![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/seattle-mariners-v-chicago-cubs-chicago-illinois-june-21-ian-happ-e1792254708348.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Only 168 days until the Chicago Cubs<\/a> are back on the screen. But before then, the Cubs have a lot of big decisions to make during the offseason.<\/p>\n Some of which include the re-signing or moving on from free agents like Ian Happ<\/a>, Shota Imanaga<\/a>, Kevin Gausman<\/a>, and Seiya Suzuki<\/a>. Aside from the Cody Bellinger<\/a> trade in 2024, the Cubs\u2019 offseasons have been awfully quiet.<\/p>\n In wake of these upcoming moves, three former Chicago Cubs made a free agency decision of their own.<\/p>\n Luis V\u00e1zquez<\/a>, Miles Mastrobuoni<\/a>, and Vidal Bruj\u00e1n<\/a> all elect free agency with their respective teams. Mastrobuoni and V\u00e1zquez played together at Wrigley Field in 2024, while Bruj\u00e1n joined in 2025.<\/p>\n Per Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors,<\/a> these three are among five players who played in the MLB this year and elected minor league free agency. This is likely a formality as each player was outrighted off their teams\u2019 40-man roster and have played seven-plus seasons in the minors.<\/p>\n Aside from Bruj\u00e1n and Mastrobuoni\u2019s first seasons, this trio of ex-Cubs hit career lows this season with their teams. Combined, they only played in 23 MLB games this season.<\/p>\n \n Luis Vazquez\u2019s Career<\/p>\n Luis V\u00e1zquez was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 2017 MLB<\/a> draft. The now, 27-year-old shortstop, made his MLB debut on May 22, 2024.<\/p>\n However, it wasn\u2019t until September 29 when he recorded his first major league knock. V\u00e1zquez\u2019s lone season with the Cubs was less than mediocre, he only played in 11 games and had 12 at-bats. On January 31, 2025 the Cubs traded V\u00e1zquez to the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> in exchange for cash considerations.<\/p>\n In 2025, V\u00e1zquez spent more time in the big leagues with the Orioles. He played in 36 games, but had a slash line of .160\/.208\/.240 with eight hits, one home run, and three RBIs.<\/p>\n This past year, V\u00e1zquez spent nearly the entire season in Triple-A Norfolk.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a mediocre .226\/.271\/.371 batting line in 52 games around a few injuries,\u201d Franco wrote on MLB Trade Rumors.com. \u201cV\u00e1zquez got a two-day stint on Baltimore\u2019s big league roster in late August, making a lone appearance as a pinch-runner and scoring the game-winning run against the Cardinals.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Miles Mastrobuoni\u2019s Career<\/p>\n Another former 14th round pick, this time drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> in 2016, Miles Mastrobuoni played for the Chicago Cubs for two seasons in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n Before joining the Cubs via a trade with the Rays in exchange for pitcher Alfredo Z\u00e1rraga, Mastrobuoni made his MLB debut on September 22, 2022.<\/p>\n In his short stint with the Rays to close out the season, Mastrobuoni tallied three hits in 16 at-bats.<\/p>\n With the Cubs, Mastrobuoni was able to find much more success. He was primarily used as a utility man, and in 110 career games with Chicago, Mastrobuoni started in 60.<\/p>\n On January 14, Mastrobuoni was traded to the Seattle Mariners<\/a> for cash considerations. The 30-year-old has spent the last two seasons with the Mariners organization and had the best season of his career with them in 2025. He even made his postseason debut on October 13 in Seattle\u2019s 10-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> in the ALCS.<\/p>\n Mastrobuoni had a rocky 2026. He missed the first two months with a right calf strain, he was waived in June, called up in July, then sent through waivers again. In Triple-A Tacoma, Mastrobuoni .245\/.338\/.375 over 222 trips to the plate with Triple-A Tacoma.<\/p>\n \n Vidal Bruj\u00e1n\u2019s Career<\/p>\n As a 16-year-old, Vidal Bruj\u00e1n signed as international amateur free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays\u00a0on October 17, 2014, for a $15,000 bonus. He later went on to make his MLB debut on July 7, 2021 with the Rays.<\/p>\n He remained in Tampa for three seasons, before heading south roughly 300 miles to Miami. With the Marlins<\/a>, Bruj\u00e1n played in 102 games and had 248 at-bats. He slashed .222\/.303\/.319 with two home runs and 16 RBIs.<\/p>\n Bruj\u00e1n was traded to the Chicago Cubs at the end of 2024 in exchange for first baseman Matt Mervis<\/a> and cash considerations. The Cubs was one of his three teams in 2025. He played in 36 games for Chicago before getting claimed off waivers by Baltimore, then Atlanta.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mets acquired Bruj\u00e1n from Minnesota in a cash trade over the offseason,\u201d Franco wrote of Bruj\u00e1n. \u201cThe out-of-options infielder failed to break camp and cleared waivers on Opening Day. New York called him up in early May while Francisco Lindor<\/a> was injured. Bruj\u00e1n spent six weeks on the active roster but only started three games, going 1-11 in 13 plate appearances. The former top prospect batted .278\/.385\/.421 over 258 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMcKenna Van Gundy<\/a> McKenna Van Gundy is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. She spent two years as a sports contributor for her University’s newspaper, covering games and writing feature stories on players and coaches. She currently works for the NFL as a digital programming associate and lives in the greater Los Angeles area. More about McKenna Van Gundy<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Only 168 days until the Chicago Cubs are back on the screen. But before then, the Cubs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,4],"class_list":["post-832891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicagocubs","tag-cubs","tag-mlb"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117467225369964161","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cincinnati-reds-v-chicago-cubs-chicago-illinois-september-29-luis-vazquez.jpg\")
Getty\n<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/los-angeles-angels-v-chicago-cubs-chicago-il-july-07-miles.jpg\")
Getty\n<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/san-francisco-giants-v-chicago-cubs-chicago-illinois-may-05-vidal.jpg\")
Getty\n<\/p>\n