After signing Justin Turner, The Cubs designated Alexander Canario for assignment yesterday. The 24 year old, is an intriguing prospect and was ranked #11 by MLB of Cubs prospects.
Needing room on the roster for Justin Turner, the Cubs have DFA’d OF Alexander Canario, sources tell ESPN. Canario is a good trade candidate. He never got a real shot in Chicago, playing in just 21 big league games.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 20, 2025
Canario is out of options, which will require any club who signs or trades for him to keep him on the Major League roster, which likely forced the Cubs hand in the decision making process.
As for who he is as a prospect, Canario possesses tantalizing power – particularly to his pull side, which could allow it to play up in front of the Crawford Boxes.
Canario has minimal experience in the MLB, with just 45 Plate Appearances. His triple slash of .286/.333/.524 likely overstates his skillset, particularly given his extremely aggressive approach and low contact rate. While 45 plate appearances is obviously far too small of a sample to draw conclusions from, but his bat speed actually ranked 4th in all of MLB during that time.
Canario’s batting metrics in the minors showed that those numbers were no fluke with above-average to elite exit velocity, hard hit %, and barrel paralleling that of elite sluggers in the MLB.
In the minors, Canario has been a .271/.346/.501 hitter, and has truly impressed, but there are questions if his contact rate would play at the major league level. Zips and Steamer are not as kind in their projections of Canario, with a (.206/.272/.379 or .217/284/.405) triple slash projection providing a less optimistic view of what he could do in the majors.
Additionally, Canario had a freak accident that fractured his ankle and dislocated his shoulder in a collision at 1st base, both requiring surgery in 2022, and a hamstring injury this past year. Once noted as “passable” in CF, those days are behind him, but he should still be able to play the corner OF, where a plus arm would play up.
Ultimately, Canario’s ideal role may be in that of a platoon. His strike-out rate, particularly due to struggles against righties with strong sliders.
With all that said, Canario possesses bat speed and power that rival some of the more dangerous sluggers in the game, with a 53% hard hit rate, and he is young enough to continue to develop. The question will be if anyone can help limit the strike-outs and allow him to make enough contact to earn his spot on the field.
Interestingly, Cubs fans have been very upset and struggling to rationalize the move, losing the potential of Canario for an aging Turner seeming to irk a large portion of the fanbase.
My guess is the Cubs end up trading him within the next 5 days for a pretty limited return. Given the state of the Astros outfield, I see Canario as a realistic option to add a powerful bat with potential upside at a limited cost.