The Cubs have released infielder Brendan Ryan, the club announced. Ryan was just acquired as a piece of the deal that sent Starlin Castro to the Yankees.
It’s apparent now that Chicago didn’t have much interest in adding Ryan to its roster. Indeed, his $1MM salary may have been moved as part of the balancing of the dollars in the trade.
Soon to turn 34, Ryan is a top-notch defender but has never done much at the plate. He just wrapped up a less-than-inspiring run with the Yankees, only receiving 289 total plate appearances in three campaigns. Ryan hit only .201/.244/.271 in that span.
So it ended up Warren for Casto. Cubs undersold on him.
Yes they did, however when they signed Zobrist the needed to trade Castro quickly. They probably could have gotten more, but since they had a deal in place with the Yankees, the took it and never looked back
Castro really destroyed his own trade value by having poor seasons 2 of the last 3 years. Before that, the Cubs could’ve gotten a haul for him; too bad. At least Theo and Jed had the foresight to acquire Addison Russell.
Warren is a solid pickup and many Yankee fans are less than thrilled to give him up for Castro, and since many Cub fans feel we sold low on Starlin and didnt get enough in return, this tells me it was probably a pretty fair swap.
Ryan was redundant for the Yankees now that Castro can back up Gregorious at SS. They just wanted to get rid of his salary since they took on all of Castro’s contract. Theo’s fine work against New York continues in Chicago!
Ok
So PTBLN was just cash to be wasted later?
Why ask for him in the trade and then release him?? Should have held onto Castro until another team came asking
No, they had to love quickly or wouldn’t have been able to sign Zobrist. If they signed Zobrist 1st they would have gotten less for Castro because teams would know they were stuck with him
You guys are talking like zobrist is a god lol, he isn’t THAT good
Who made a statement even remotely suggesting Zobrist is God??
It means the Cubs are on the hook for Ryan’s salary rather than the Yankees. They basically traded Castro (and his salary) for Warren, Zobrist and their salaries (from a roster perspective) and absorbed Ryan’s contract.. A good deal for the Cusba and a reasonable gamble for the Yankees.
Bring him back Yanks.
No thanks
Castro was gaining weight fast. That’s critical for an infielder and also he’s had a couple of off field issues like the shooting last December. Can’t blame the club for wanting to get rid of him.
Time will tell but I personally think that Warren can be a 3-4 starter for a couple of years and if everything goes right will have more value than the not aging well Castro.
Nowhere, anywhere, is Adam Warren evaluated as a number three starter. If he was a consistent number five starter, the Yankees would have kept him as such. Warren is a very solid, second string reliever who can spot-start and maybe in a league with a DH, be a solid 5th starter.
And the not aging well Castro hit .292/.339 with 14HR as recently as 2014 and had spurts of being red hot in 2015. He’s also not yet 26.
Yankees won this deal on paper, period. You had some Cubs fans in here a week before the deal thinking Brett Gardner couldn’t net Castro and now you have some saying Adam Warren was a steal?
Dude look at his underline numbers. Maybe he won’t hold up but his FIP states that if all goes well which I’m not saying it will but he could be a 3. More like a 4-5 on a contending team but he has some upside.
About Castro but have you seen the pictures of him when he was younger? Do you know that he hasn’t had a string of positive defensive war in his carrer? Also his numbers in the past besides 2013 and 2015 were fueled by a lucky BABIP that was easily above the league norm. Yes he could bounce back but what if he doesn’t?
You’ve gotta read into the numbers a bit more and who said he’s a steal? I’m saying that he could be of more value if Starlin has his troubles and he takes a step foward.
Amazingly, about half that league had a BABIP above the league norm. About half were below. That’s why it’s the norm.
The possibility of a pitcher getting injured and ending his career is much higher than a position player. You have to add that to any equation when trading a player. Yanks win this one!
Castro could barely handle Chicago so you really think he’ll survive in new York? He’s a decent hitter who will eventually be jeters replacement. Didi won’t be there past 2016 he’s an average player at best. He’ll probably move to 2nd and Castro to ss. That’s a lot of pressure to live up to what jeter did for 20 years.
Dude…vmmercan is exactly right and I’m a Yankee guy through and through.
He will do a good job for the Cubs, spot start, good reliable arm out of the bullpen but to think he is a #3 is a DREAM! If he was that, the Yankees never, never, never, would have traded him and would have tried to line up with the Cubs on a Castro/Gardner trade big time.
Warren certainly has the stuff to be a #3 starter. His 4 seam fastball has plus velocity and exceptional vertical movement. With more emphasis on pitches up in the zone, you should see an improvement in his already above league average pop-up rate on that pitch. His newish sinker is already a plus pitch both in movement and in velocity. His changeup is his best pitch. While I wouldn’t consider it in the elite class, it is certainly one of the top 10 among starting pitchers. 17% whiff rate and nearly 60% groundball rate makes it a great pitch. His cutter is about average for an MLB starter with above average velocity(not a good thing for a cutter), but he doesn’t throw many of them. . His curve is another average pitch for him. All in all, he has 5 average to plus pitches with above average velocity. His control has increased substantially over the past four seasons and his command is coming along. He could very well fit into a lot of rotations as a #3 starter if he can be stretched out to pitch all season.
I think Warren has a good arm and will be a contributor. You seem ready to ticket him for the Hall of Fame.
Wow…nice commentary on his pitch repertoire, but he is not, repeat not a #3 and won’t be anytime soon.
Telling ya people. His peripherals look good. Whether you “think” he’s capable or not is your own opinion but a guy with who had a FIP of 2.89 in 2014 and has a similar stat line to José Quintana looks like a guy who could be a #3 if all things go well IMO.
The Cubs have arrieta, Lester and lackey, how the (beep) is Adam warren even in competition for the 3rd spot ?!
No one is saying that he’s in competition for the spot. All I’m saying is that he’s underlining stats look familiar to Jose Quintana and that if all goes well he could be a #3 type starter.
As a Cubs fan, I do wish Castro well as a Yankee, but I will tell you honestly, most of us are happy to see him gone. Starlin is an enigma, much like his buddy Alfonso Soriano. It really depends on how you evaluate players as to whether you believe Castro is a good player.
His fans can point out he’s a 3-time All-Star with amazing bat-to-ball skills, a strong throwing arm, very strong range on pop-ups into foul territory or the OF, and he has a ton of hits for still only being 26(ish) yrs old. His detractors can point to his mediocre-at-best defense, poor plate discipline, lack of hustle and/or base running. Essentially, Castro is an “old-school” player. He plays just good enough defense when you watch him to think he’s OK, but you have to be willing to overlook his “Starlin being Starlin” moments. His value lied in him being a shortstop, as a secondbaseman, I dont know that his offense is productive enough. He provides almost no defensive or baserunning value to a team. But he sure can hit when he’s right.
Bottom line, the Cubs have/had a surplus of middle infielders and needed rotation and bullpen depth. Trading Starlin was a win-win for the Cubs and allowed them to bring in Joe Maddon’s favorite player- Ben Zobrist, who can provide depth in the INF and OF.
Zobrist also helps with the Cubs strikeout problem and adds a strong OBP guy that can hit near the top of the order since we’re losing Fowler (apparently).
Time will tell who “won” this trade but it’s certainly not been determined yet. Although I do not wish it upon him, it would not surprise me in the slightest to see Castro continue to regress and end up traded again, on the bench in NY, or released by this time next yr, if not before. Of course it wouldn’t exactly shock me either, if he went out and put up a .285/.325/.415 line and played solid defense at 2B. Starlin finished ’15 strong as a secondbaseman.
However, I think Warren is the safer bet talent-wise (higher floor) than Castro. Warren is at least a serviceable reliever and spot-starter, maybe more. Of course pitchers are fragile and are always one pitch away from TJ surgery…. Time will tell, way too early to call this one.
To conclude if Mike Leake with a career FIP of 4.21 can get that kind of money in the market today. I can easily see Warren being much better. In reality he maybe a swing man but his underlining numbers look similar to Jose Quintana and he has upside. Jed and Theo did not trade away Castro for a bag of nuts here.
Dude, look at Castro’s DFL compared to Zobrist’s. And his BBK is off the charts.
Stop it I’m a Cub fan you got a good deal and a good man in Castro
and the basis of your statement is?
His statement is we watched this kid grow up and get better. He didn’t pout and whine when he got booted from short and benched. He was one of the hottest hitters the cubs had during the second half. Learning a new position on the fly in the majors…? Please. You guys got a real good young kid. Hope this Warren pans out for the Cubs
Oh and the fact that he’s 25 and has already been an AS 3 x’s.
The all star reflects how popular you are not the actual production. The guy stopped running after 2012. Rarely had good defensive metrics in his career. He had great value as a shortstop but not a good all around player.
Also a good man does not shoot guns.
“Also a good man does not shoot guns.”
I think you may want to revise this statement a bit….
How about, “A good man does not shoot guns inside a nightclub full of people.”
Something like that makes sense. Im a good man, and also a gun owner and shooting enthusiast.
What guns??? He was in the area of someone shooting a gun. How does this make him a bad guy??
U guys no nothing about baseball 1st he had to go in the deal. To be approved which all trades have to be by MLB he had to be added to balance the trade. The cubs could care less. But wo him it wouldn’t balance or be approved.
Next the Cubs didn’t under sell Castro. It was to pull off the Zorb signing. Zorb was a gift n never planned by the Cuvs till last moment. Really dumping Castro we saved 40mil so really we got Zorb for 16 mill. To sum it up Castro n 16 mill for That pitcher, Zorb n some no name scrub we just dumped. Get it. Now who got under sold. Theo not stupid. This y fans will never be owners or gm’s or Pred. Lol that’s y
What are you talking about? The league approval would have happened with, or without him in the deal.
No it wouldn’t u idiot. You just can’t trade ne thing n everything u want that’s y sometimes 2 or 3 teams get involved. U know nothing about business if baseball or sports n I don’t do legal stuff for sports or music but I do for film. Example. This would never ever happen but do u think if they wanted to or would be that stupid wash could trade Harper for Kris Bryant. Even if both teams agreed. No way in earth MLB would never approve that trade. I do film law for a living. I know a little bit about contracts. Maybe do some research on sports contracts how they work, the fine print n MLB rules concerning contracts from each type if player. N the balance if equal $ involved. N not just $ to the player everything has a point value in a contract. Opts, signing bonus, no trade , club opt, assentive n all that extra. The pitcher was not enough to balance the trade. No wtf your talking about before blabbering. U don’t write up contracts or do legal work. So please just learn n listen. To add NY prob wanted to dump another mil but really mil is nothing n I doubt that was a major reason. If they had to dump it would been a bigger salary n name.
Does your job require coherent writing??? Hard to believe you deal with any legal matters when you just posted what you posted.
Well CubbieChris all in all I agree. But since I’m typing this on the fly and not really proof reading it since it is only a post to some sport article. I really don’t care. To add auto correct sux. But the point is made. Also I am a Cub fan and from Chicago. Maybe if you are that worried about correct spelling and grammar then instead of posting and reading here go teach all those no speaking illegal immigrants. Your a Cubs fan? Lol
MLB does NOT have to approve trades in the way you have stated. Teams CAN trade who they want for what they want. And yes, there could be a Harper for Bryant trade and MLB couldn’t do anything about it. There is no salary cap, so there doesn’t have to be any matching of salaries like in NBA or NFL.
You claim to work in c9ntract law but you obviously have NO CLUE about baseball (or Grammer or puncuation, for that matter!)
Cubs fans will see an old worn down zobrist , relax with all the praise
This means that Baez likely isn’t going anywhere. He and Russell are the only ones on the projected 25 man who can play SS. Also, I very much doubt the Cubs ever requested Ryan in the trade. He was likely just a salary dump from the Yankees to the Cubs and now the Cubs are dumping him for roster space.
Nor should Baez go anywhere he was the best of their 3 ss. Russell will likely be better than Baez but Baez is still a beast
Ryan to the mets
No one wants him he’s awful and his mustache makes him the douche of baseball since Brian Wilson is done with baseball with that stupid beard
Nope, pretty sure Papelbon will always be the douche of baseball.
Also its not like he’s flashy or showboaty and if anything, that mustache is funny, if not a bit embarassing, rather than making him a douche.
Good. He was never going to stay with the team anyway. My question is why trade an infielder to make room for your new one and then trade for one. Why not get severino and add voglbach who will be ready to replace tex in 2017.
Vogelbach isn’t good. If they put Severino in that package the Yankees would have been robbed.
Voglbach is one of the cubs top 5 prospects I doubt he’s no good but that left field porch would help him a lot and he’s blocked by Rizzo for a good 6 years at least. Aside from severino I don’t know many Yankee pitchers. Or prospects. Maybe not severino but someone that is not garbage like Brendan Ryan he’s literally the worse ptbnl possible. Might as well have just given the jankees Castro. Ryan is like the infielder version of Cody Ross.
Vogelbach is no longer top 20 for many people let alone top 5. Here is BA’s top 10 from just over a month ago.
1. Gleyber Torres, ss
2. Willson Contreras, c/3b
3. Ian Happ, of/2b
4. Duane Underwood, rhp
5. Dylan Cease, rhp
6. Albert Almora, of
7. Billy McKinney, of
8. Oscar de la Cruz, rhp
9. Eloy Jimenez, of
10. Jeimer Candelario, 3b
Personally I’d have Edwards in there instead of Candelario, but the major players are all there.
Edwards is on the 25 man roster he’s no longer a prospect
If Vogelbach was 60 pounds lighter with the exact same skills and track record, most people wouldn’t know his name. He’s a novelty act.
Except Brendan Ryan never carried a team to the WS.
Yeah, the Yankees should have traded Luis Severino so they could acquire a first baseman when they already have Greg Bird…
Just what I was thinking. I guess this guy forgot about Bird.
Thought Bird was a corner ofer
Byrd won’t do anything this year, he will be in AAA by May
Because Vogelbach has 0 value right now. Which is like -45,000 Severinos
Mariners should bring him back. Could use the infield depth to at least provide depth for Marte/Taylor and Cano.
In an era where teams carry a dozen pitchers, a defense only no bat player like Ryan is a luxury, He didn’t play that much for the Yankees because he didn’t contribute much when he was on the field. Maybe a fresh start will help.
Would be an interesting pick up for the Tigers. They could use some more competition at the utility spot
Finally, a team realizes that even a defensive whiz at SS like Ryan isn’t worth a roster spot if he can’t hit Major League pitching! Go join your buddy Pete Kozma in AAAA purgatory.
Just my opinion but the Cubs shoulda kept Castro and played him at second, zobrist is gonna be done soon
I know ur feeling w Castro. But Cubs are doing two things which people are missing. One their trying to win now because of the pressure n it’s expected. N win later meaning 2018 n beyond. Castro was an issue n w way. He’s good n young but their was baggage. People need to know Zorb wasn’t planned. Like your wife expecting a child not planned. Big thing was his money. It was never about who we got on return. We had get someone. To get the opt to get Zorb that deal had to work. It was perfect timing. Kinda like I need to sell my bike to buy this awesome Harley I just saw. That’s true story. Btw. I took less for my bike n it was cool n awesome but the Harley was beyond awesome. We saved 40 million. So really we got that pitcher some scrub who had to go in the deal or it wouldn’t balance n MLB would have nix the deal n Zorb for Castro n 16mil. Key was getting Zorb n only paying 16mil cause we save 40mil n dump Castro. No one sees that. Theo did n that’s how it happened. His def n offence obp it good for 3 years that’s all we care about. Lackey same way we only need him for 3 years. Heyward we got for cheap 184 mil but Theo smart he needed to get him cheaper than Cards n Wash 200 mil offer. So he does 2 things he puts in 2 opps to make the deal sound better this gives Hayward sense if security n power n gets him cheaper to the Cubs. Really opt out in 3 or 4 years is best thing that can happen for the Cubs. We need him now not in 4/5/6/7 years. This winter is about a 3 / 4 year block. In 2018/19 those guys will be gone. Cubs are not doing anything in next Winter or the following. Maybe minor crap. That saves money. They are getting more n more of it every year. Once the Trib paid their debt free. Then comes the multi billion dollar TV deal. Now those guys are gone, money there, TV deal there that major major bucks like NY or LA would spend. They extend Ar, resign the youth, bring up the farm which be ready, n spend major bucks on that crazy 2018 FA class which they will do. Don’t be surprised if Lester gets traded in 2018/2019 heard it here first n they will build dream team # 2 in 2018/2019. No one sees this. Theo not stupid that’s genius smart man n no MLB club has the means to do that not from now till 2018/19 then build from 20 to 25. Notice everything this Winter is a 3/4 year block. That’s to win now. Then Theo will realign again. That’s smart baseball. Mean while Arz n SF are stuck. Get it. I just read 3 different sports articles the Cubs RN have best 5 man starting rotation per WAR going into 2016. That’s scary n they still after a pitcher. Prob reason they didn’t sign Price. Dollars best saved. I’ll take Hayward n Lackey over Price anytime n save the bucks. He might end up here anyway in 2018 lol. So really we don’t need a pitcher. But they go for it in the season just incase. That top it. So we were 3rd in ERA in 2015 that’s big n pretty good n we were #1 on the other stat forgot the name. So what we did was replace Harden with Lackey after 97 wins. Hmmm think that’s an up grade. People n dabs needs to learn how to read the over all picture n think out the box. N not have blinders on. Guess that’s why Theo makes the big bucks. I rest my case.
Let’s just start the season so we can shut all these Cubs haters mouths. Then I’m sure all the excuses will come out. N if I do say IF we win the WS next thing the haters will say is it to took 108 years. About time. That may be true but one this will also be true if we win the WS in 2016 your team didn’t and it was the team the runt the nut the lovably loser who beat everyone they had to to be 2016 world champs. N if we do win we can hold that trophy high n be proud. Can u hold a 2016 WS trophy? No. That is all that matters. This is now that was then. You either get busy living or you get busy dyeing. Think the Cubs are living. I rest my case see yeah in spring. Maybe fall if ur team gets there. Lol smile it’s like a nightmare it keeps getting worse for MLB teams. 0><0
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Any way you lol at it the Cubs under sold on Castro. I know the argument is that they needed to deal him to get Zobrist but they essentially got a 4th started at best for a 2 time all star that has over 900 career hits before the age of 26 and by the way he is under team control for 3 more years on a reasonable contract. I love the Zobrist signing and I know Castro had to be moved but look at the stats any way you want. The Yankees got a steal on this one.
the cubs no longer needed castro.. They did undersell on him but they became a better team by trading him for warren and signing zobrist. Who ever says zobrist is a worn out ballplayer is stupid. Do you think theo/jed would sign a wore out player. Lackey was pushing it but zobrist is still a big piece to add to the base paths when the mashers come up to bat. The yankee’s won a trade? Lets see how both trade pieces preform next year before we say who “won” a trade. The way I see it they both won the trade.