Cubs Add Munenori Kawasaki to 40-Man Roster, Option to AAA

The cubs have selected the contract of Munenori Kawasaki and added him to the 40-man roster. If you recall, the Cubs released Rex Brothers earlier in the spring which led to an open spot on the roster that the Cubs had the luxury to fill.

This is really more of a procedural transaction than anything else. Munenori was already heading to Iowa and there was really no big need to add him to the 40-man roster, other than as a vote of confidence from Joe for a veteran player who is very popular in the clubhouse.

Last week, Munenori was briefly released by the Cubs and then promptly re-signed. This, again, was procedural and meant to avoid the Cubs having to pay him a $100K roster bonus, which they didn’t.

So, in the end, this was a nice thing for the Cubs to do before shipping Kawasaki to Iowa. The Cubs may need him to fill in during the season and he has shown throughout the spring that he’d be a quality stand-in if needed.