- Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant underwent an MRI this morning which confirmed that his right ankle sprain is mild in nature, writes MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. Bryant is out of the lineup today in favor of Javier Baez and may miss a few games, tweets Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, but the reigning National League Rookie of the Year isn’t expected to require a trip to the disabled list and should be back in relatively short order. Obviously, that’s good news for a Cubs team that has already lost Kyle Schwarber for the season and had to place catcher Miguel Montero on the 15-day disabled list yesterday.
- As we’ve heard recently, the Cubs and ace Jake Arrieta remain far apart in extension talks. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) says that Arrieta remains focused on securing a seven-year deal, as was the case back in Spring Training, but the team is currently only comfortable with offering the reigning Cy Young winner a four-year extension. That type of deal would run through Arrieta’s age-34 season, whereas Arrieta’s preferred contract length would extend into his age-37 campaign. Dominant as he may be, it’s understandable that the Cubs are hesitant to guarantee both Arrieta such a substantial amount through age 37, especially considering the fact that with free agency about 18 months away and a huge salary already in the bank, Arrieta and agent Scott Boras probably don’t feel the need to offer a considerable discount in terms of average annual value. Beyond that, the Cubs are already paying Jon Lester into his age-36 season, and promising that type of cash to a pair of pitchers into their late 30s is wrought with risk for the team.
Cubs Rumors
Cubs To Promote Federowicz With Montero On DL
- The Cubs have placed catcher Miguel Montero on the 15-day DL to give him a chance to rest his back. Expectations are that Montero won’t be out for long, and he says that he believes the issue stems from a chronic bulging disk, via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). Chicago has gone with Tim Federowicz to pair with David Ross for the time being. As Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com tweets, the veteran call-up is likely to get a fair bit of playing time; Ross, after all, has been a career reserve and is in his final season. The 28-year-old Federowicz didn’t see any major league action last year after a four-year run with the Dodgers, but has been off to a hot start at the plate at Triple-A-.
Reddick On Being A "Favorite" Of Theo Epstein
Interestingly, Morosi focuses in on the fact that Reddick is a longtime favorite of Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, and Reddick himself confirmed as much. “[Epstein] told me he would never trade me, either,” Reddick tells Morosi. “Then he left — and I got traded [to Oakland, in December 2011]. I think I was Ben Cherington’s first or second move after he took over.” Morosi notes that Epstein was the Sox’ GM when Reddick was drafted and adds that it’s conceivable that Chicago could seek a corner outfielder this summer on the trade market following Kyle Schwarber’s season-ending injury.
Of course, it should also be noted that it’s still rather early in the season, and the Athletics are sporting an 11-11 record in a tightly contested AL West. In order for a trade of Reddick to even be considered a plausible scenario, Oakland would have to fall behind in the standings by a fairly wide margin, as he’s an easy candidate to receive a qualifying offer following the year. Beyond that, the Cubs have Jorge Soler as an option to pick up the slack in Schwarber’s absence. While Soler is struggling at the moment, he’s also enjoying a career-best walk rate and a career-low strikeout rate; at least some portion of his struggles can be attributed to a .205 average on balls in play, though Soler’s line-drive and hard-contact rates are somewhat diminished this season. It’s certainly plausible that the former top prospect, still just 24 years of age, could turn things around at the plate in short order. Suffice it to say, quite a bit would need to transpire over the coming months for a trade scenario to play out.
Jake Arrieta, Cubs Remain Far Apart On Extension Framework
Cubs ace Jake Arrieta believes he will get a six- or seven-year deal if the Cubs don’t extend him before he becomes eligible for free agency following the 2017 season, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. “If we don’t work out a deal here, and I go to free agency, I will get six or seven years. No doubt about that,” Arrieta says. “I’d like to stay in Chicago, but if they don’t want me, somebody will.”
Arrieta’s comments appear consistent with reporting surrounding extension talks between him and the Cubs this past offseason, and they suggest there continues to be a wide gulf between player and team about the length of a potential deal. In early March, Jon Heyman reported that Arrieta was seeking seven-plus years, while the Cubs wanted to sign him for a shorter duration. In his latest article, Nightengale notes that, according to Arrieta’s agent Scott Boras, the Cubs weren’t willing to offer more than three or four years. Boras emphasizes that the two sides remain far apart.
“It’s like being in a museum and seeing contemporary art on one side, and the Mona Lisa on the other,” says Boras. “We’re both in the same museum. We both agree that the art is great. But we’re in two different hallways.”
The 30-year-old Arrieta, meanwhile, notes that free agent aces in their early thirties (such as David Price and Zack Greinke) have received six- or seven-year deals on the open market. Nightengale also notes that Arrieta currently has less wear on his arm than many pitchers his age, having only pitched 826 1/3 innings in the big leagues.
If Arrieta reaches free agency without signing an extension, he will only recently have turned 32 by the time his new deal begins, so Greinke (who is currently 32) seems like a reasonable comparable. Greinke has a longer track record of success than Arrieta currently does, but Arrieta’s current level of dominance (which has already resulted in a no-hitter this year after a brilliant stretch run in 2015) would appear to be more than enough for him to cite Greinke as a comparable pitcher. There is, however, risk in waiting to get to the point where he can cash in as Greinke did — Arrieta is currently only signed to an arbitration-avoiding $10.7MM deal for 2016.
Cubs Release Jonathan Pettibone
- Lefty Phil Coke will head to Triple-A for the Yankees after his rights were acquired from the indy league Lancaster Barnstormers, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. Coke, 33, has bounced around quite a bit in recent years and was most recently released by the Braves during spring camp. He appeared in the majors last year with the Cubs and Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs with 12 strikeouts and five walks (two intentional) over 12 2/3 frames.
- The Cubs have released right-hander Jonathan Pettibone from his minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Chicago signed the former Phillies right-hander to a minor league pact back in February in hopes that he’d be able to return to health following a pair of shoulder surgeries in 2014 and 2015. Pettibone last appeared in the Majors in 2014, but it was 2013 that he looked the part of an intriguing long-term piece in the Phillies’ rotation. That year (his age-22 season), Pettibone logged 100 1/3 innings with a 4.04 ERA, 5.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 18 starts at the Major League level.
Revisiting The Jake Arrieta Trade
- Orioles fans may want to avert their eyes for this one, as Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune recaps how the Cubs targeted and acquired Jake Arrieta from Baltimore as part of a four-player trade in July 2013. Arrieta was disagreeing with Orioles coaches and struggling to harness his stuff, yet a trio of Cubs scouts convinced Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer that Arrieta was well worth the risk. The rest has been history, as that trade (Arrieta and Pedro Strop for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger) is looking like one of the most one-sided trades in recent memory.
A Look Back At The Arrieta Trade
- On the heels of Jake Arrieta’s second no-hitter for the Cubs, Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com takes a look back at the deal that brought the star righty to Chicago along with reliever Pedro Strop in the summer of 2013. With Baltimore looking to bolster its rotation for a playoff push, the Cubs parted with half a season of Scott Feldman to acquire two controllable pitchers who have paid out handsomely since the swap. “We had scouted Jake extensively,” said Cubs GM Jed Hoyer. “We had done a lot of makeup work on him. We did the same thing on Strop. At that time, we just needed to get power arms onto our team.” Of course, as Hoyer acknowledges, the club didn’t expect anything like what Arrieta has delivered; as he puts it, “what [Arrieta’s] done is obviously exceptional.”
Kyle Schwarber Set For Knee Surgery This Week
Jason Heyward received a bit of a rough welcome back to St. Louis today, as he appeared there for the first time since leaving the Cardinals for the rival Cubs. But that didn’t seem to bother him; as he told reporters, including MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (Twitter link): “If somebody boos me here, that means they weren’t happy to see me leave. I’m glad people weren’t happy to see me leave.” He’s already covered his decision to move on to Chicago in some detail, of course, but the occasion offered a chance to revisit the winter market once again. As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Heyward ultimately spurned the Cards not out of any failure to see eye-to-eye on a contract, but because he had found another spot he preferred. “It came down to Chicago was really where I would like to be at the time,” Heyward said. “… I feel like [the Cardinals] had every intention of keeping me here. They said that. And they followed that through with their actions. It didn’t come down to contract. Whether it was the opt-out, whether it was the full no-trade (clause), or what have you — it came down to taking the opportunity to be where I wanted to be and for the first time in my life having the choice.”
- Cubs catcher/outfielder Kyle Schwarber is set for surgery this week on his injured left knee, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com was among those to tweet. It’s already clear that he’ll miss the entire season with ACL and LCL tears, but a broader recovery timeline remains unknown and will presumably depend in part upon how the procedure goes.
Jed Hoyer Discusses Wesleyan University: MLBTR College Series
MLBTR continues a series where we interview top baseball executives about their college years. We’ll ask about why those chose their school, memorable moments, their favorite professor, important connections made, college learnings they still use today, and more.
We’ve already spoken to Reds GM Dick Williams, and next up in our question-and-answer series is Chicago Cubs Executive Vice President and General Manager Jed Hoyer – a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT).
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Hi Jed, thanks for taking the time to speak with MLBTR. You have a little different path than some others, as you were an athlete, pitcher AND pitching coach at Wesleyan University. What led you to Wesleyan?
“The over-arching goal of my college search was to combine three factors – great academics, the ability to continue playing baseball, and a campus environment that would broaden my limited horizons. I looked at a lot of different schools and the best combination of those factors was Wesleyan. In hindsight, I was less intense and strategic about that decision than I would have been later in life. I simply had a great feel for the school, loved my interactions with the baseball coach (Pete Kostacopoulos), and could picture myself on campus. I had a wonderful four years at Wesleyan and will always be thankful that my instincts were right.”
When you look back at your Wesleyan days, what special moments can you share?
“My favorite moments from Wesleyan come from our baseball team my sophomore year. We advanced to the (Division III) College World Series and ended up losing in the national title game to Jarrod Washburn (Wisconsin-Oshkosh). Despite the disappointment of losing at the end, it was an incredible experience. We were already a close-knit group, but the intensity of the postseason that year only brought us all closer.”
I’m going to get to some student-athlete questions, starting with the academic side. But first, can you tell me about your immediate post-graduate career? I know you initially stayed in school, so to speak.
“My first job after college, I worked as an assistant director of admissions at Kenyon College (Gambier, OH). I also was an assistant baseball coach. I left Kenyon after a year and returned to Wesleyan in a similar capacity. I was really fortunate that my bosses at both schools allowed me the time away from the office to coach. At the time, I simply did it because I wanted to stay on the field. In hindsight, it was an invaluable experience for me to learn about the game from a different angle. I had never thought about how to teach fundamentals or how to motivate players prior to coaching. The three years I spent coaching has benefited me in ways I never would have imagined at the time.”
What was your college major?
“American History.”
I didn’t know that! Have you been able to apply your major to baseball?
“I loved being a history major. I loved the professors I had. I really enjoyed the reading material. Even today, if I get a chance to sit down and read a book, I’m going to grab a biography or something about a historical period. But I will say if I knew I’d be where I’m sitting right now, I certainly would have angled myself more towards economics or something more quantitative. I do think that’s important when you start your life after college to know that every move you make doesn’t have to be planned so specifically. I was kind of referencing that before in regards to coaching. I coached baseball because I loved being out there, and I wanted to stay involved with the game. It gave me an awesome perspective on the game that I never had. I worked for a couple consulting firms later on, and that really helped me learn how to build business models and advanced my quantitative skills. I think every job I’ve had has provided me with different skills or knowledge that I can use every day in baseball.”
You might have a different perspective on this question as a former admissions official and former coach. What advice do you give high school and college students who want to work in a front office someday?
“I always tell aspiring baseball people the same thing – get involved in baseball in every way you possibly can. For me, it was playing until I wasn’t good enough to play anymore and then coaching. Baseball was my athletic love, and now I’m fortunate enough to be able to come to work every day and apply that. Ultimately, when I come into work, my entire day is spent dealing with baseball in various forms – whether it’s contractual, whether it’s rules, whether it’s player evaluation. Sports science … analytic stuff … whatever it might be, it’s all baseball all day. If you don’t absolutely love baseball, this is never going to work for you.”
Were there lessons you learned at Wesleyan that you utilize today as part of this day-to-day routine?
“I think the two things that come to mind right away are – No. 1, there’s nothing better than team sports. The camaraderie that’s built among a group of people fighting for a common goal is really something special. I know I experienced that playing in college. I don’t think that’s any different when you’re getting paid to play in the big leagues. Creating a great culture in the clubhouse, getting everyone pulling in the same direction, there’s no doubt that the teams that do that best have a big advantage. The second thing, on a more academic level, is that lifelong learning is something that’s exceptionally important. The most impressive thing about Wesleyan to me was that there was this eclectic group of intellectually curious 19-22 year olds– and those were the type of people I wanted to be around on a day-to-day basis. The school was filled with people that are constantly learning, always curious, and consistently pushing the boundaries. Those are the type of people I wanted to be surrounded by when I was 20 and they are the same people I want to fill our front office with at 42.”
As you reflect back on Wesleyan and being a student there, did you have a favorite professor?
“The most vivid memory of the classroom at Wesleyan – and I think back on this quite a bit – there was a professor named Richard Slotkin, and he taught American Literature. His classes were incredibly hard to get into because he was such an amazing lecturer. I remember sitting in his lectures and thinking … I hope someday I can be as good at my job and as passionate about my job and as knowledgeable about the field of study as this guy is. Candidly, I think I’m still trying to get there. I think it’s great when you see anyone in any walk of life that so dominates their field – and you can tell that it brings them so much joy to share it.”
Baseball-wise, did you make any important connections at Wesleyan that helped you in your baseball career?
“Ben Cherington played at Amherst, and they were our rival. My closest friend from high school played at Amherst with Ben, so I got to know those guys very well. It was a really fun and great rivalry. When I tried to get an internship with the Red Sox a few years later, the connection with Ben really helped me. Ben is an incredible talent. I was really fortunate to get to know him at age 19 in a setting that neither of us ever would have imagined would have led to a professional relationship and friendship.”
You set Wesleyan’s all-time school saves record – and were also the everyday shortstop. Can you talk about your playing days?
“If I had any strength in baseball at all, it was that I was really versatile. My sophomore year, I played left field and was the closer. My junior year, I played shortstop, was a starting pitcher, and even played catcher a few games when our catcher got hurt. My senior year, I played shortstop and was the closer. In general, I felt comfortable moving around the diamond. I knew I wasn’t going to play in the big leagues. I was self-aware enough to realize that. I played in the Cape Cod League after my junior year and was teammates with Mark DeRosa, John McDonald and Dan Reichert. It was a great experience and also a humbling experience. I realized that if I was going to have a future in baseball, it wasn’t going to be playing on TV.”
Do you ever get a chance to go back to visit campus?
“I’m actually going back soon. My 20th reunion is in the middle of May, so I’m going back for that – which will be fun. When I was with the Red Sox, I went back often; it was only a three-hour drive. I could get down there for a game or to visit people. But after I left the Red Sox, I haven’t been back since. I’m excited to be back on campus.”
Final question, as we tie together your college major and your professional career. Did obtaining a history degree pique your interest in learning more about the histories of the Red Sox and the Cubs?
“No doubt. I’ve been fortunate that two of the three teams I’ve worked for have incredibly rich, deep histories. Those two teams are more than just baseball teams to their cultures … they’re a way of life that’s passed down generation to generation. I think I’d be doing a disservice to the job if I didn’t completely embrace the history of the Red Sox or the Cubs. There are so many similarities between the two teams. The Red Sox ended their long suffering. Now we get the incredible opportunity to try to do the same thing in Chicago.”
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Chuck Wasserstrom spent 25 years in the Chicago Cubs’ front office – 16 in Media Relations and nine in Baseball Operations. Now a freelance writer, his behind-the-scenes stories of his time in a big league front office can be found on www.chuckblogerstrom.com.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Joe Maddon On Javier Baez's Playing Time
- After the Cubs activated him from the 15-day disabled list Friday, utilityman Javier Baez made his 2016 debut Saturday and went 2 for 4 with a double while giving veteran Ben Zobrist a breather at second base. Going forward, the Cubs hope to start Baez two or three times per week at various positions as they try to develop the 23-year-old, manager Joe Maddon said (via Cody Stavenhagen of MLB.com). “He’s got a high-maintenance swing and he’s young, so he needs to continue to get at-bats,” stated Maddon. “That’s the difficult part about all of this … to nurture him along right now along with a team that has a chance to do something really special this year.” After a poor 52-game showing at the plate with the Cubs in 2014 (.169/.227/.324), the former top-tier prospect improved last season to the tune of a respectable .289/.325/.408 line in 28 contests.
