Chicago Cubs Bring Back Reliever On Minor League Deal
The Chicago Cubs signed Brandon Hughes to a one-year, minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Hughes, 29, broke through with the Cubs in 2022 and had a great season. The left-hander joined the team and had modest success early in the year. After a bevy of trade deadline deals that sent away half of the team’s major league bullpen, Hughes succeeded as a high-leverage reliever. Given an opportunity to produce, Hughes rose to the occasion and became one of the fixtures of the team’s pitching staff, earning the chance to close games for the Cubs toward the end of 2022.
After a knee injury wrecked his 2023, Hughes signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2024 season and spent most of the year in AAA before getting the call to come back to the majors late in the season. Hughes struggled in 2024 and was not signed by Arizona. Reunited with the Chicago Cubs for 2025, Hughes will look to recapture some of his success from 2022 and pick up where he left off as a valuable option for Craig Counsell’s club.
Brandon Hughes Signs With Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are bringing a familiar face to spring training in a few weeks signing Brandon Hughes to a minor league contract. Hughes made his major league debut with the Cubs in 2022 and quickly became an integral member of a refurbished bullpen. Hughes proved to be a viable reliever with a power slider that befuddled hitters on both sides of the plate. After Chicago dealt four relievers at the trade deadline, opportunities for high-leverage relief pitching opened up. Hughes took advantage. He stepped into a consistent set-up role and even closed some games late in the season.
Hughes ended his stellar rookie season with a 3.12 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 68 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings across 57 appearances. He added eight holds and eight saves that came after the sell-offs at the trade deadline. Hughes was poised to assume a sizable role in 2023 for the Chicago Cubs until a knee injury derailed his season. Before being placed on the season-ending IL, he had a 7.24 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and 17 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings across 17 appearances. The Cubs didn’t retain the left-handed reliever in the offseason and Hughes signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In 2024, Hughes spent most of the season in AAA, rehabbing his image by pitching to the tune of a 2.03 ERA in 48 2/3 innings. This was enough to earn him some run with the major league roster toward the end of the season. He struggled in the majors surrendering 16 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings over 15 appearances, including two starts. The Diamondbacks chose not to re-sign Hughes, leaving the door open for him to return to Chicago.
Southpaw’s Role With 2025 Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have been active this offseason, most notably trading for Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly, so the acquisition of Hughes can fly under the radar. That does not make the move insignificant. The Cubs have been canvassing the free agent pool for quality veteran relievers since finalizing the trade for Pressly. With the low-risk move to sign Hughes to a minor-league deal, they still can bring in another arm. Adding insurance with the left-handed reliever gives them something they have been missing since Hughes was last on the team, a reliable left-handed option out of the bullpen.
Chicago has traded for Pressly and Eli Morgan so far this offseason, but they are both right-handers. The Cubs are bereft of quality southpaws in the bullpen. Hughes could address a need for the team at a low cost with the upside of reintegrating into a bullpen that is going to be counted on to finish meaningful games late in the year. If Hughes can be closer to his 2022 performance for the Cubs this season, he may be able to resurrect his career on the major league level.
Hughes now finds himself back on the north side of Chicago with the team that drafted and developed him into a pitcher, and the team that could be his best chance to play in meaningful baseball in 2025. At the beginning of the season, he will likely be behind Matthew Boyd, Luke Little, Caleb Thielbar, Rob Zastryzny, and Jordan Wicks on the left-handed bullpen pecking order.
Final Thoughts
I like the move to bring back Brandon Hughes. He was a solid and surprising performer for the Chicago Cubs in 2022 and I was upset to see him go through his knee injury and struggle with the rehab for it. Working through his comeback in AAA I think was a good path for him, but his major league production with Arizona is troubling if Counsell wants to count on him right out of the gate in 2025. Luckily, I don’t think that’s going to be the case. Between the signing of Matthew Boyd and the existing southpaws in the organization, Hughes is going to be able to have a long runway to try and get back into form.
Hughes will not be pressed into action right away and his production for this bullpen will be purely additive. The minor league contract combined with the options Counsell already has makes this a low-risk move, but one that has the potential to be one of the more underrated ones of the Cubs’ busy offseason. If Hughes is relied on for high-leverage relief pitching in 2025, I feel good knowing that he has done it with Chicago once before. It was a a small, yet solid transaction from President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs.
