The Chicago Cubs traded Cody Bellinger and tossed in $5 million to the New York Yankees in exchange for right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet. Yeah, it was essentially a salary dump by the Cubs, but considering that no other team was really jumping in to beat out the Yankees for him, you could see how Bellinger’s value has diminished in the past year. The hope is that the Cubs will now use their newly-available money to upgrade other needs on the roster.
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For now, let’s get to know the newest Cubs pitcher, who by the way is now part of MLB history. Oh yeah, the first ever Cody for Cody trade in the league’s history!
The 30-year-old righty has been a journeyman throughout his pro career, coming up to the big leagues in the Miami Marlins minor league system. Poteet was drafted in 2015, picked in the fourth round out of UCLA and after spending parts of six seasons in the minors he made his MLB debut in 2021.
Poteet made seven starts with the Marlins from the mid-May to the last week in June. Overall he struggled, posting a 4.99 ERA in 30.2 innings.
Yet, Poteet actually had a good stretch to begin his MLB career, allowing only two earned runs through his first three starts. The wheels fell off for Poteet, who then gave up 15 earned runs in his next 13.2 innings. He did suffer a leg during his first trip to the majors, landing on the IL with a sprained right MCL in early June and was then sidelined again with a knee sprain a few weeks later. Poteet’s 2021 season ended after he made a rehab start in August.
Poteet made Miami’s 2022 Opening Day roster and was once again showing some promise as he had a 0.43 ERA through his first 20.2 innings. However, by the end of May Poteet was back on the injured list and this time it was an elbow injury. He did return for one more appearance in July, but three weeks later the team determined that the pitcher needed Tommy John surgery.
The right-hander spent almost all of the 2023 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and only made one appearance for the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate. The Royals released Poteet after the 2023 season and then the Yankees signed him in Jan. 2024.
Poteet began the 2024 season at Triple-A and was called up a few times by the Yankees throughout the year. Overall, Poteet tossed 24.1 innings in a Yankees uniform and posted a 2.22 ERA in five total appearances, which included four starts. In his first full year back from Tommy John surgery, Poteet logged 53 additional innings in the minor leagues. That included a pretty good 28% strikeout rate across those 13 starts in the minors.
I’m not going to pretend like Cody Poteet is a diamond in the rough or anything, but looking through his career, when he’s been healthy he’s gotten good results. At the very least, Poteet could provide some depth from Triple-A with the Cubs. The righty has two more option years left and does have MLB experience under his belt.
A tweak here, a tweak there and hey, who knows, maybe the Cubs do get some unexpected value.
