Skip to main content

Cubs agree to minor league contracts with outfielder Chas McCormick and reliever Trent Thornton

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs agreed to minor league contracts Wednesday with outfielder Chas McCormick and reliever Trent Thornton that include invitations to major league camp for spring training.

The 30-year-old McCormick spent five years in Houston and helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series. His best season was in 2023, when he set career highs by hitting .273 with 22 homers and 70 RBIs. But he struggled through hamstring and oblique injuries the past two years, hitting .211 in 2024 and .210 in 2025 while playing in a combined 158 games.

Thornton, 32, is recovering from season-ending Achilles tendon surgery with Seattle. The right-hander was 2-0 a 4.68 ERA in 33 appearances before he was injured coming off the mound on a ground ball against the Texas Rangers on July 31. The recovery was expected to take six to eight months.

Thornton is 14-19 with a 4.38 ERA in 235 appearances over seven seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle. ___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

NYPD says dozens rescued from human trafficking during World Cup

▶ Watch Video: Inside look at security preparations for World Cup Forty-three people, including seven minors, were rescued from human traffickers during the World Cup matches in the New York City area, according to the New York City Police Department's Special Victims Unit.The rescue operations were carried out between June 11 and July 19 by specialized NYPD detectives who arrested 89 individuals."The surprise was really the outpouring of support behind the mission and the collaboration with all our partners," said Inspector Gary Marcus, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit.Those rescued, largely the victims of sex trafficking, are now being supported with an array of social services for the victims, including food, housing and counseling.The 87 operations carried out during the World Cup have generated new leads, officials said, and law enforcement agencies are building more cases based on the investigations already underway."We have ongoing investigations now as a result of these operations," an NYPD official told CBS News.Major sporting events are known to law enforcement as hotbeds of human trafficking.Years in advance, the NYPD devoted significant resources to preparing for the World Cup. Eight matches were played at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, including the final on Sunday."When we talk about the outreach and the prep we do, a large part of that involved visiting the known sex offenders, particularly the known human traffickers, in our registry," Marcus said. "Whether they're on parole or probation for human trafficking, we visited them to make sure they're compliant with the terms of their release, and secondly, to let them know that the NYPD is watching."The matches were held in multiple cities around the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Preparations to secure those games and prepare for crimes like human trafficking were coordinated between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.Police departments in many locations that hosted World Cup matches have made arrests and rescues connected to human trafficking, including in Georgia, New England and Missouri. Nationally, there were more than 673 arrests on human-trafficking charges made during the World Cup, and 61 adults and 13 minors rescued, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Read Next Story