{"id":154310,"date":"2026-02-19T15:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=154310"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:57:12","slug":"chicago-heartbreak-veteran-infielder-vanishes-to-toronto-cubs-5-year-farm-fixture-claimed-in-roster-shuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=154310","title":{"rendered":"CHICAGO HEARTBREAK: Veteran Infielder Vanishes to Toronto \u2013 Cubs&#8217; 5-Year Farm Fixture Claimed in Roster Shuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-123993\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-scaled.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_25796489_168396005_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" alt=\"Ben Cowles Blue Jays\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" \/>Iowa Cubs&#8217; Ben Cowles (8) catches a ball as it rolls second on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Principal Park in Des Moines.<\/p>\n<p>The Toronto Blue Jays claimed infielder Ben Cowles, a veteran of five seasons in the Chicago Cubs organization, off waivers Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>In a corresponding roster move, pitcher Bowden Francis was placed on the 60-day injured list.<\/p>\n<p>Francis is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Untitled-design-19-1-768x432.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Jays claim Ben Cowles off waivers from Cubs, place Bowden Francis on  IL - Sportsnet.ca\" \/><\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Cowles, 26, was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week when they signed free agent reliever Shelby Miller.<\/p>\n<p>Last year at Triple-A Iowa, Cowles slashed .238\/.304\/.382 in 113 games while seeing time at second base, third base and shortstop.<\/p>\n<p>The Cubs claimed Cowles off waivers from the Chicago White Sox in January. He only played one month in the White Sox organization after being claimed off waivers \u2014 from the Cubs, coincidentally \u2014 in September 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/EDz7A5lLgh.08SDzuCkWYg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNztjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/sb_nation_articles_115\/466ba25c948c7631ab48f9e4a40a8504\" alt=\"Blue Jays Claim Ben Cowles From Cubs - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays place a premium on defense. They lost shortstop Bo Bichette in free agency, signed third baseman Kazuma Okamoto as a free agent, and moved Ernie Clement to second base. Cowles has yet to make his big league debut, but could see time as a defensive replacement for all three players in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Cowles will join the Jays\u2019 spring training camp in Dunedin, Florida as a longshot to make their opening day roster \u2014 but with a chance to make a fast impression on his new team.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iowa Cubs&#8217; Ben Cowles (8) catches a ball as it rolls second on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Toronto Blue Jays&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>CHICAGO HEARTBREAK: Veteran Infielder Vanishes to Toronto \u2013 Cubs&#039; 5-Year Farm Fixture Claimed in Roster Shuffle - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=154310\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CHICAGO HEARTBREAK: Veteran Infielder Vanishes to Toronto \u2013 Cubs&#039; 5-Year Farm Fixture Claimed in Roster Shuffle - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iowa Cubs&#8217; Ben Cowles (8) catches a ball as it rolls second on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Principal Park in Des Moines. 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