Roster Move: Chicago Cubs sign speedster Greg Allen to camp

Nathan Ray Seebeck - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 1 day ago

We aren't even a week into Spring Training games, and the Chicago Cubs outfield depth is already tested. After releasing Alexander Canario via the infamous DFA, top outfield prospect Owen Caissie was shut down for the foreseeable future after experiencing complications from off-season surgery.

While the initial reports seem promising that Caissie's injury won't linger too long, it's just another one of the harsh realities that every team needs depth at this point in the season. With Caissie out of the picture, the Cubs outfield group is down to Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, and Kevin Alcantara as the most likely options for opening day.

Alcantara would be seen as the fourth outfielder, with Suzuki handling the DH duties. However, should one more player go down, the Cubs must find outfield depth. Based on their prospects and signings, they have proven to have depth in the minor leagues, and Jed Hoyer continued to do that on Friday morning as former New York Yankees outfielder Greg Allen agreed to a minor league deal with the Cubs.

The 30-year-old outfielder is the definition of a journeyman player who has spent most of his career bouncing around the minor leagues. While that is where he is expected to land once the season opens, Allen has been invited to big league camp and will most likely be taking the spot that Canario or Caissie were holding down.

Since breaking into the professional ranks, Allen has played for four franchises, including the Pirates, Guardians, Yankees, and Padres. During his time in those organizations, Allen has seen time at all three outfield positions, including center field, where he has made the most starts in his career.

Not much of a hitter, Allen hasn't seen MLB time since 2023 and has logged 735 career big league at-bats. Allen has hit .231 in those at-bats with 11 homers, 68 RBIs, and 48 steals. Compare that to his minor league numbers, where he has hit .275 with 35 homers and 237 steals; offense isn't his specialty on the field.

The baserunning, however, is his specialty, as Allen has been a massive threat on the bases throughout his career and will continue to be this season wherever he lands. All you have to do is look at his sprint speed of 28.8 feet per second, which ranks him among the fastest players in the game. He is a switch-hitter, and Allen will give Craig Counsell some flexibility this spring to see what he can bring to the table.

Even if the power will never be there, Allen has shown the ability to be a solid hitter at the minor league level but has failed to duplicate that across his MLB career. He doesn't walk enough to get on base to use his speed and strikes out far too often to be counted on in clutch situations. However, he offers plenty of defensive versatility, and knowing that speed is a massive part of his game, he can be used as a pinch runner in late-game situations.

Had the Cubs, not DFAd Canario or Caissie not gone down with an injury, it seems unlikely they would have made this move. However, these are the moves that Jed Hoyer has made over the years, and adding him to their spring roster isn't going to make or break their season. At the very least, the Cubs are adding depth by bringing him in, and they have an opportunity to see what he can do on the field.

If he performs well enough to make the Cubs roster in some aspect, Chicago is getting another depth piece for the Minors that they can play around with throughout the season. Should he not perform, or if the Cubs don't see a future with him, they can cut ties with him before the season, and it will cost them next to nothing.

No one expected the Cubs to be done making moves this spring, but most fans would like for them to make more meaningful moves at this point. That isn't how Hoyer or this team operate, as these are the deals you will see from now until the season starts.