The Cubs have traded lefty Eric Stout to the Pirates in exchange for cash, per a pair of team announcements. Stout was designated for assignment by Chicago last week. The Pirates have optioned him to Triple-A, and their 40-man roster is now full.
Stout, 29, made his first big league appearance since 2018 last week and wound up working a total of 3 2/3 innings over two games for the Cubs. He surrendered a total of two runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts before being jettisoned from the 40-man roster.
Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, Stout has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Iowa, where he’s notched a 3.94 ERA with a massive 36.6% strikeout rate but a bloated 16.8% walk rate in 29 2/3 innings. In addition to his 22 walks, Stout also hit a pair of batters and tossed three wild pitches.
During his original call to the big leagues with the 2018 Royals, Stout averaged 91.3 mph on his fastball in a tiny sample of work. That number jumped to 93.1 mph in last week’s big league return, and the improved velocity could help to explain some of the uptick in strikeouts he’s experienced this year. Command was never a huge issue for Stout in the lower levels of the minor leagues, but he’s posted walk rates of 13.2%, 19.6% and 16.8% in his past three Triple-A stints (Reds, Marlins, Cubs). It’s clear that he can miss bats at a high level, and Stout can still be optioned both this year and next, so the Bucs will hope they can help him hone his ability to locate the ball with a change of scenery in Triple-A.
The Bucco’s will not finish last this year. They are showing a glimmer of hope this week. Would be nice to see them come close to finishing near .500 this season.
Don’t get your hopes up buddy still plenty of time for a collapse. In all seriousness I pencil the Cubs in for last this year. Absolutely no reason for the Cubs to be so bad but here we are. I’m guessing horrible management.
I mean, the Pirates, Cubs and Reds are among the very worst in MLB. So third place in the division is nothing to get too excited about. What is exciting is all of the young talent the Pirates appear to have as a result of many, many years of dysfunction. Nice to see them turning the corner and bringing back some excitement to Pitt.
Several nice trades the last few years and a few good years of drafting. They finally tore it down like they should have and now they still have a lot of talent left in the system as well as the talent that is now on the MLB roster. Definite excitement for a change
And Eric Stout will put them over the top!
I’m a little teapot short and Stout…..
They got rid of stout but keep Norris and Mills. F you Hoyer
Just like they get rid of Frazier but keep Heyward, this team sucks. It’s gonna be a long next few seasons.
Exactly! In the recent era of Pujols, Upton, Cano being cut the cubs need to realize it’s ok to eat the Heyward contract and release him.
The Cubs have no reason to cut Heyward. Unlike the Mets, who are competing and needed the roster spot.
They do not have a pressing need to cut him but they certainly do not need to be playing him!!!
I’m glad the Cubs didn’t end up loosing Frazier… if I was Frazier and I was getting passed over by Jason freaking Heyward I would have left the Cubs organization in a heartbeat. Same with Ortega, riding the pine while Heyward grounds out weakly to second base. Then to add injury to insult, the Cubs call up Velasquez and sit him in favor of Heyward…. Look I get that Heyward bought Ross suites his last year but that doesn’t mean Ross has to play him.
None of these players will be on the team in 2023, but it could be just a different set of crappy players.
Donnie they said they same about Jake Arrieta
THey would have to DFA Heyward but they do not want to eat his contract. One more year till his contract is done.
Doesnt matter in baseball. Cubs pay it either way as it is guaranteed. It is an insult to fans every time he plays.
If we trade enough players for cash considerations we can off set the remaining money owed to Heyward and we can release him… clearly this is hoyers thinking
Stout was already DFA’d. Norris makes 2-3 times more money they’d have to eat and Mills is controllable.
Eat
Don’t forget they are also still in possession of stalwarts like JHey, Bote, Madrigal, Villar and Simmons – not to even begin with the pitching staff. They couldn’t even give these guys away.
how on Earth does Madrigal belong in that category?
I wonder what Stout did to get traded to the Pirates.
The sad part is the pirates are an improvement from the situation he was in. That’s when you know things are bad
Yeah, but I’m sure the Cubs will be back to contention before the Pirates. If history is any guide, the Cubs may go through 2-3 rebuild/contention cycles before the Pirates return to contention.
Pirates will contend next year if they decide to. Definitely 2024. A lot of fans are going to be excited seeing the pirates on their schedule and think it’s a easy win. A lot of fans are going to get a wake up call.
If you say so. I don’t know enough about the Pirates, other than they are a perennial welfare recipient that wouldn’t spend a nickel without getting 5 cents in return.
The Pirates will absolutely NOT contend next year. While they have some intriguing hitters, they have zero pitching. None. The opening day starter was JT Brubaker, who is a 5 or long man on a good team. Keller is not good, and really never has been, except for those couple spring training starts this year. Jose Quintana will turn back into a pumpkin shortly, you can count on that. This team would have to sign 3-4 good starters, a few relief pitchers, and probably 1-2 veteran bats. This ownership group has never shown an indication that they are ” going to go for it”, and 2023 will be no different.
“Definitely 2024” legit made me laugh a little.
It only took the Pirates 20 years last time.
The Pirates have a lot of top prospects but they will never compete unless they get serious about adding talent via free agency.
Also, to assume they will compete next season would require all their current prospects to perform like ml caliber players and that just isn’t feasible
You have things backwards. Their young kids will improve, compete in a few years and then ownership will once again have the conundrum of needing to bring free agents in to go beyond just competing and paying the piper when the kids put up numbers and want competitive contracts.
Competing isn’t the issue
Winning a playoff series or two is another thing
We’ll see if the owner is committed to all of this in years to come
Bingo. Pitching and defense wins. The Pirates have neither.
Go to a team that just killed the cubs yesterday
This is exactly what pro scouting gets paid very little to do before the deadline. Find guys for some purpose. It usually amounts to jack squat.
$50,000 must be Rickett’s past due yacht payment?
Stout’s control issues are probably because he’s trying to throw too hard now. That uptick in velo is nice but not if he can’t control it. Remember when pitchers used to “reach back for something extra” at critical times? Now they pitch with that “extra” with every fastball.
Extra fastball, to make up for lack of sticky stuff
Coop-And that “extra” on every pitch is what causes all of the arm injuries which were infrequent years ago.
I wonder how much of this method is coached.
Wrigley Field patrons have paid for some horrible baseball this century. Cubs and bad isn’t anything new, but in the 80s they’d make things interesting in 84 and 89…never exactly tanked. Just perhaps laissez-faire incompetent. Like I said during the first tank job. This is perhaps the one organization that can do this and get away with it, because their stadium is the draw. Epstein operated this same scenario in Boston…yet they pulled put of it fairly quickly and came back competitively. The difference might be in ownership. The Ricketts have been strapped and are no John Henry.
Ricketts isn’t ‘strapped’. He just chooses to invest his (or should I say dad’s money) into the neighborhood, not the ballclub. He is creating Rickettsville. Or is it, Rickettsland.
@dogbone.
He had little grasp of just how bad Wrigley was structurally, and was leveraged to the ears. That franchise needed serious investment in many things away from baseball operations.
How did the Pirates get cash to make the trade?
They hooked up with MLB revenue sharing profits for tanking teams that will own there division in 4 years for some extra dough
How else are they expected to stay afloat during tanking? You know it was part of the hold up on the last collective bargaining agreement?
They actually traded former 2B Dave Cash.
That’s why you hire honest cleaning crews for post-game work in the seats. Never know how many bills and credit cards people drop.
Your team took some of their cash and gave it to them. Nobody wants to see the generals play but the Globetrotters have to play somebody.
Needle = moved
“Stout, 29, made his first big league appearance since 2018 last week and wound up working a total of 3 2/3 innings over two games for the Cubs. He surrendered a total of two runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts before being jettisoned from the 40-man roster.” – yep you did good kid sincerely the Ricketts
another throw at the wall guy for the pirates. It was a cheap trade so why not try.
Pirates bats seem to have been coming around. they get some pitching to come around then they could be closer to .500 than .400. Especially considering some of the competition in the division
A Stout with a good head is a better fit for the Brew Crew.
Must be waiting on Julio Pilsner to break loose to make a claim. Him and his illustrious IPA with the little known Canadian Aye’s
Why not finish last? Gives them a better spot in next year’s draft.
I’m friends with Eric’s dad Mike, they’re thrilled, Cubs are a real mess