The Cubs are acquiring left-hander Braxton Garrett from the Marlins, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports that minor league infielder Jonathon Long and minor league righty Jace Beck are going back to Miami in the deal.
Garrett, who’ll turn 29 on Wednesday, was the seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft. He had a breakout showing with Miami in 2022-23, tossing 247 2/3 frames with a 3.63 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 5.1% walk rate and 48.7% ground-ball rate. He’d fallen sharply on their prospect lists prior to that breakout but suddenly looked to be a late-blooming building block — until injury struck. Garrett suffered a UCL tear in 2024 that wiped out the bulk of that season and all of his 2025 campaign.
Though he’s healthy now, Garrett has received only two big league looks this season — none since May. That comes despite missed time for each of Max Meyer, Eury Pérez and Janson Junk. Garrett was hit hard in his two MLB appearances (seven runs, eight walks in 4 1/3 MLB frames) but has pitched well in Triple-A for most of the season. He’s run into a tough patch recently, serving up a combined 13 runs over his past two appearances, but Garrett still has a 2.90 ERA in 77 2/3 Triple-A frames this year. He’s fanned 26.4% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate.
That said, Garrett has been hit hard in his past two starts, yielding a combined 13 runs in that time. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported earlier in the day that part of the reason for Garrett’s extended Triple-A sojourn this season — despite several openings on the big league roster — was an aversion to some tweaks the team tried to get him to incorporate in spring training. Whether the Cubs want to see any changes before he gets a big league look remains unclear, but Garrett is a nice depth option for them all the same.
Garrett is controllable via arbitration for two more years. He’s being paid a reasonable $1.525MM in 2026. This is his final minor league option year, so the Cubs will need to carry him on the 2027 roster or else designate him for assignment. He’ll first get a couple months to prove he’s worthy of that spot. The Cubs recently cut Jameson Taillon loose. Cade Horton is out for the year. Justin Steele will only pitch out of the bullpen late this season — if he makes it back at all — after some setbacks in his rehab from last year’s UCL surgery. Right-handers Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera (Garrett’s former teammate in Miami) are both on the injured list as well.
For the moment, the Cubs’ rotation includes newly acquired Kevin Gausman, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad, David Peterson and Colin Rea. Garrett could head to Triple-A Iowa for now or could slot right into the rotation mix. Rea, Assad and Peterson have all worked in relief both this year and in seasons past. One or more of them could slide back into a relief role if the Cubs want to get Garrett an immediate look.
More to come.
