As first confirmed by Greg Zumach of Ivy Futures, Alexander Canario is no longer on the Cubs’ Arizona Fall League roster and will be replaced by Christian Franklin. This raises some questions and could even give rise to conspiracy theories about Canario’s inclusion in an offseason trade — something that seemed very likely prior to his injury — but the motivation for the change is probably very simple.
I still maintain that the Cubs were initially viewing Canario’s promotion as a way to dial back his playing time late in the season following what was surely a grueling rehab process over the first half of the year.