Cubs acquire Tom Cosgrove from Padres; Caleb Kilian DFA

The Cubs announced late Thursday that they had acquired lefthander Tom Cosgrove from the Padres for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Cosgrove, Caleb Kilian was designated for assignment.

Cosgrove was the Padres’ 12th round pick out of Manhattan University in 2017 and made his MLB debut in 2023. He had a very good year for the Padres in ‘23, posting a 1.75 ERA and 0.974 WHIP in 54 relief appearances, with only three home runs allowed in 51⅓ innings.

That went south last year when Cosgrove posted an 11.66 ERA in 18 relief outings for the Padres. He wound up spending most of 2024 at Triple-A El Paso, where he posted a 4.85 ERA in 32 relief appearances. He also missed some time with elbow inflammation.

This year Cosgrove has appeared in four games for El Paso, and posted a 7.36 ERA and 2.182 WHIP. So after that good beginning in 2023, Cosgrove has had a rough time, marred by last year’s injury.

Cosgrove turns 29 in June, so this is a reclamation project. If the Cubs can do that, they’ll have another lefthander to put in the pen.

The DFA of Caleb Kilian represents the end of the return in the 2021 Kris Bryant deal, since the other player acquired, Alexander Canario, was let go earlier this year. It’s possible that Kilian clears waivers and stays in the Cubs organization. In eight MLB appearances (five starts), Kilian posted a 9.22 ERA, though he had one good start in the last game of the 2024 season against the Reds. This year at Iowa, Kilian started one game and allowed six runs in 2⅓ innings. He turns 28 in June, if this is it for him in the Cubs organization, I wish him well.