The Cubs have agreed to a trade with the Athletics, landing righty Aaron Civale for minor league pitcher Aiden Moffett, the team announced. Chicago also received cash in the deal.
The A’s designated Civale for assignment on Wednesday. He scuffled to a 5.42 ERA in 16 appearances with the club. The veteran also spent time on the IL with a shoulder injury. Civale gave up eight earned runs over seven innings in his final two outings before the All-Star break. The A’s added him on a one-year, $6MM deal in the winter. The cash heading to Chicago will presumably offset some of the remaining money on the contract.
It’ll be the second tour of duty with the Cubs for the well-traveled Civale. He closed the 2025 campaign with the team. Chicago picked him up off waivers from the cross-town rival White Sox. Civale made five relief appearances for the Cubs over the final month of the season.
The 31-year-old Civale was a respectable innings eater as recently as 2024. He finished the year with the Brewers, where he posted a 3.53 ERA across 14 starts. He wasn’t able to replicate those results last season and ended up bouncing to both Chicago clubs. Civale is the latest in a steady stream of veteran arms the Cubs have churned through recently. One of them, Jake Woodford, just re-upped with the team on a minor league deal. Chicago is still without Justin Steele, Edward Cabrera, Ben Brown, and Jameson Taillon in the rotation, in addition to a host of reliever injuries.
Moffett was signed as an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia last summer. He’s appeared in 17 games between the Complex league and Single-A this season. Moffett has struck out more than a batter per inning, but he also has a massive 34.1% walk rate. The righty has handed out 42 free passes in 22 1/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images
