Cubs acquire RHP Carlos Guzman from Tigers for Zach McKinstry

Mar 27, 2023 - 8:30 PM

The Cubs announced late Monday a late-spring training deal, sending infielder Zach McKinstry to the Tigers for righthanded pitcher Carlos Guzman.

Guzman is 24 and in the 2022 season posted a 4.11 ERA (49 earned runs in 107⅓ innings) in 27 games (23 starts) split between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, striking out 90 against 34 walks. He spent a majority of the season with West Michigan with 0.41 ERA (one earned run in 22 innings) with a .372 opponent OPS in his final four outings, August 19-September 6, prior to his promotion to Erie.

Here’s some of what this deal means for the Opening Day roster:

I’m surprised about Luis Torrens — that gives the Cubs a third catcher, but I would suspect he’d be used mostly as a DH. I’d also guess that this means Edwin Rios does NOT make the Opening Day roster. But we will see.

The Cubs press release wasn’t clear on whether Guzman is on the 40-man roster and as of the time of this post, the 40-man still shows McKinstry, so we will be awaiting developments, as always. Guzman likely starts the year at South Bend or Tennessee.