss on the 40-man roster, another major league player had to be designated for assignment. Short-term reliever Trey Wingenter got the pink slip and will be on the outs with Chicago until they can plan a next move.
Final Thoughts
The Cubs are focusing on the edges early on in the offseason, and this move reflects that. Thaiss was DFA’d by Los Angeles, and Jed Hoyer saw an opportunity to buy low on a position of need. After a revolving door at the second catching spot in 2024, Hoyer hopes this will be the only move he has to make at the catching position for the foreseeable future. The Miguel Amaya experiment isn’t promising at this point, although he will get one more crack at it.
Ballesteros is the next Chicago Cubs catcher, and the club would like to grant him any length of time he needs to develop. Thaiss was essentially free and serves as an insurance policy against Amaya’s struggles so that a stopgap between Amaya and Ballesteros would not leave the catching position totally barren during 2025.
