Cubs Select Contracts of Rex Brothers, Matt Duffy, Eric Sogard as Roster Takes Shape

The Cubs announced Sunday that they have purchased the contracts of lefty reliever Rex Brothers, infielder Matt Duffy, and utilityman Eric Sogard. Duffy may be a little bit of a surprise, but the other two were pretty much locks based on Saturday’s announcement that Brad Wieck and Nico Hoerner had been optioned.

Ildemaro Vargas has been designated for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man, but there will still be more moves as the rest of the roster takes shape. That could include an IL stint for Austin Romine with P.J. Higgins breaking camp as the backup catcher. We also know that Dillon Maples will head north as part of the bullpen.

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In other transactional news, Cameron Maybin has been re-signed to a minor league deal and will report to the team’s alternate site. He had been on a minors deal with an invitation to camp and was granted his release Saturday, so this is a procedural move to keep an excellent teammate and solid role player in the organization.

These moves put the 40-man roster at 40 with just four days to go before Opening Day.