The Cubs have acquired recently designated infielder Ronald Torreyes in a swap with the Yankees, per an announcement. Cash or a player to be named later will head to New York in return.
Torreyes, 26, makes his way back to an organization that once had him as a minor-leaguer. (He originally came over in this swap and departed in this one, with numerous trades and claims coming thereafter.) If he can hang onto his 40-man spot, or otherwise remains with the Cubs at the start of camp next spring, he’ll presumably compete for a bench job.
With the move, the Cubs have added a player who’s capable of handling just about any defensive position but hasn’t hit much in the big leagues. In 614 career plate appearances, he’s slashing just .281/.310/.375 with four home runs and four steals.
These sorts of moves on the margins of the 40-man roster don’t always mean much, but it’s reasonably notable to see the Cubs snag a shortstop-capable reserve. After all, the organization is facing at least a partial deadline to make a decision on Addison Russell in the coming days. As the non-tender deadline looms, it’s still not clear what course the club will take.
NOOO Say it ain’t so, Toe 🙁
sad. glue guy
I really don’t see him making the big league club there. Congratulations on being first in by the way.
Why not? He’d be an adequate utility/back up/role player for them
He could be if the cubs decide to non tender Addison Russell
Cubs could use a backup IF during April while Addison served suspension.
I would think they’re smarter than that.
Mom they certainly have better options don’t they?
This is true, they have yet to say if they will even tender Addy this arbitration period. I would prefer to try and trade him though before letting him walk.
Torreyes has options. Would not be bad guy to stash in Iowa if Bote. Cubs only had six infielders on the 40 man. Wonder if they are thinking about non-tendering LaStella?
I can confirm Torreyes does have options left…
How does that change his Cubs’ roster status?
I hope it’s not about money, because LaStella is way more valuable.
Toe is way better than LaStella, why he has gotten so many chances is probably only because he “bats” left handed.
New York papers said he was dfa’d because he was out of options…
Neither will break the bank and both are on the 25 man bubble. Tommy is pretty much a PH at this point in his career, turning 30. Can play 2B and 3B but not very well Does not fit the maximum versatility that reserves need today.
A trade is coming. Russell or someone else.
NY papers don’t know the options rules like Arizona Phil.
Machado would be a decent replacement for Russell
Why would anyone want the headache that comes with Russell???? Honestly, it’s a PR nightmare for an above average defensive shortstop who is a career.242 hitter.
Russell would be a steal if the Yankees were to get him.
The Cubs have a guy at 3rd pretty good. I think his name is kris Bryant. Ever heard of him?
Kris Bryant the one time all-star.
Hey that’s pretty catchy
Really hope you’re kidding. Both Russell, and Machado, are decidedly indecent people. Machado is gifted, for sure, but your suggestion would be like replacing polio with cancer.
He’s also only played the better half of 4 years. He was hurt this season. Last year (2017) he was snubbed.
Russell has never done anything wrong. The domestic dispute was disproved. And the case was dropped.
Well we’ve only heard one side of the story. I would bet he’s done something wrong. It’s up to him to rehabilitate himself and I hope the Cubs give him the chance. It looks like Theo is on board, but are the Ricketts?
Good call man!
He ain’t a bad player.
Better player than our next Yankee failed prospect..Tyler Wade
Agreed on that one
Let’s give Wade another year before calling him “our next Yankee failed prospect”.
Wow why all the downvotes for saying an average player is better than a bad player?
Dont worry about down votes they are meaningless.
+Slevin
Right? The kid has only had 133 big league PA’s. Much too early to judge him on anything.
Exactly, I’m definitely not gonna take the opinion of a Blue Jays fan on anything. The guy is young and plays good defense, and has good speed. Boone likes him and knows more about his abilities than some jabronies on the internet.
The problem is that he’s only ever had one good season in professional baseball. He’s ranged from mediocre to bad in every other season.
Embrace the down vote.
Bull.
He was quite good in the minors. Where he was a professional.
Tyler Wade? He had a good 2017 season but for the large majority of his career he hasn’t even had his ops crack .700
Aw =(
Wish him good luck and some playing time in Chicago
They’ll instantly try to outright him and he’ll get claimed because the Cubs are predictable.
If they wanted to just put him through waivers again I doubt they would have traded for him
oooo we’re getting Javy Baez back to fill in for Didi?
Yes. He used to be a Cubs minor leaguer. Love this trade if the Yankees don’t get much back.
In the words of Palpatine, episode III “a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one”
Wow, didn’t see that coming. Hope Yankees get Darvish and Heyward back so this isn’t too one sided.
Lol
Probably cash
The Yankees didn’t want to pay his super 2 arb
Very upsetting
Wonder what happened to Toe behind the scenes last season that put him in doghouse with NY
I just think there is no room for him because I believe they’re going to be going after a big bat. We just need a good contact hitter to get on base all the time and a lot of pitching
Going from Girardi to Boone was the worst thing to happen to Torreyes’ career. No denying he’s backup UTIL hit well, but it was like Boone forgot he was on the roster
I hadn’t thought about Boone, he could be a part of the reason. But I think it’s mostly Cashman.
Torreyes can hit. He was over .300 when they sent him down for a roster spot.
He’s a smart player and a clutch player. Gets big hits, keeps rallies going, gives himself up to move runners along, a solid glove at any position and doesn’t make mental mistakes. A favorite with teammates and fans.
Something is going on with the Yankees and it’s not good. The guy was making $615k last year. That’s nothing. Helped that team more than Wade, Walker, or Drury – for a lot less money.
Cubs get some revenge for Torres. Maybe more then it looks like in December of 2018. Stay tuned.
In no way did he help the team more than Walker.
No way he helped the team more than Walker, who had multiple walk off hrs and a ton of clutch ABs
He barely played last year.
Did you guys watch any of the games, or just look at the box scores and statistics?
Front runners
Well Boone was an awful manager so that wouldn’t surprise me
Probably less to do with something he did off the field and more to do with his mid .300s slugging and his sub .300 OBP
Why trade away for nothing? Makes no sence
Yanks dfa him?
Roster spot.
Thank you Toe! Long live the Toe Night Show!
That PTBNL is going to have some pressure on him.
He could well be the PTBNL, not like it doesn’t ever happen.
Time to say goodbye to Addison Russell me thinks
I’m thinking the same thing. I would prefer to try and trade Russell vs non tendering him and letting him walk though. Plus the Cubs are trying to stay under the luxury tax this coming season and Addy is projected to get a salary of $4.7mm
What does Russell fetch in the next 50 hours?
I’m guessing a 2018 second-day draft pick.
To the Yankees. Bargain price. They can handle the heat as they’ve demonstrated with Chapman from Reds.. Need Didi replacement and really hope, it’s not going to be Machado.
Name a trade you would be comfy with from NYY.
The Cubs 40 is full, so I’d be thinking recent draft choices.
The Yankees can handle the heat and need a Didi replacement? For when exactly? because Russell wouldn’t be playing the first 40 games of the year that Didi will also not be playing in.
He’d be back sooner than Didi.
Madden likes these little scrappy guys. Wish him the best and hopefully he plays full-time
He ain’t playing full time anywhere.
Cubs big free agent signing.
The Rays sure are happy to see him go to the NL. He tore them up.
If only the Yankees’ sole mascot didn’t have to take up a roster spot… poor toe.
I love it when they link stories about trades with the comments intact from 6+ years ago. You can go back and read about when things happened like Sean Marshall being a quality, in-demand reliever, Billy Hamilton and Devin Mesoraco being untouchable prospects, and the Cubs being content getting anything out of a guy because they aren’t likely to win more than 80 games anyway. Just goes to show how quickly things can change and how little most commenters (myself included) actually know.
Yes, that’s quite fun. I do wish MLBTR had a function in which we could look up our own comments in some sort of way, if only to see how wrong or dumb we were about things.
Toe – you will be missed.
Sorry to see Toe go! Joe D would not have any problems playing with Toe! Thank you for your heart and hustle!
“Joe D would not have problems playing with TOE” Put down the bong bro?
I think most Cubbie fans are mistaking Torreyes for Torres, as in Gleyber Torres, the IF the Cubbies traded for Chapman. One is a future MVP, the other is the one the Cubs just claimed
Torreyes is the future MVP
Oh man. Gleyber Torres is a future MVP on a team where he wasn’t even the best rookie?? Bit lofty there.
Crap that means Tyler Wade is going to be the utility player
He already was.
Yes, with another blistering Spring Training, and anemic (that’s putting it mildly) regular season.
Ask other Yankee fan here, I’ve been on Wade’s ** since day 1. Always has blistering ST, never again.
The good news is, Wade’s floor seems to be: PR. (What became regular role after roster expansion)
Why do they say “hitting just .281…” in the Big’s. They make it seem like that’s not at all adequate? I don’t care what your other stats are for the most part, if you’ve got that average you’ll be in the lineup. Then on some guys they’ll act like their .250 was god sent. I just don’t get you writers sometimes.
just be a bum like heyward and have mlbtr promote a mega million contract.
It’s the .375 Slugging that he gets knocked for.
Whether you agree or disagree, this is not how modern baseball is evaluated. BA is useless compared to other, newer metrics.
false. it isn’t useless. it’s just valued more appropriately now.
A .281 BA isn’t bad if you can back it up with other stats. He doesn’t get on base, and he doesn’t hit for power. Plus, he isn’t some speed demon or gold glove fielder.
The difference between batting 250 and 280 is 3 hits in 100 at bats. Not significant. Hitting for power and getting on base are way more valuable skills.
Designated infielder? Lol what?
As in he’s an infielder who’s been recently designed for assignment.
With the cubs and this high caliber acquisition, the cubs put themselves out of the race to last for machado, who isnt going to sign anytime soon anyway.
It always stuns me that sometimes in an article a guy hit a “robust” .265/.325 and sometimes it’s he’s “slashing JUST .281/.310” like look, I’m not saying he’s an offensive juggernaut by any means but “slashing JUST .281” is a little bit silly. I understand the lack of OBP skills and such but hitting .281 at the ML level over the course of 4+ years isn’t something to scoff at. He’s a more than capable utility bat. When guys like Deven Marrero (hitting like .175) are getting Utility roles around the league. I’ll take the “just .281” any day of the week. Regardless of his low OBP numbers – the guys still a serviceable utility man.
BA is irreverent, especially when it’s anchored down by a horrible BB%.
BA is not irrelevant, yes it’s not the best stat to measure the true nature of a hitter but still holds significance.
Example.
His low SLG and OBP indicates hes a single hitter, but singles aren’t bad. A single is better then a Walk, you cannot go 1st to 3rd on a walk (barring a wild pitch). You force the Defence to make a play which could lead to an error. A single with the bases loaded generates 2 runs more often then not yet a walk only plates 1 (again barring a wild pitch)
Every stat has relevance and needs to be viewed in context.
This is where a good front office and manager come into play(not hyping the Cubs or slagging the yanks just a generalization).understanding the players statistics and where they will excel in game situations, you have a singles hitter batting 280 like Torreyes vs a 225 strike out or HR power hitter high slugging guy like Teoscar Hernandez both on the bench with 2 out down by 2 in the 8th and your #8 hitter about to bat.
And you will inevitably face many choices like this throughout the Season and more importantly in the playoffs. Not every acquisition needs to be an all star, and some role players make key cogs in the right teams wheel.
Walks force the pitcher to throw more pitches. The difference between batting 280 and 240 is 4 hits per 100 at-bats. That’s nothing. That’s the difference between one single and one homer.
Dude, I love Toe (He didn’t deserve this… personally I would’ve tried re-sneaking that pitcher they just picked up through waivers…)
Weaknesses? Toe’s OBP only 14 points higher than BA. His BA was .280. Then There’s also his slugging…
Dude still didn’t deserve this, and deserved more playing time now and before (he was batting .300+)
Deserve what? Being traded from a good team to another good team? The dude wasn’t sent to The Marlins or worse the Mets. He wasn’t getting any playing time in NY, this is a better move for him.
Yea, they’re not sending him to the gallows.
This is actually bad for the Yankees. Torreyes was a fan favorite for Yankee fans
How did the Cubs get Gleyber Torres back? Great move by Theo yet again!
Not often is a .281 batting average included in “Just”
He just doesn’t walk much
I don’t care if he doesn’t hit for power and doesn’t walk much. He hits .281 and provides excellent defense at 2nd, third, and short. He’d also make a great pinch hitter and late inning substitute for an NL team.
didn’t hit much in the majors? he hit .281 this past season not .218
Why do they say just .281? He doesn’t hit for power but .280 is pretty good for over 600 abs in this day and age
The guy won’t even be on the Cubs 40 man this time next year, and definitely doesn’t deserve this many posts. wtf
It involves the Yankees and cubs, not that I really need to explain it
No please do…
I named my dog after him, I guess I need to name her player to be named later
I think theyll trade Russell for pitching. Never seen torreyes play. They can get a lot for Russell. He has 4 years left of control. And he’s a top 5 ss and top 10 2B.
I would take a bottle of good scotch and a Wal-Mart gift card for Russell at this point. For one, the dude beat his wife. Second, I am sick and tired of seeing him look like a deer in headlights, giving away at-bats. He is extremely overrated defensively – he does not have a shortstop’s arm AT ALL. Every time he ranges into the hole and throws a 2-second too late lob to Rizzo, I cringe. Then he misses two weeks with shoulder soreness. Sayonara, Mr. Russell.
You’re not missing anything.
@Josh Todd (REALLY ???)
“but hasn’t hit much in the big leagues. In 614 career plate appearances, he’s slashing just .281/.310/.375 with four home runs and four steals.”
Is this intended for me?
Yes, really. That’s obviously a good batting average, but he does not get on base or hit for power so it’s not worth a whole lot.
Best of Luck to Ronald Torreyes! You will be missed by your teammates and Yankee fans alike! You were a class act both on and off the baseball field, as well as the locker room!
Congratulations to The Cubbies for a great pickup…
As a NYY fan, it’s tough to see him go, he’s a great utility player and will be popular with Cubs fans VERY quickly.
Good luck Toe, go prove yourself to another big time team.