The Chicago Cubs have completed a trade with the San Diego Padres that nets them left-handed Pitcher Tom Cosgrove in exchange for cash considerations. Cosgrove will be assigned to the Cubs’ AAA affiliate in Iowa. The 28-year-old southpaw had been designated for assignment by the Padres earlier this week. In a corresponding move, Chicago designated right-handed Pitcher Caleb Kilian for assignment.
The decision comes with both pitchers at a low point in their careers. After a stellar 2023 rookie campaign, Cosgrove struggled to maintain the same velocity and movement on his pitches, leading to a step back in 2024 and a demotion to start 2025. Kilian was brought in as part of the Kris Bryant deal for the Chicago Cubs and has yet to find consistent command with his upper-90s fastball. With his raw ability and prospect makeup, a team will likely jump on the opportunity to bring in Kilian as a project, and the Cubs will not be able to retain him.
Chicago Cubs Trade For Tom Cosgrove
The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres agreed Thursday on a trade that sends left-handed Pitcher Tom Cosgrove to the Cubs and cash considerations to the Padres. San Diego designated Cosgrove for assignment earlier this week and Chicago did not want to risk another team claiming him on waivers or completing a trade for the 28-year-old in the coming days. Cosgrove will report to AAA with the Iowa Cubs.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Cosgrove, the Chicago Cubs designated right-handed Pitcher Caleb Kilian for assignment. Kilian has been with Chicago since the Kris Bryant trade in 2021. The 27-year-old has made appearances with the major league team in each of the last three seasons but had yet to appear in 2025 before being designated for assignment to make room for Cosgrove. The Chicago Cubs have seven days to trade, waive, or release the former top prospect before he is eligible to stay in the minor leagues, but other teams will likely jump on the opportunity to get a look at the hard-throwing right-hander.
In Cosgrove’s career, he has appeared in 72 games, going 1-3 with a 3.95 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 59 strikeouts in 66 innings across two seasons. His best season was his rookie campaign in 2023 when he had a 1.75 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 51.1 innings. Kilian has appeared for the Chicago Cubs in three different seasons but never worked much. From 2022-2024 at the major league level, Kilian appeared in eight games, five as a starter, and went 0-4 with a 9.22 ERA, 2.01 WHIP, and 21 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. After a poor opening outing in AAA to start 2025, the Cubs decided to cave on the last piece of the Kris Bryant deal.
Final Thoughts
This is a small trade that doesn’t have any major league ramifications as of yet so there’s not much to quibble with on either side. For the San Diego Padres, the desire to bring up a better prospect to help their bullpen in 2025 made Cosgrove expendable and the Chicago Cubs pounced. The Chicago Cubs didn’t feel that they could get any productivity out of Kilian after years of trying and decided to bring in a reliever with proven reliability in a major league bullpen.
If I had to pick a side of the fence to land on with this move for the Chicago Cubs, it would be on the negative side. Not just for this trade, but how it wraps up the Bryant deal. In a month, the Chicago Cubs have cut off their entire haul from the trade after designating Alexander Canario and now Kilian for assignment.
This also says a lot about the Brandon Hughes signing in the offseason. If the Cubs are in dire need of left-handed bullpen depth, they have someone in their organization with proven success on their team available. To me, it’s not a big enough move to give up on Kilian.
