Cubs shore up bullpen in deal with Texas Rangers

Bullpens can be among the most fickle aspects for any baseball teams, so the Cubs added another arm to the mix Friday.

They acquired right-handed pitcher Spencer Patton from the Texas Rangers for minor-league infielder Frandy Delarosa.

Patton, 27, broke into the big leagues with Texas in 2014 and went 1-0 with an 0.96 ERA in 9 big-league relief appearances before splitting 2015 between the Rangers and Class AAA Round Rock. He went 2-0 with 11 saves and a 1.67 ERA in 26 Triple-A relief outings and 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 27 big-league relief appearances.

Patton has gone 15-14 with 33 saves and a 3.49 ERA in 147 career minor-league appearances, all but 12 in relief, covering five minor-league seasons. He has struck out 364 in 268⅓ innings pitched, an average of 12.2 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Delarosa, 19, batted .273 in 62 games for Class A Eugene this past season. He originally signed with the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in 2012.

Making the 40-man:

Friday was the deadline for clubs to add minor-leaguers to the 40-man major-league roster or risk exposing them to the Rule 5 draft in December.

The Cubs selected the contracts of four players from Class AA Tennessee: infielder Jeimer Candelario, catcher Willson Contreras, right-handed pitcher Pierce Johnson and infielder Dan Vogelbach. The Cubs' 40-man roster stands at 37.

Candelario, who turns 22 next Tuesday, combined to bat .277 with 35 doubles, 4 triples, 10 home runs and 64 RBI in 128 games between Class A Myrtle Beach and Tennessee this year.

Contreras, 23, was named the Cubs' minor-League player of the year after batting .333 with 34 doubles, 4 triples, 8 homers and 75 RBI in 126 games with Tennessee. Contreras turned in a .413 on-base percentage and a .478 slugging percentage.

Johnson, 24, is 22-13 with a 2.50 ERA in 65 minor-league games, all but 3 as a starter, in four minor-league seasons since being selected by the Cubs in the compensation round (43rd overall) of the 2012 draft out of Missouri State University. He has struck out 309 in 327 innings.

He went 6-2 with a 2.08 ERA in 16 starts with Tennessee this season. Johnson finished his season with 7 starts in the Arizona Fall League, going 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA.

Vogelbach, 22, batted .272 with 16 doubles, 7 homers and 39 RBI in 76 games with Tennessee. He walked 57 times to contribute to his .403 on-base percentage.