The Royals announced they've signed reliever Eli Morgan to a minor league deal. The CAA client receives a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training. Morgan had been non-tendered by the Cubs in November. Morgan returns to the AL Central, where he has spent the majority of his career with Cleveland. He pitched parts of four seasons there, starting 18 games as a rookie before moving to the bullpen.
Reese McGuire filled in admirably for the injured Miguel Amaya, hitting a career-high nine home runs over 140 plate appearances as Carson Kelly 's backup. That wasn't nearly enough to entice the Cubs to tender him a contract at anything approaching his $1.9 million projection, so they told him to beat it. Or, more accurately, they simply chose not to tender him a contract for the 2026 season.