With the Chicago Cubs roster for the 2026 season mostly complete, the front office continues to take chances on players by signing them to Minor League deals.

It’s a strategy the Cubs adopted last year, when they signed players like Brad Keller and Reese McGuire to Minor League deals before the season. Both players then went on to be key parts of the 2025 roster.

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This offseason, Chicago has been very active in that department. Right-handed relief pitcher Trent Thornton, outfielder Chas McCormick, and outfielder Dylan Carlson have all signed Minor League deals with the Cubs recently.

Fans should expect the front office to continue signing players to Minor League deals over the next few weeks until Spring Training officially begins. The team is keeping its options open and trying to find a diamond in the rough similar to Keller a season ago.

On Monday, the Cubs made another Minor League signing by agreeing to a deal with hard-throwing right-hander Gabe Klobosits.

There’s a good chance that most don’t know who Klobosits is. He has played only one season in the Majors, and that came back in 2021 with the Washington Nationals. In 11 appearances that season, the right-hander had a whopping 5.56 ERA.

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Since then, Klobosits has not gotten another shot in the Majors.

He spent parts of the 2022 season in the Athletics’ Minor League system, but was eventually released after having a 7.59 ERA across 10 ⅔ innings pitched at Triple-A Las Vegas.

One year later, Klobosits signed a Minor League deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately, more struggles on the mound continued for the right-hander, as he had a 4.74 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 14 appearances with Triple-A Buffalo.

It was no doubt a few rough years for Klobosits from 2021 to 2023. The consistent production on the mound wasn’t there, and teams weren’t really interested in signing him once he hit free agency after the 2023 season.

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That led Klobosits to take his talents to Indy Ball, an independent baseball league where he could showcase his skills outside of Major League Baseball.

And the 6-foot-8 right-hander put up good numbers in each of the past two years in Indy Ball. He finished with a 2.18 ERA and 46 strikeouts across 45 ⅓ innings pitched in 2024 and had a 2.08 ERA and 42 strikeouts across 34 ⅔ innings pitched last year.

Although his walk rate was extremely high in both of those seasons, the Cubs are at least willing to bring him in on a Minor League deal. The front office might believe there’s something there with Klobosits.

His hard-throwing fastball could be a reason for that.

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Ari Alexander of 7News Boston reported that Klobosits’ fastball is up to 98 mph. That alone likely appeals to the Cubs. With Chicago having a history of fixing pitchers, signing the right-hander is a low-risk, high-reward move.

While it’s a long shot that Klobosits will see an opportunity with the big league club this year, having him in the Minors might not be a bad idea. This is the type of pitcher that carries some upside if the Cubs can fix him.