There’s a “very real” possibility slugger Kyle Schwarber will be able to contribute for the World Series-bound Cubs in their matchup with the Indians, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Schwarber has been out since early April after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee, but, as the Cubs were in the midst of defeating the Dodgers to clinch their first pennant since 1945, the 23-year-old returned to action Saturday in the Arizona Fall League. Schwarber accrued four plate appearances and said afterward that “it was overall a really great day for me” (via Jack Thompson of the Chicago Tribune). If Schwarber does return for the World Series, the player whom Cubs baseball president of baseball operations Theo Epstein deems a “special talent” could factor in as a DH and pinch-hitter.
Cubs Rumors
Shrewd Trades Helped Make Cubs Into NL Champs
Behind 7 1/3 innings of two-hit, shutout ball from right-hander Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs defeated the Dodgers, 5-0, on Saturday to take the NLCS in six games and advance to the World Series. To knock out the Dodgers and win their first pennant since 1945, the Cubs had to overcome baseball’s best pitcher, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who yielded five runs (four earned) on seven hits in five frames. Among those hits were solo home runs from catcher Willson Contreras and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Chicago will now take on Cleveland in a battle of the majors’ longest championship droughts. The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908, while the Indians’ latest title came 40 years later in 1948. The long-suffering franchises will meet Tuesday in Cleveland for Game 1.
More on the NL champs and the rest of the majors:
- Brilliant trades by the Cubs’ Theo Epstein-led front office have been integral to the team’s success, as Tyler Kepner of the New York Times details. Since Epstein took the reins in 2011, the Cubs have swung deals to land the likes of Hendricks, Rizzo, Jake Arrieta, Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler without surrendering any crucial pieces. The Cubs picked up Rizzo from San Diego, where two Chicago executives – general manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod – were before Epstein hired them. Their familiarity with Rizzo helped spur the 2012 trade that sent him to the Cubs for righty Andrew Cashner. “Having intimate knowledge of who he is as a person, on top of what we felt he was going to be as a player, played a huge role,” McLeod told Kepner. Epstein offered some insight to Kepner on the trade process, saying, “It’s best not to think about winning or losing trades anyway, because the best ones work out for both teams. But, as a rule, if you’re the team that’s selling — if you’re out of it and you’re trading with a team that’s in it — you usually have the pick of just about their whole farm system, with a few exclusions. You should hit on the guys that you get back.”
- In his latest column, Joel Sherman of the New York Post outlines why league executives expect an active trade market during the offseason. One reason is a lack of quality free agent starting pitchers, leading Sherman to wonder if any of Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Jeff Samardzija or Ian Kennedy could end up on the block. Sherman opines that the Astros are in dire need of an ace and have a big-time trade chip in young infielder Alex Bregman, who would perhaps be able to land a front-end starter in return. On the position player front, Sherman observes that new Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen might consider trading first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Meanwhile, recently minted Twins executive vice president and chief baseball officer Derek Falvey has a potentially interesting trade candidate on his hands in slugging second baseman Brian Dozier.
- If Orioles GM Dan Duquette decides to shop any veterans, right-handed reliever Brad Brach might carry the most appeal, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic. Dubroff contends that the Orioles should deal Brach if they’re able to acquire help in the leadoff spot or behind the plate. That could be a tall ask in either case, though the soon-to-be 31-year-old Brach is under team control at affordable rates over the next two seasons and has been particularly effective since 2015. Over the past two seasons, Brach has combined for a 2.58 ERA, 10.29 K/9 and 3.58 BB/9 in 158 1/3 innings. Brach underwent knee surgery earlier this month, but it was a minor procedure that shouldn’t affect his 2017 availability.
- In separate pieces for FanGraphs, Dave Cameron and Jeff Sullivan argue for and against a rebuild for the Blue Jays. Re-signing just one of Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista – both of whom are set for free agency – would push the Jays up against their budget, limit their ability to address other needs, and further age a roster that already includes several 30-somethings, writes Cameron, who suggests shopping shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, catcher Russell Martin and right-hander Marco Estrada. Moreover, in Cameron’s view, not committing to a short-term rebuild could hinder the team’s ability to keep third baseman Josh Donaldson for the long haul (the reigning AL MVP is under club control for two more seasons). Conversely, Sullivan still expects Toronto to contend even if Encarnacion, Bautista, Michael Saunders and Brett Cecil leave as free agents, citing the rest of the club’s talent.
Cubs Designate Giovanni Soto For Assignment
The Cubs have designated left-hander Giovanni Soto for assignment, the team announced. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Kyle Schwarber, who was activated from the 60-day DL to join the Arizona Fall League in an improbable quest to make Chicago’s World Series roster (if the Cubs can advance).
The Cubs acquired Soto from the Indians for cash considerations in April. Ironically, Soto’s spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster was originally created when Schwarber was placed on the 60-day DL in the wake of his seemingly season-ending knee surgery. Soto, 25, spent all of 2016 pitching at the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, posting a 5.14 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 1.77 K/BB rate over 49 relief innings.
The southpaw was originally a 21st-round pick for the Tigers in the 2009 draft, though he spent just over a year in Detroit’s organization before being dealt to Cleveland as part of the trade that sent Jhonny Peralta to the Tigers. Soto has pitched mostly out of the bullpen in recent years, and he owns a 3.29 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 2.3 K/BB rate over 514 career innings in the minors. His Major League experience consists 3 1/3 scoreless innings over six games with the Tribe in 2015.
Cubs Not Ruling Out Kyle Schwarber For World Series Return
Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber will begin play in the Arizona Fall League tonight, and The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reports that there’s still a chance Schwarber could be activated in time to serve as a designated hitter should Chicago reach the World Series.
On April 7, in just his second game of the year, Schwarber tore both the ACL and LCL in his left knee after colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler while chasing a fly ball. The injury was expected to sideline Schwarber until 2017, though he has been making good progress in his recovery, even taking part in an on-field workout at Dodger Stadium before Game 3 of the NLCS. Needless to say, it would be a shocking turn of events for Schwarber to return at all just 6.5 months removed from major knee surgery, let alone to make his return in the high-intensity environment of the Fall Classic.
Provided that the Cubs make the World Series in the first place, the team won’t have much time to evaluate Schwarber in the AFL given that Game One of the Series begins on Tuesday night in Cleveland. The plan would be to use Schwarber as a DH for the games in Cleveland and as a pinch-hitter for the games at Wrigley Field. ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link) that Schwarber won’t be playing the field and “running [is] still an issue,” so it could be that Schwarber will be strictly a bat-only player. The Cubs have enough multi-position players that they could potentially get away with using a roster spot on a very limited Schwarber, so Joe Maddon will face a fascinating decision if things line up his team’s way come Tuesday.
The young slugger burst onto the scene in 2015 by hitting 16 homers over his first 273 plate appearances in the bigs, and he has already proven himself to be a big October performer. Schwarber hit .333/.419/.889 with five homers over 31 PA during Chicago’s 2015 playoff run, making him the leading home run hitter in Cubs’ postseason history.
Fowler Discusses Defensive Improvements
- Dexter Fowler tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that his options in free agency last winter were “few and far between” before he decided to return to the Cubs. “My agent, Casey (Close), was talking to everybody, and I felt like this was the best fit to come back here,” Fowler explained. One reason for Fowler’s struggles on the open market last year, he says, was a perception of his defense. “They said I was a bad outfielder, and I kind of took offense to that,” he explained. “So I just moved back a few steps. I didn’t really do anything too different.” Fowler says that he approached Joe Maddon and other Cubs decision-makers in Spring Training about playing deeper in the outfield and was informed that they’d been hoping to talk to him about that very same strategy. Fowler rated +1 in both UZR and DRS this season, which may not seem overly impressive, but that DRS rating is a stark improvement from his 2015 mark of -12. Fowler implied that he’ll again aim for a long-term deal this winter, though obviously he’ll have more pressing needs on his mind over the coming two to three weeks.
Miguel Montero Thought Cubs Would Release Him
Catcher Miguel Montero’s tie-breaking, eighth-inning grand slam made him the hero of the Cubs’ 8-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday. The 33-year-old didn’t expect to be in that position, however, as he told FanRag Sports’ Jack Magruder after the game that he thought the Cubs might release him during the season. The Cubs never indicated that was a possibility, though, according to Magruder.
Montero’s currently slated to return to Chicago next season with a hefty salary – $14MM – to conclude the five-year, $60MM extension he signed with the Diamondbacks in 2012. The Cubs reportedly considered shopping Montero last offseason, which was before the two-time All-Star’s playing time markedly declined during arguably a career-worst year. Montero appeared in 86 games, his fewest since 2010, and batted a meager .216/.327/.357 in 284 plate appearances. Both rookie Willson Contreras and veteran David Ross took playing time from Montero during the regular season, and that has continued in the playoffs. Montero’s grand slam was his first hit of this year’s postseason, in which he has collected just five at-bats. He came to the plate Saturday as a pinch-hitter and is out of the Cubs’ lineup Sunday.
Going forward, Ross’ forthcoming retirement seems to bode well for Montero to remain with the Cubs in 2017. Ross’ departure will leave Montero as the Cubs’ only veteran backstop. The team also has Kyle Schwarber on track to come back from a knee injury that cost him almost all of this season. He conceivably could fall directly behind Contreras on the Cubs’ catcher depth chart next year, though there are questions about Schwarber’s defense. For his part, the 23-year-old slugger is “adamant” about factoring in heavily behind the plate, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reported in September.
On dividing his time between catcher and the outfield, Schwarber told Gonzales, “I want to get back to that point where it’s 50-50 on each side now and not 60-40.”
Regardless of Schwarber’s goal, the fact that full tears to his ACL and LCL cost him a year to develop further as a catcher might help Montero’s chances of finishing his contract as a member the Cubs. Notably, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein praised Montero’s pitch-framing and game-calling skills after last season, attributing some of the pitching staff’s success to his defensive work. Montero has indeed been an excellent framer throughout his career, which Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner indicate has again been the case in 2016.
We’ll know what 2017 holds for Montero soon enough. In the meantime, he’ll spend the next couple weeks trying to help the Cubs win their first World Series since 1908.
“I probably had a bad year, but I might be the MVP of the World Series,” he told Magruder. “I’m being kind of sarcastic, but in reality you never know. Baseball is kind of crazy. Anything can happen, and then nobody is going to remember what I did in the regular season.”
Cubs Notes: Baez, Soler, Lackey
- The Cubs’ decision to keep Javier Baez has proven to be a wise one, and Heyman writes that the team kept Baez over Starlin Castro last offseason because the front office simply had more belief in Baez’s potential. Not only did Castro carry a much higher price tag than the pre-arb Baez, but the Cubs infielder is already looking like the more productive player — Baez posted 2.7 fWAR over 450 plate appearances, while Castro managed just 1.1 fWAR over 610 PA for the Yankees. Baez has shown great power and is cutting back on his strikeouts, though while he is still something of a work in progress at the plate, his defense has already drawn raves. One NL scout tells Heyman that he thinks Baez could win Gold Gloves at multiple positions in the future.
- Jorge Soler could again be trade bait as the Cubs will be juggling a crowded outfield situation. Kyle Schwarber will return to play left field, plus Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist would seem to be penciled in for center and right, respectively. That mix also doesn’t include highly-touted rookie Albert Almora, or if the Cubs were to re-sign Dexter Fowler for center field. Soler drew a lot of trade attention last winter and is signed through 2020, so though he hasn’t truly broken out as a big leaguer yet, he would surely be a big trade chip if the Cubs indeed explored moving him.
- The Tigers and Diamondbacks both “tried hard” to sign John Lackey last winter before the right-hander inked his two-year, $32MM deal with the Cubs. Lackey reportedly chose Chicago over two larger offers, though Heyman doesn’t know if the Tigers and D’Backs were the clubs behind those bigger deals. Arizona was known to have “at least checked in” on Lackey last winter, and while Detroit’s involvement in the Lackey market is new information, it isn’t a surprise given how the Tigers targeted starting pitching last offseason. Either team landing Lackey sets up several fascinating what-if scenarios, given that the D’Backs and Tigers made alternate pitching acquisitions that didn’t pan out in 2016. If the Diamondbacks signed Lackey, perhaps they then wouldn’t have made the franchise-altering decisions to sign Zack Greinke or trade for Shelby Miller. If the Tigers had gotten Lackey, perhaps they wouldn’t have spent $110MM on Jordan Zimmermann, or $16MM on Mike Pelfrey.
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Theo Epstein Sees Parallels Between Cubs, Red Sox
- Top Cubs executive Theo Epstein sees parallels between the organization he currently runs and the one he led while with the Red Sox, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. Epstein’s Cubs made their first playoff run last season but were ousted by the Mets in the NLCS. His first playoff team in Boston fell in the ALCS to the other New York franchise in 2003. The next year, of course, the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. “I’ve had some flashbacks here and there. First few days of the offseason last year, after getting knocked out by the Mets, definitely felt like the same kind of galvanizing time that we had in Boston after Aaron Boone walked us off,” Epstein says. “Hopefully the same results: ’03 to ’04, ’15 to ’16.”
Cubs Notes: NLCS Roster, Zastryzny, Baez
Heading into the 2011 draft, the Cubs were set on Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. Rosenthal reports of a pre-draft conversation between then-Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken (now a special assistant with the Diamondbacks) and Padres exec Jason McLeod (now with the Cubs). The Padres wanted to take Francisco Lindor with the tenth overall pick and were curious about whether the Cubs would be selecting him. Wilken told McLeod that Baez was a “no-doubter” if he was still on the board when the Cubs picked. McLeod wasn’t as convinced: “I remember calling Jed after the game and saying, ‘This guy may be Manny Ramirez, or he might never get out of Double A!’ We weren’t convicted on the hit tool at the time and probably could have done a better job getting to know him personally.” In fairness to McLeod, Baez has struggled to control the strike zone in his young career, although he’s made up for that with defense and power. Either pick would have turned out just fine, of course, as both are now emerging young players who have already made noise in this year’s playoffs. The Indians ultimately took Lindor with the eighth pick; the Cubs took Baez at No. 9, as promised, and the Padres selected Cory Spangenberg at No. 10. Here’s more out of Chicago.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says the process by which the team sets its NLCS roster will involve a “lot of yelling,” as Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic writes. That roster will be announced this morning. “The first one to get to this point was a lot of back and forth. This will obviously be a quicker meeting with less time to make the decision,” says Hoyer. It’s just one decision, whether we want to do 12 or 11 [pitchers]. A lot of that will depend on the opponent.” Sharma outlines the decisions in play this time, suggesting that infielder Tommy La Stella, outfielder Matt Szczur, lefty Rob Zastryzny and others could be on the bubble.
- Since they’re facing the Dodgers (whose collection of left-handed hitters includes Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Chase Utley, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick and Andrew Toles), the Cubs seem likely to add Zastryzny, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes. Gonzales notes that the rookie left-hander has already faced the Dodgers once in his brief MLB career, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against them in a strong outing April 27. “I looked at their lineup. I watched (Game 5 of the NL Division Series),” says Zastryzny. “I have thrown against them before.”
Bo Porter Among Additional Possible Rockies Managerial Candidates
Former Astros skipper and current Braves special assistant Bo Porter is receiving at least some consideration for the Rockies’ open managerial position, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The report identifies a number of other possibilities on a growing list of names who appear to be on Colorado’s radar.
Another former Astros’ manager, current Indians bench coach Brad Mills, has also come up. His Cleveland staff mate, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., is another name to watch. Obviously, neither of those possible candidates can be pursued in earnest at present, with the Indians just opening play in the ALCS.
Two other bench coaches who could draw interest from the Rockies are Dave Martinez of the Cubs, who also is busy with his current position, and Ron Wotus of the Giants. We heard earlier today that Wotus had received contact from a team with a managerial opening. Given that the Diamondbacks — the other team with an opening — haven’t yet resolved their front office situation, it seems reasonable to suspect that it was the Rockies who came calling.
Today’s report significantly expands the group of names tied in some way to the Rockies’ top dugout post. Last we checked in, the scuttlebutt was that former Brewers skipper Ron Roenicke (most recently of the Angels), former Padres manager Bud Black (ditto), Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Braves first base coach Eddie Perez, and Rockies Triple-A skipper Glenallen Hill had some form of connection to the gig — though in some cases, the reporting involved interest on their behalf rather than the team’s.
All told, that slate largely represents a “who’s who” of skippers-to-be around the game. Those that haven’t yet taken managerial jobs at the major league level have at least interviewed for jobs with other organizations.
Still, the Rockies aren’t just looking to plug in an experienced hand. According to Harding, Colorado hopes to find someone “who will apply statistics and other research into managing and coaching, and who are adept at various methods for creating team chemistry.” In that regard, certainly, the organization seems to be participating in a near-universal trend leaguewide.
