Cubs roster move: Sean Newcomb added, David Bote optioned to Iowa

The Cubs let it be known this morning that Sean Newcomb was going to be added to the active roster to start tonight’s game against the Cardinals.

In order to add Newcomb, someone had to be removed. And here’s that someone:

This is a bit of a surprise. David Bote took quite some time to recover from shoulder surgery, and was hitting .260/.327/.380 in limited duty (20 games, 55 plate appearances). He had 13 hits, three of which were doubles and one of which was a home run.

I’d have been in favor of keeping Bote only because he can play multiple positions, while Frank Schwindel, another player with options, can’t. The demotion of Bote likely means we’re going to see more of Zach McKinstry and Nick Madrigal playing for the rest of the year, since those guys play positions Bote also does.

I don’t think we’ll see Schwindel on the 2023 Cubs, and while Bote has two years left on the deal he was signed to, perhaps ill-advisedly, before 2019, it wouldn’t surprise me if Jed Hoyer & Co. move on from him after this year. There is about $12 million left on Bote’s deal, which includes two buyout years.

As always, we await developments.