Uh, Seriously? Cubs Reportedly Agree to Minors Deal with Dan Straily

Update: Straily has officially been added to the Iowa Cubs’ roster and will start for them on Sunday. And in bits of trivia I failed to note previously, he came over from the A’s as part of the Jeff Samardzija/Addison Russell deal and was traded to the Astros in the Dexter Fowler deal.

In news that feels like it’s at least five years old, the Cubs have reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with 35-year-old righty Dan Straily. That comes via Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, who tweeted that the split deal is done pending a physical. Cubs fans may remember Straily for his brief stint with the team back in 2014, when he put up an 11.85 ERA over seven games near the end of the season.

Straily bounced around between several organizations over eight big league seasons and has spent the past four seasons with the KBO’s Lotte Giants. His performance has been up and down, but he’s done a really good job of getting grounders and has shown more than a little perseverance over the course of his career.

Even though it’s hard to see this move having any impact in Chicago — if it does, things have gone very wrong — Straily provides veteran depth in Iowa at the very least.