The Cubs named the campaign Phillip Ervin for assignment. The move provides a grid for Jake Marisnick, the signing of which is now official.
This is the third DFA in less than six months for Ervin, who was first named by the Reds at the end of August and then claimed by the Mariners. The Cubs then demanded Ervin’s pardon from Seattle in December. Since Ervin has no fewer league options, it is possible that he could be a regular visitor to DFA limbo during the 2021 season.
Ervin, who picked up 27th place in the 2013 series, did not become an everyday rule in Cincinnati, but he contributed a solid .262 / .326 / .438 dash over 571 record appearances from 2017-19. He struggled badly last season but only hit .149 / .292 / .189 over 89 PA with the Reds and Mariners. That included a cruel code for Ervin’s tenure in Cincinnati, as he collected just three hits in a Reds uniform in his last 42 PA.
Ervin has played well against left-handed fielding in his career and he can play all three of those positions in the outfield, although the Cubs apparently had Marisnick (who signed a Major League contract) as their best choice for the fourth division in the ranger has. With Cameron Maybin also on a minor league deal, Ervin looks like the strange man from the right-handed battlefield mix.