Many expect the Cubs to trade from their position player depth to fill a spot in the rotation, but ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers cautions that such a trade may not be as likely as one would think. President Theo Epstein did acknowledge after the season that the team may have to consider dealing from the big league roster to add a pitcher, and names like Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora have all been listed as speculative possibilities. However, Rogers points out how crucial that depth has been in dealing with injuries and suggests that depleting said depth could simply create further troubles. Free agency is a better fit, Rogers opines, suggesting the oft-speculated match between Alex Cobb and the Cubs as a starting point. Also of note, Rogers notes that an informal poll of rival execs at this month’s GM Meetings suggested that Baez and Russell are “neck and neck” in trade value.
Some other notes from around the Senior Circuit…
- Nationals top prospect Victor Robles is expected to begin the 2018 season in Triple-A, reports Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. The Nats are as bullish as ever on the highly touted 20-year-old, but they’d prefer that he receive everyday at-bats rather than play in a more limited role to open the year. As it stands, Washington figures to head into the season with Michael Taylor, Adam Eaton and Bryce Harper as its starting outfield and Brian Goodwin on hand as a reserve. Robles already made his MLB debut in 2017, so it stands to reason that in the event of an injury, he’d be under consideration for a promotion and a regular role. And, with Harper potentially departing as a free agent following the 2018 campaign, a long-term spot could be opening for Robles in advance of his age-22 season (2019).
- Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post runs down a number of potential targets for the Rockies in free agency, noting that the bullpen, catcher and first base are among the team’s needs. Saunders believes re-signing Jonathan Lucroy to be the club’s top priority, noting that manger Bud Black “loves” how Lucroy worked with the team’s young pitchers. Re-signing Greg Holland is also on the team’s wishlist, but Saunders suggests that if the bidding reaches Mark Melancon territory (four years, $62MM) then the Rockies won’t be a player for his services.
- With the Mets exploring the possibility of bringing in a free-agent first baseman, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter) that Adam Lind is one potential name the team will consider. The interest in Lind suggests that the Mets are casting a fairly wide net, as they’ve also been linked to a higher-profile target in Carlos Santana. Speculating a bit, it also could suggest that the team isn’t giving up on Dominic Smith after a disappointing MLB debut in 2017. Signing Santana or any other higher-profile free agent would block Smith for years to come and likely turn him into a trade piece; bringing in a shorter-term stopgap like Lind, though, could give the Mets a strong platoon partner option to complement their right-handed infield bats early in the season in order to let Smith develop further. Lind slashed a robust .303/.364/.534 in 269 plate appearances against righties last season but could potentially be had on a one-year deal due to his age (34), longstanding platoon issues and a flooded market for platoon first basemen.
- While the Reds’ rotation has plenty of uncertainty heading into the 2018 season, GM Dick Williams tells David Laurila of Fangraphs that he’s nonetheless optimistic about the team’s collection of young arms. As Williams explains, injuries forced the Reds to promote numerous prospects from Double-A while skipping the Triple-A level entirely. Still, some of those arms made adjustments on the fly as the season wore on, and the experience gained was valuable in their overall development. Williams points to strong finishes from Luis Castillo, Sal Romano and Tyler Mahle as encouraging factors heading into the offseason. And, of course, the Reds will hope for better health from the likes of Anthony DeSclafani, Brandon Finnegan and Homer Bailey, which could further help to bolster the rotation results. Laurila also chats with Twins GM Thad Levine about managerial qualifications and Rangers skipper Jeff Banister about player development.
Any team that signs Holland to a deal even 60% of melancon’s will be regretting it quickly.
Rather have Holland for 37 million than Melancon for 62
At those contracts, I’d take none of the above
I wouldn’t mind having my team sign Holland for 37.2 mil whatsoever.. I highly doubt any team would regret getting Holland for that “little” of a commitment..
If the Cubs need to trade from their major league roster they should first consider Russell as his stock is still high despite his uneven results at the plate. They could replace him with a Zach Cozart or Adeiny Hechavarria for the short term. Schwarber, on the other hand, needs to be dealt to an AL team and would be a perfect fit in Oakland. I’d pitch him to the A’s for a package that includes Kendall Graveman.
Except the A’s already have a DH. I’d rather play Javy Baez at SS and spend that money on pitching. And find a veteran backup middle infielder.
Schwarber’s value is too low right now, and he was coming back from an injury, anyway.
His second half was very different from his first half — in a good way. Which suggests that he’s returning to form.
I doubt he’ll hit over .250, which I’m fine with, as long as he can stay right around there.
He takes his walks, gets on base, and has a game-changing explosive bat from the left side. They’d be crazy to trade him.
Just my .02 cents.
You, seriously, have no clue.
Why would they sign either of those guys when they have Baez?
No, Kyle does not need to be traded to an AL team. He is adequate in the OF.
There is no way he gets dealt for a headline piece that has been injured, has a career ERA over 4 and career whip over 1.35.
If anyone needs to go, it should be Baez. He regressed, again, in the playoffs. He is overrated on defense, which people are finally starting to figure out.
He is nothing more than a utility player.
“What’s Baez going to do this time?” was all you would hear when he took over for Russell following his injury. He was that big a game changer. YOU have no clue
Yeah Baez is awesome on D, has plenty of pop in his bat. In my eyes the aspect of his game he needs to work on most is plate discipline. Take it for what it’s worth, I’m a Sox fan. I wonder if the Cubs and Royals match up on a trade with Russell and Duffy.
Baez is easily the most overrated defensive player in baseball. He is athletic enough to make some spectacular plays from time to time, but I’ve seen him not make those routine plays more times than I can count. He was awesome in the World Series, but the hype for him is way too high.
Cubs are stuck with that atrocious heyward contract, Zobrist is declining. the bullpen should be easy to patch, until madden gets into the playoffs and out smarts himself. Starting staff will be solid with Lester, Hendricks, and Quintana. Cobb and Lynn would be worth while FA signings. I would trade schwarber for a leadoff hitter if possible, cubs could use a table setter in that potent lineup. I wouldn’t trade Russell or Baez. Keep that infield in tact. Madden should play Almora regularly. Find a left fielder who can leadoff and isn’t a liability like schwarber. Cubs have good problems.
Correct, Baez is a very intriguing, talented player. His best years are definitely ahead for him, and when he can finally put it all together, he’ll be an all-star caliber infielder, with pop in his bat.
There is really only one main issue I personally see with Baez, and this issue tends to affect every aspect of his game.
The one issue and negative I personally see for Baez is his self-discipline. This causes him to make some routine errors on plays he’s clearly MORE than capable of making, and it also causes his plate discipline to suffer.
If Baez can truly buckle down, focus, and become more disciplined, he has all the talent to become one of the most dynamic players in the NL.
By becoming more disciplined at the plate, he could greatly cut down his strikeouts, improve his on base percentage, and he would greatly improve the Cubs line-up as a result.
Also, it pretty much goes without saying what positive outcome would come from Baez becoming more disciplined in the field..
Unless the Cubs front office thinks Baez is incapable of settling down, maturing, and becoming more self-disciplined, they should hold onto him for the foreseeable future..Either way though, Baez is the type of talent I’d personally want to give every chance to succeed. He’s still fairly young, and there’s still plenty of time for him to grow and mature. Honestly, I really believe the only person holding Baez back from really breaking out is himself..
I just checked. Baez has made 42 errors in his career. If that is more times than you can count, you probably shouldn’t be commenting. Where I can go with your reply is that he is the most talented defensive player in baseball which leads to a whole handful of laziness and a lot of misplays on routine stuff (game 7, 2016 World Series….error on a play that he threw from his knee for no reason and another error attempting to barehand a ball, pivot and turn a double play when catching the ball in the glove would have led to two outs). He does make plays that less than a dozen players can make, but does get lazy at times.
Baez is a utility player? Are you high?
Trade Russell. Keep Báez. Sign an extra middle infielder while getting back a SP for Russell. I like Cozart on a lower than deserved contract. Duh
I agree with most of what you said here. The people that keep suggesting to trade Kyle to an AL ‘so that he can DH’ are 1) implying doing a favor to Kyle by this and 2) only ever watched him play the outfield in limited playoff games (a couple against the Mets in 2015 and 1 against the Nats in 2017). Regular season Kyle was about average depending on method of measurement.
Kyle couldn’t find average defense with the Hubble Telescope.
Cubs fans evaluation of Kyle Schwarber is the strangest and funniest thing happening in sports. Dude is basically left handed Mike Napoli, and I don’t mean Napoli in his prime. But to Cubs fans he’s Barry freakin’ Bonds without the PED’s.
Schwarber has an adequate glove in OF. That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone say that.
@solaris
What are you smoking. Why would the Cubs replace Russell with one of those two guys when Baez is better then anyone they could sign and Happ and Zobrist play 2b.
Try to think before your just make things up
Baez is currently better than a SS who put up 5 WAR in 122 games last year? Impressive.
Both would be major downgrades on both sides. No Thanks..
I don’t hear any talks of Brandon Kintzler. Quite surprising to me
he’s more of a set up man option, he won’t get paid as handsomely as others
I like Carlos Santana he’s a good fit for the Mets
Too bad they won’t open the wilpon wallet for your ideas.
No he’s not. He’s a below average defensive first baseman who will hit 260 and 20. Which is fine I guess but he’s going to want too many years.
Baez should be untouchable.
Finding guys on the market who K nearly 30% of the time and have poor plate discipline overall is pretty difficult then?
As for the power. I’ve got to see it again when pitchers adjust. Yes.. He’s hit 37HR over 900+ AB last 2yr. Pitchers might pay a bit of attention to him now instead of taking him for granted instead of an automatic strikeout. I want to see how he does in 2018 after putting up slightly better numbers last year (except terrible K) before close to hanging onto this kid and think opposing GM’s look at him and wonder also if he’ll be a big time power, or another wild swinging flop who couldn’t adjust when pitchers did.
I tend to agree with you. He gets eaten up by good pitching and it’s painful to watch. He’s still young but generally seems overvalued.
Curious what people think would be a realistic trade return for him?
I know the Cubs are a pretty wealthy team, but If they dont trade anyone to fill their pitching gaps and instead go after free agents, wouldnt they be a bit short on cash for the big 2019 free agent sweepstakes?
I get that Baez, Russell, and Schwarber are fan favorites but they seem to have more pressing needs.
(Not a Cubs fan, just an outside perspective)
The Cubs have no choice, really. They either spend some money or end up like the Royals in a year or two. Overpaying for Heyward had everyone scratching their head. I’m sure Theo and company are regretting it now.
The Cubs need 3 things to stay relevant in 2018:
1. TOR Pitcher.
2. Elite Closer to buffer a weak bullpen.
3. Leadoff hitter.
Honorable Mention: Veteran C.C. Sabathia-type for 5th starter to replace Lackey.
What TOR pitcher is available and do not try to tell me that Archer is that
Well archer is a top of the rotation pitcher on most teams.
TOR can be loosely interpreted. Archer has the K’s of a #1 pitcher but he hasn’t thrown up #1 pitcher results the last 2 years for sure. The K’s are great but he pitches a whole lot more like a #2 albeit one you’d think has #1 starter upside.
The Cubs’ only hope of filling the void left by Arrieta is getting strong rebound performances from Lester and Quintana. They also need to plug the back-end of the rotation with serviceable stop-gaps. I can only think of Chatwood and/or Chacin for those spots.
It’s either that or they sign a cheap 5th starter and Alex Cobb if they realistically plan on making a run again this coming year (assuming Cobb performs roughly as well as Arrieta did in 2017.).
As currently constructed, the Cubs have the following:
Catcher: (They are set, an extremely talented starter, with a young and capable backup)
Contreras
Caratini
First: (Excellent)
Rizzo
Third Base: (Excellent)
Bryant
Middle Infield/Back-ups: (Excellent Depth, Quality young starters)
Baez
Russell
Zobrist
La Stella
Happ
Outfield/ Back-Ups: (Schwarber won’t ever be considered for a GG, but overall, it’s a solid, all-around group with some good depth.)
Almora Jr.
Heyward
Schwarber
Happ
Zobrist
Line-Up: The Cubs line-up will continue to be one of the toughest lineups to maneuver through for opposing pitchers. The Cubs have a versatile array of hitters, and are capable of hitting both lefties and righties. Even with this line-ups excellent power throughout, there are still some question marks..Who is going to bat lead-off for the Cubs?? Do the Cubs have enough speed throughout their line-up to help them manufacture runs, or are they going to continue relying on home runs to fuel their offense?? Is Almora going to step up and lock down the CF job, while also being an adequate table setter for this team with World Series aspirations?? That’s a mighty tough task to ask of him, does Maddon and this front office trust him enough to not make a move??
Possible need: A CF’er with a little speed that could lock down the leadoff spot for this lineup moving forward..Can Almora be their guy, that’s the big question that’s floating around the Cubs front office.. They have asked the Braves about GG’er Ender Inciarte, but the Braves aren’t budging. Could we see the Cubs make a fairly suprising move for a guy like KK from the Rays?? Could they offer up Schwarber, among others, to lock down a CF’er capable of being this team’s lead-off man?? They might want to think long and hard before trading away the wrong player, but they could use some speed, and they desperately need some order to their line-up, and that all starts at the top.
Starting Pitching: (Clearly, the Cubs are primarily prioritizing starting pitching this off-season, and it isn’t hard to see why.. They are set with three capable and good starters right now, but the question remains who is going to be their fourth and fifth starters. Alex Cobb looks destined to become the Cubs number four man, but then they will still have the number five spot up for grabs. Can Montgomery or Tseng lock down the number five spot?? Will the Cubs be comfortable handing their number five spot to one of those two pitchers, without much depth at AAA?? Considering the lack of internal depth, it looks highly likely the Cubs will sign a couple of low-risk veterans to minor league contracts. They should be at AAA in case of injury, but I’m still curious who the Cubbies migjt go out and get to man that number five spot. This is where the Cubs may yet again choose to trade from their position player depth. Some names to float out there, just off the top of my head, possibly Jake Odorizzi, Gerrit Cole, maybe a bounce back candidate on a bad contract like Jordan Zimmerman?? It’s almost impossible to predict who the Cubs fifth starter will be for opening day, but one thing is for sure, it’ll be interesting to see how the Cubs handle filling in their last two rotation spots.
Lester
Hendricks
Quintana
Montgomery ??
Tseng ??
Bullpen: I’m not even going to list the candidates for the Cubs bullpen, just know it needs to improve if they want to make a long post-season run. They are going to need to re-sign Davis, and acquire AT LEAST one more quality setup man, or possibly two, to secure any late inning leads..The Cubs know this, their fans know this, and heck everyone knows this…
They don’t “need” to re-sign Davis. It would be wise to have a quality closer, but the charter doesn’t get canceled if they go another way.
Not sure why Zimmerman would make more sense than signing Miles Mikolas.
Miles Mikolas has 0 success in America. He’s probably more risky than a Jordan zimmerman. Although you can’t touch zim with a ten foot pole until the tigers eat 60% of that contract. So I don’t think either one of them makes a lot of sense there.
Baez and schwarber to the Rays for chris Archer and let Happ play left field everyday until you make a run at Harper next offseason. Baez has one of the best gloves in the game but his awful at bats against quality pitchers and 2/26 in the playoffs outweigh his quick tags.
The Cubs are better off trading Russell and some combination of Schwarber or Almora for Archer. That allows Baez to move over to his natural position at shortstop. Zobrist holds down 2nd base, and Happ takes over in Center. Signing Darvish might help with landing Ohtani, who could platoon in Right as well as be the 5th starter. Say what you want about Baez, he’s. GG infielder with power and game changing intangibles. If he learns to be just a little more patient at the plate (like Contreras did) he’ll be a substantial upgrade over Russell.