The Cubs have brought back veteran infielder/outfielder Chris Coghlan in a trade with the Athletics, per an announcement from Oakland. Young utilityman Arismendy Alcantara will go back in return.
Chicago had shipped Coghlan to the A’s over the winter in exchange for pitcher Aaron Brooks. That move proved to be a precursor to the Cubs’ signing of Dexter Fowler.
In the interim, though, the Cubs lost Kyle Schwarber for the season and recently saw Jorge Soler go down with a hamstring injury of unknown severity. Also hitting the DL with a hammy issue is infielder Tommy La Stella.
Those losses have reduced the club’s depth somewhat, though it still has a nice group of outfield talent in reserve (including just-promoted prospect Albert Almora) as well as a fully healthy infield that includes two outstanding players (Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist) who are also capable of playing in the outfield.
The 30-year-old Coghlan will likely see time at the corner outfield, but has also been an option at second base (where Zobrist is entrenched). He had two highly productive seasons with the Cubs over 2013-14, posting a combined .265/.346/.447 batting line with 25 home runs and 18 steals over 935 plate appearances. Coghlan has scuffled thus far in Oakland with an ugly .146/.215/.272 slash, but those results and eroding plate discipline — he owns an uncharacteristic 27.3% strikeout rate against a diminished 7.6% walk rate — didn’t deter his former club.
There was a time when it would have seemed that Alcantara was the perfect player to plug into just such an opening. A middle infielder by trade, he saw ample time on the outfield grass upon his promotion in 2014. But the 24-year-old has never quite blossomed at the big league level, and wasn’t showing any signs of resolving his strikeout issues at Triple-A.
Still, he’s an interesting wild card for the A’s. Though he’s yet to show consistent on-base skills, Alcantara is generally regarded as a quality fielder and has loud tools on offense, with a history of double-digit home runs and steals. Indeed, over 213 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors this year, he has already swiped twenty bags.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
It’s already draft day, can we spread some of these other moves out? Like the trade though for both side
Good for both teams
Overpay?
Very!!!
Very? I assume you mean by Oakland. Coghlan had a great year last year and an even better season in 2014. What Coghlan has done so far this year is not typical. He’s a career .260 hitter with a .337 OBP I believe. Alcantara blew at the ML level and wasn’t exactly excelling at the plate at triple A this year. .264 BA and .315 OBP. Alcantara is only 24 years old and has put up…… decent?….. stats in the minors. He has not looked good at all though when the Cubs called him up and gave him a chance in 2014 and a brief chance in 2015. He still can have a solid career, he is like I said, only 24 years old. It’s just that between Zobrist, Russell, Baez, La Stella, and middle infield prospects Gleyber Torres and Ian Happ, Alcantara has a ton of competition for years to come to win some playing time. Of those 6 other players Alcantara isn’t better than any of them, at this point in his and their careers. With Schwarber out early and Soler recently going down I understand the move to get a veteran OF with experience to solidify that position. Having said that, I think it was a pointless move. The day prior they call up prospect Almora and already have Szczur who has been more than capable this year as a back up. Adding Coghlan wouldn’t make me raise my eyebrow in puzzlement so much if Maddon wasn’t a retard and stopped carrying 3 friggin catchers. Federowicz is useless. You could litterally grab a fan from the stands and put Federowicz’s uniform on them and they’d be accomplishing the same role he is. As long as Federowicz is on this team the Cubs are essentially rocking a 24 man roster. The fact Richard is still employed as well when he should’ve been fired at least a month ago, and has been completely useless as well pretty much means they are rocking a 23 man roster. Maddon IMO is so damn overrated, as a Cub fan who actually pays attention it’s mind numbingly annoying watching Maddon make sound baseball decisions….. or should I say lack of making sound baseball decisions.
Not at all. Alcantara wasn’t going to play meaningful games for the Cubs until his options blinded out. GMs would prefer to wait until his options blinded out to offering anything of value for him.
I wish Alcantara well. Coghlan is a known quantity. Never been less surprised by a trade in my life. Works for both sides.
Alcantara couldn’t beat out Herrera for a roster spot last year. No big loss.
Wow, bring him back to complain that he’s not the Zobrist of the team anymore….
Since when is Cogs a complainer?
He complained last year because he thought he deserved to be a full time starter.
I thought alcantara was higher prospect
He was 3 years ago. Coghlan was the Rookie of the Year 6 years ago. It’s all in the past now. Now Alcantara is a probably AAAA utility player and Coghlan is a decent 4th OF.
Alcantara has disappointed when given a shot at the ML level. He is still only 24 so he still has an opportunity to have a decent career. He just would likely never get another shot in Chicago. Look at who the Cubs have as middle infielders on the team already who are pretty good. Russell, Zobrist (4 year deal), Baez, and La Stella. Yes, La Stella. I think he’d be a starter on most teams. Then they have two high end middle infield prospects in Gleyber Torres and Ian Happ. Point is, there are way to many bodies Alcantara has to climb over to get another legitimate shot here. His time had come and gone. If you are thinking “well he could play the OF too….” there they have Heyward, Soler, Schwarber, Szczur, and Almora for the immediate future. Then prospect-wise they have *deep breath* McKinney, Eloy Jimenez, Donnie Dewees, and Eddy Martinez to just name a few. You could technically add Almora to that group still since he just made his debut. Bottom line is they just don’t have room for Alcantara because they have multiple better options in place and coming up through the system. Now, if the trade was underappreciated Dan Vogelbach for Coghlans then yes….. YES they would have overpaid for him. Personally, I would like to see the Cubs try V-bach in the OF. If Schawrber and his body size are worthy of an OF try and ultimate spot, then why not give a guy who looks identical to Schwarber in both size and swing a shot as well? Oh well. I’m pretty sure Vogelbach’s Cubs ties days are numbered and will likely be in a package this July for a top end reliever like Andrew Miller or something. Very unfortunate. I legitimately think the Cubs would be passing up on another undervalued player in their system much like they did when they packaged away Josh Donaldson in a deal with 3 other cub minor leaguers with Oakland for Chad f’in Gaudin and Rich Harden. Sure, at the time Donaldson had limited minors experience and was doing mediocre in single A ball. He did only a bit better in the A’s system but ultimately never showed the power he displays today and he only hit .275 with a .365 OBP. Donaldson is a very rare case because his minors numbers translated almost exactly to the ML level where he’s hit .274 with a .355 OBP. 9.9 times out of 10 players see their numbers regress at least slightly when they get bumped up to the majors. Donaldson maintained….. and added about 10 more HRs worth of power than the pace he put up in the minors. Vogelbach on the other hand is at the triple A level and if it weren’t for Rizzo he’d likely be on this team. V-bach has not only put up pretty solid numbers in the minors but he has done so at each level. He’s hit for a higher average and OBP than Donaldson did in his minor league career while putting up a HR pace almost identical. IMO Cubs have a diamond in V-bach but he will go unappreciated because he is blocked by Rizzo and will likely be traded away in a package deal for a guy who will only help in the short term. He will be sent away with little to no fanfare and be forgotten…….. until he makes his ML debut and starts raking like Donaldson and then everyone will be wondering why we gave him up and acting like he came out of nowhere. Just remember…… I was high on Vogelbach before anyone else, and have been since about 2013 after he raked his first year in the minors in 2012.
Hmm, i wonder if this means that jorgie’s hamstring is more than a 15 day dl thin
LaStella DL’d.
If it was just that, I figured they would bring up kawasaki, instead of making a trade like this. You may be right though.
Not an overpay, His is a strikeout machine. This year 53 games 61 strikeouts., 154 games 1564 strikeouts last year, In his brief time in majors, 81 games 104 strikeouts. A failed prospect might turn things around but the Cubs have depth at middle infield.
I guess by that rational you would consider Correa and Trout to be strikeout machines as well since they both currently have a higher k rate…not to mention that Coghlan was 3rd on the team in Oakland in k’s anyway and wasn’t even batting his weight…I actually was upset about getting rid of Coghlan when I saw the headline as he has been somewhat productive even with the horrible batting avg, but getting Alcantara for Coghlan could turn out very well for Oakland…I am excited about what AA brings to the table…
Well I’m not sure Alcantara in the same class as Correa or Trout, regardless of k rate.
Although I’m not sure anyone has ever struck out 1564 times in 154 games. That’s gotta be a record
1564 strikeouts in 154 games is indeed a lot.
fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=10711&posi…
How the hell did you get 154 games and 1564 strike outs? Considering you get 500-600 plate appearences a season howd he get 1500 strikr outs in 500-600 plate appearences?
I made the assumption that it was a typo and didn’t acknowledge it…funny that more than one person thought to mention it when, by the sheer fact that it would be impossible it clearly was. Either way the point I was making was not to compare Alcantara to Correa or Trout; but rather to point out that looking at strikeouts as an indicator of productivity is not usually going to give you the clearest picture.
Tim815 said it best. He knows what he is talking about. Great trade.
Coghlan is the worst player in baseball right now, if they A’s got anyone they’d be excited, but a 24 year old former top 100 prospect with MLB experience? Absolutely brutal trade for Chicago. They would have been better just playing Alcantara. Coghlan is horrendous at the plate and defensively. Big deal, he plays a lot of positions really poorly, who cares? Really unnecessary trade for the Cubs.
My fave thing about Alcantara is show smart a baserunner he is, thats the kind of thing that always translates to the bigs. He’s probably better than half the guys who played last night for Oakland.
Oh, Alcantara’s prospect days are long behind him. For over 2 years now he has made 0 progress on recognizing the off-speed pitch. i am confident to say he will never hit in the MLB. However, he has solid defensive value, can play multiple positions, runs well, and comes with years of control. At the very least, the A’s got a depth player in exchange for a struggling hitter who was going to leave next year in free agency anyway.
I’d never write off a 24 year old baseball player.
Then you’d have a bundle of scrubs. Toss him in triple A, hope he figures out how to stop king 1/3 of his abs, if does yay, if he doesn’t no big loss. I’m not sure if that counts as writing him off, but I really wouldn’t expect much from him at the plate. He is valuable pretty much everywhere else. I was actually impressed with his ability to play of after very few reps.
Who cares about strikeouts in 2016?
Newsflash: If a hitter is a 20-20 guy with solid defense at multiple positions but strikes out 200 times a year, he’s still an excellent player.
Jayzuss, try editing your comment before you hit enter so we don’t have to try to figure out wtf you’re talking about!
and if he was a 20/20-guy with solid defense at multiple positions, or if there was a good chance he could become that, he would be the Chicago Cubs starting left fielder.
Hitters who strike out 30% of their at bats in triple a don’t become 20-20 mlb players.
You may want to fact check that little tidbit…
And, he’s reporting to Triple-A.. Even Oakland doesn’t have room for him at the parent club level.
No, they’re sending him down to show him how badly he has to play now he’s on the A’s, smh
He’s already pretty terrible.
“Ov-er pay-ment.” (clap clap clap clap clap). “Ov-er pay-ment” (clap clap clap clap clap)
It certainly feels that way but time will tell…Alcantara could end up being just as useful as Zobrist and Coghlan in the field (as far as being able to play multiple positions) but he also has very good baserunning instincts…if his bat plays like it has at triple A this season that would be enough for him to likely jump ahead of Ladendorf on the depth chart for middle infield/utility guys in Oakland.
If Alcantara hits in MLB like in the PCL…….
Cuz that happens.
He wouldn’t be the first player to do so.
You must be forgetting the Addison Russell trade! “Ov-er pay-ment.” (clap clap clap clap clap). “Ov-er pay-ment” (clap clap clap clap clap)
I don’t care if you have to grasp at straws.
I guess Soler ‘s hammy is pretty bad
Wow. Even if Alcantra’s value had tanked surely he was worth more than this. Surely he could produce better than that himself if you let him try! I mean Coghlan is having a really, really bad year.
Yep, not a fan of this.
Yes but he is a known quantity for the Cubs. They know how he fits in with the team. It doesn’t matter how he played in April and May, because they aren’t trading for him then. They are trading for him now. Guys have slumps, it happens. He has a pretty good track record beyond just the first two months of this season. He could have just fallen off a cliff talent-wise, but it’s more likely just a change-of-scenery slump. Keep in mind he is moving from Oaklan’d cavernous cesspool to Wrigley. His numbers should be fine.
I’m an A’s fan and had the thought yesterday watching the Cubs game that every player on the Cubs is better than every player on the A’s. I guess I was wrong.
Alcantra wasn’t on the Cubs team.
No, but Coughlan now is
With the Cubs sending back a player that’s probably worth more than Coghlan at this point, did the A’s pay down any of his salary?
I love reading posts from people that obviously have no idea about the Cubs farm system and making statements about how Alcantra is an overpay. This is hilarious.
Alcantara is a more valuable player right now, Coghlan is just atrocious at baseball. Coghlan should have been had for taking on his contract. He’s worthless. Alcantara is on pace for 20-20 with solid D over 162 games, that’s way better than Coghlan.
Not really… He’s not doing well even in AAA. We’ve seen him play, he is no loss. If he succeeds with Oakland, GREAT! But he has no position with the Cubs and they will need the space with their 3rd round pick, who will probably be just as good.
Alcantara is on pace for absolutely nothing. He has yet to play a meaningful game this year. I’m sure Coghlan would have much better number if you put him in AAA as well.
Is he really. He still has no pitch recognition and at this point he’s a AAAA player. Theo is smart enough that he probably tried to shop him in the off season. He has a better understanding of his trade value. Here’s the thing it might eventually be an overpay but with the core and Baez in the inf it doesn’t really matter. Especially with the other prospect the Cubs have up the middle. If he’s not in their plans which he was wasn’t well then he’s expandable. And it’s clear he’s lost extreme value and was expandable.
Oh I agree Alcantara has no place on the Cubs at all, but they could have gotten back literally anything other than the atrocious Chris Coghlan. I mean he looks even worse than his numbers right now, and his numbers are “you should be out of baseball” bad.
Great move by theo. no other teams are making trades and theo got proactive. Great dice roll. If coghlan doesn’t pan out then release him. They got him for nothing.
You could have gotten so much more for Alcantara, Coghlan has negative value, he’s as valuable as Billy Butler is right now. They could have gotten him just for taking on his contract. Horrible trade by Theo, maybe he feels bad for Billy?
Horrible? Talk about an overstatement. Alcantara would play where exactly? He’s an infielder and is terrible in the outfield. We have Baez, Rizzo, Zobrist, Russell and Bryant. What makes Alcantara a good prospect? That he’s batting .265 or his .315 OBP in AAA? Coghlan hit .250 with a .341 OBP and 16 homeruns last season for the Cubs in the major leagues.
You seem to not understand that Alcantara having no place on the Cubs does not mean he should be given away for the worst player in the game. The Cubs got worse with this unnecessary trade, as Coghlan cant play defense anywhere and cant hit at all.
It appears you’ve gone off the deep end…
What shocktop said. At some point, a player just isn’t a prospect anymore and the Cubs have a bunch of young guys ahead of Alcantara now.. Alcantara is a lottery ticket for the A’s and Coghlan can possibly fill an immediate bench need for a team looking to maintain their current pace. Decent for both teams.
im surprised they traded for him. maddon has said if anyone complains about playing time they will be dealt with by him and other players swiftly.
Lets face it… They both suck. AA was ever going anywhere with the Cubs. Coghlan hitting under 200. This was about getting someone left handed the Cubs felt fit in the locker room with lefty’s Soler and LaStella on the DL. One of these 2 won’t ever see an MLB at bat, and the other hopefully won’t need to.
Soler isn’t a lh thrower or batter.
Alcantara stinks and was a move away from being DFA’d anyway. At least they got something out of him. And Coghlan was pretty good for the Cubs the past couple of seasons, and will hopefully keep bums like Kalish from having to come up and fill spots. Sure, Coghlan has been bad the first two months of the year, but he comes with a decent background and the Cubs know what they are getting from him.
Have fun watching him get 2 hits a month and make errors on routine plays, Alcantara hits more dingers and runs better. This has to be a pity trade from Theo.
oh great, he’ll take out jung ho again….punk…
It was a clean and legal slide. Quit whinning. Maybe Kang should either learn how to slide step out of the way or do jump throw to first next time. Coghlan did what pretty much every runner does when trying to break up a double play. Because of whiny fans like you though MLB has taken another strategic part of the game away and made breaking up DPs illegal now so players pretty much have to roll over and just let the double play happen. Lame. It’s the pussification of this country seeping into pro sports some more. Look at how ridiculous the NFL has become by trying to be “safer” and appeasing the “worried” fans. Arena Football should sue the NFL for pretty much copying their format of essentially “offense only” quality football. Pretty soon MLB will be nothing more than wiffle ball. We can’t use hardballs anymore because they are dangerous…….. no one should take lead offs any more when on a base because it entices the pitcher to throw over and that could be dangerous to the runner and fielder if it is an errant throw……….. in fact, let’s use plastic bats and wiffle balls because it greatly reduces injuries to everyone, and let’s be honest, safety is number 1.
Think I am exaggerating with stupid idea? Look at some of these ideas MLB has to try and draw interest to the game at the youth level of the game. If they’re thinking about changing the game at insane levels among youth leagues it’s only a matter of time before they REALLY start fucking with the real game. It’s Ridiculous.
barstoolsports.com/baseball/mlb-wants-to-change-ba…
Why is this guy getting so many bats Coglin is like by his roster friends but he will never bat over 240 again but like LaStella could be a good LHPH only when LaStella comes back and Fredrick need to be traded , play Szuir more best benchwarmer in the league /Almora also