Aaron Bummer is back on the market after opting out of his minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman on Friday.
That leaves the left-handed reliever as a free agent, and it also closes a brief run in the Cubs’ system that never quite turned into a major league call-up. Bummer opened with a couple of rookie-ball outings, where he threw 2.0 scoreless innings, then advanced to Triple-A Iowa and allowed four runs in 4.0 innings.
The 32-year-old southpaw had arrived with a major league résumé already on the books. Before landing with Chicago, he pitched 19 games for the Atlanta Braves this season, though that stint came with a 7.63 ERA. Even so, his overall MLB track record still carries weight: a 3.94 career ERA and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
Bummer likely had the kind of veteran opt-out clause that gave him a chance to chase another opportunity if he wasn’t in the big leagues by a certain date. Whatever the exact wording, he used it.
A 19th-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2014 MLB Draft, Bummer has carved out a long professional career and now has to find the next stop to keep it going. Left-handed relief pitching always has a market, and that should keep him in the conversation somewhere.
For now, though, it’s unclear whether another team is already lined up or whether he’ll need a little time to find one. Either way, he’ll want that next deal soon to keep his arm moving. Even with the Cubs’ pitching staff battered by injuries, Bummer couldn’t break through before choosing to move on.
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