Cubs sign catcher Chirinos to one-year deal

CHICAGO -- The Cubs’ backup catching carousel continued with the signing of another backstop on Monday, but this one is at least something of a familiar face.

Chicago signed 37-year-old catcher Robinson Chirinos on a one-year deal, while designating Taylor Gushue for assignment. Chirinos was added to the active roster and was available for Monday’s series opener against the Phillies at Wrigley Field.

Chirinos originally signed with the Cubs on July 2, 2000, as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela, spending 2001-10 in the organization before he was traded to the Rays on Jan. 8, 2011, in the deal that netted Matt Garza. Chirinos has since spent parts of nine seasons in the Majors, seeing time with the Rays (2011), Rangers (2013-18 and '20), Astros (2019) and Mets (2020).

“He's a nice addition,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I was able to be around him a little bit in my time off, and [he has an] infectious personality. He's got a great reputation in the game.”

Chirinos signed a Minor League deal with the Yankees prior to the 2021 season, but he underwent surgery on a fractured right wrist after being hit by a pitch in Spring Training. He played only 13 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre -- batting .278 with a .978 OPS and three home runs in 36 at-bats -- before he was released on Sunday, but it didn’t take long for another big league club to come calling.

As the sixth catcher to take the backup spot this season, Chirinos represents the latest attempt in Chicago’s quest to give Willson Contreras some relief. The Cubs had already gone through five backup catchers prior to signing Chirinos, with three of them (Austin Romine, P.J. Higgins and Jose Lobaton) hitting the 60-day injured list and the other two (Gushue and Tony Wolters) being designated for assignment.

The hope is that the veteran Chirinos will provide some stability behind Contreras, whose 580 2/3 innings caught this season were 62 more than the next closest National League catcher entering Monday (Yadier Molina was second with 518 2/3 innings).

“With all the injuries we've had in that position, he became available yesterday and the guys up top pounced on that,” Ross said. “He's here, willing to help out. Former Cub, right? Started here, so I think he's happy to be back.”

Chirinos is a career .231 hitter with 86 home runs and 269 RBIs. On the defensive side of the ball, he’s thrown out 24% of attempted base stealers.

“He's got a really good reputation and [he's been] teammates with a lot of guys in there, so I think that's a nice pickup,” Ross said.