Carl Willis’ name has been oft-mentioned in the Twins’ search for a new pitching coach, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The 56-year-old Willis has held that same position with the Red Sox since the 2015 campaign, but Boston’s coaching staff under now-former manager John Farrell was given the opportunity to explore opportunities with other teams. Willis is no stranger to the Twins organization, as he spent five seasons pitching for Minnesota in the early 90s and enjoyed a career year with the World Champion ’91 Twins. Heyman also notes that the Twins have interviewed former Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey, but Hickey’s ties to Cubs skipper Joe Maddon are strong. The Cubs also have a pitching coach vacancy after dismissing Chris Bosio following their exit from the NLCS.
More from baseball’s Central divisions…
- Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein recently spoke about the team’s 2018 rotation and acknowledged a need, writes CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney. Epstein characterized left-hander Mike Montgomery as someone who will likely stretch out as a starter in Spring Training but “probably start the year in the bullpen” barring spring injuries. “And then at the end of the regular season, when you look up, he’ll have somewhere between 10 and 20 starts. And you’ll say: ‘Wow, Mike Montgomery was really valuable this year,'” said Epstein. As for splurging on the free-agent market, Epstein was non-committal when discussing a pursuit of Yu Darvish or a reunion with Jake Arrieta. “…I wouldn’t rule it out completely, and I wouldn’t rule it in,” said Epstein of pursuing a high-priced free-agent pitcher. “I would just say it’s not our preferred method.”
- Ankle surgery has not yet been firmly ruled out for White Sox center fielder Charlie Tilson, writes Scot Gregor for Baseball America (subscription required and recommended). Tilson has been beset by injuries since being acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for Zach Duke in a 2016 deadline deal. He tore his hamstring in his MLB debut with the ChiSox in Aug. 2016, and he missed the 2017 campaign after suffering an offseason stress fracture in his right foot and a broken right ankle in June. Tilson was at last able to play in the instructional league this month, and he tells Gregor that those games were a “test” for the health of his right foot. “There’s always surgical possibilities, but I’m just trying to take it a day at a time and keep doing the things that are working for me,” said Tilson. He’ll have some new competition next spring, as Adam Engel and Leury Garcia will be in Chicago’s center field mix as well.
- The Royals have been discussing contingency plans for the potential departure of Eric Hosmer and/or Mike Moustakas, writes MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan. One possibility is for prospect Hunter Dozier to slide across the diamond from third base to first base, with Cheslor Cuthbert manning the hot corner. Dozier has seen occasional time at first base in recent seasons and could see some additional time there playing winter ball in Mexico, though assistant GM J.J. Picollo tells Flanagan that Dozier’s goal in winter ball is just to get as many at-bats as possible regardless of position. If Hosmer and Moustakas do depart, it’s also possible that Cuthbert could play first next year with Dozier playing his natural third base, says Picollo, calling it “a matter of how we line up best defensively.”
LOL, great idea by the Royals. 1B is in good hands with Hunter Dozier and Chelsor Cuthbert, two guys who *definitely* have the bats to play that position in the majors. Unless, of course, they can upgrade with somebody like Paul Janish or Pedro Florimon…
Ryan O’Hean at 1B?
I would like Ryan O’hearn to be at 1st base if Hosmer leaves. He did well last year. He even hit more home runs after a promotion.
Yeah they should sign Chris Carter, established MLB big bat 1st baseman. That is if Ryan Howard isn’t available.
I don’t think Theo’s gonna try for Darvish and definitely not Arrieta. Alex Cobb and possibly Ohtani are the players he makes a play for.
Otani would be an excellent choice since he could help the Cubs number one need……hitting.
Why is it that as a MLB team’s lineup goes south that team always sees a need to make their pitching better?
When a team’s rotation goes south do you ever see a team respond by trying to make their lineup more potent?
That’s because 2 of their 5 SP are gone. Who is pitching in the 4 and 5 spots genius? Man there should be a screening process before some of these people make nonsense posts
Because:
mobile.twitter.com/dumbcubsfanssay
Anthem still have three really good ones. I think you can almost guarantee one of Cobb or Lynn will end up a Cub and maybe even one of Tanaka, Darvish, Arrieta or Otani.
Their lineup still scored a ton of runs this year…. and they only have three starting pitchers dude…
If the Cubs had “scored a ton of runs”they would have just beaten the Astros in Game One of the Series.
The Cubs only advanced through that unwatchable division series against the Nats because that Nationals team’s lineup was ice freakin’ cold.
I stated here emphatically before the playoffs began that the Nats were going home after the first round because their lineup was completely dead.
He said a tons of runs THIS YEAR> He said nothing about the playoffs.
Oh Casey … stop embarrassing yourself
Cubs were 2nd in runs scored in the NL. hitting stats were comparable to 2016. Pitching is what they need.
No, the Cubs could never score runs when they needed to. They could run up scores against bad pitching but they were owned by good and better pitching all year.
That is not the way the Cubs played last year.
If you don’t watch baseball then you should not comment on it. Stats don’t tell you everything.
Not even close.
RIght, except in the 90 plus games they won. Those were all against bad pitching, I suppose.
You need to take your own advice.
The Cubs do not need a new hitting coach.
Also, if you had read previous articles, you would know Bosio’s relationship with Maddon had soured. Joe was the one who made the call to let him go.
Oh Casey have you ever won an argument
lol, cubbies75 isn’t wrong, they did finish 2nd in runs scored. Plus, why would they need to improve their offense? They also finished 3rd in homers, 1st in OBP, 4th in slugging %, and 5th in average. They also had 6 players finish with 20+ homers. If anything, The Cubs had one of the top 3 offense in The NL this year. I highly doubt 90% of those runs came off of bad pitching.
Pretty much every bit of statistical data seem to disagree with you Casey but you keep strong, your resilience, despite being categorically wrong, is admirable.
“Pretty much every bit of statistical data seem to disagree with you”
The data that does agree with me are the data that are important. You need to focus on that.
What statistics? All the important ones seem to disagree with you. I swear you only comment to start arguments.
What statistical data agrees with you? Please, give me an example, you’re just saying “their lineup sucks”, without giving any real stats to back it up.
“Pretty much every bit of statistical data seem to disagree with you” – kleppy12
Ask kleppy12, he’s seen the data.
What stats back-up your reasoning? I don’t understand. At least put up an argument with facts/stats to back it up. Kleppy isn’t completley wrong, not to many stats agree with your position, but you claim the more important stats agree with you. What stats are those? Average with RISP? Average against pitchers with ERA’s under 4? Right now you’re just saying they’re bad because you think so.
The only stat I can find that seems to agree with you is average amount of runners left in risp on base in one game, in which they left 3.51 runners per game, stranded on base in scoring position, the third worse in The NL. They also average 6.95 runners on base in general per game. Yes, that is something they need to work on, but it’s not like they need to spend big on offense to fix that.
At most, add a few good bench bats, but mainly focus on adding pitching.
Their BO was terrible in the playoffs and erratic all year.
The offense struggled when it ran into superb pitching. The year, as a while, was not bad for hitters.
BP
That’s the thing about elite superior pitching. If teams could regularly hit it well why would it be called superior or elite.
Oh well smart guy its because they need to make their pitching better. Open your eyes
yeah, the astros last offseason, they needed pitching help and instead got Beltran, mccan, and reddick
Number 1 need is hitting? Team’s lineup has gone south?
Do you even watch baseball?
The Cubs “bad” offense as you hint at “only” scored the 4th most runs in MLB this year with 822. Their “bad” offense finished in the middle of the pack in terms of team BA, but had the 4th best team OBP. Their “bad” and “going south” offense also had the 7th best team slugging percentage and 6th best team OPS.
Their bats just got cold at the wrong time. Simple as that. Matters aren’t helped much when you have a manager who is constantly switching up the lineups and managing postseason games as if they are regular season games.
If this postseason AND regular season indicated anything it is that they need more bullpen help. Edwards is inconsistent and walks a ton of dudes. Overall he is solid but I wouldn’t trust him in any inning beyond the 7th. With Davis hitting the market they are in need of a closer. Pedro Strop is a solid work horse who has been….. alright and pretty consistent his entire time he has been on the team. Duensing, also a free agent, was a major surprise this year. 2017 was quite possibly Duensing’s career year. But again, he’s a free agent and I don’t think he is really worth bringing back unless they can’t find another lefty on the market. I mean as of right now the only guys they have penciled in for their 2018 bullpen are…… Grimm?, Edwards, Strop, Montgomery, and….. Rondon?….. maybe. They need to address their pen and need to address it hard. I would like to see them go after Mike Minor. He returned this year as a reliever with the Royals after missing the previous 2. In 77+ innings he was a stud. 10.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 2.55 ERA, and a 1.02 WHIP. AND he’s a lefty. He might have all the makings of a Wade Davis 2.0 – a converted starter who ends up being a solid closer. DEFINITELY worth a flyer at the very least.
Point being, their offense is easily their LEAST worry right now. I would say their bullpen is the major cause for concern and need that needs to be addressed CONSIDERABLY this offseason. The rotation is a close #2 concern needing to be addressed, but that is more just because of guys departing either via free agency or likely retirement. Still….. right now they have Lester, Hendricks, and Quintana as their 1-3 starters…… not exactly a trio of bums. I can see them going after both Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb to round out that rotation. Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner, and Michael Pineda are other guys who are wild cards that I can see them buying low on and taking a gamble with. Also, I wouldn’t be shocked if they manage to work out a deal bringing Arrieta back on a 5-6 year deal worth about 23-24M per season. Yes, that pretty much means they have about $50M wrapped up in 2 starting pitchers, but let’s be real here. It’s not like the Cubs don’t have the cash to go out and do something like that. Personally I hope their rotation next year looks something like….. Arrieta, Lester, Hendricks, Quintana, and either Cobb or Lynn. That is just disgusting to think about as a potential rotation. Then go out and sign Tony Watson and Mike Minor as two solid lefties out of the pen in addition to adding, say, Bryan Shaw and/or Sergio Romo to round the pen out and your bullpen would look something like Watson, Montgomery, Romo, Rondon, Shaw, Edwards, Strop, Minor. If they were to get that rotation and assemble that bullpen coupled with their SOLID not “going south” offense and this team wins 100+ games in 2018.
Their offense is easily their best asset they have going right now. I can’t believe anyone would say it is their weakness or a major need that needs to be addressed. It’s stupid young and getting better each year. I mean I listed where they finished among the league in BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, and Runs scored….. pretty much in the top 10 if not top 5 in each category……… and that was with a LOT of their guys having down years this year, suffering IMO from a world series hangover.
I mean if you honestly think Schwarber is at best a .210 hitter with a .315 OBP like h had this year you’re an idiot. You likely were the same type of person who thought Baez was a major bust after his 2014 campaign when he struck out about 50% of the time and couldn’t even eclipse the .200 BA mark – then you wanted him traded and out of town……. but then in 2015 and especially 2016 he builds off of his experience, becomes a .270-.280 hitter with a .320ish or so OBP and possesses 20+ HR power and now you’re likely his biggest fan, saying he’s “untradeable.” When Schwarber hits .250-.260 with a ..360-.370 OBP and bashes 40+ HRs next year you’ll likely pretend you supported him and backed him up all along when fact is you likely think he should be traded right now. I mean it was his first full season at the ML level and despite hitting only .210 but having a healthy ,315 OBP in spite of that BA he STILL managed to hit 30 HRs in only 422 ABs. If he gets Bryant or Rizzo-like amount of ABs next year and posts a similar HR pace, that means in about 560 or so ABs he’d hit about 40 HRs. Post All-Star break Schwarber posted a much more respectable .253 BA with a .335 OBP and a .894 OPS….. not to mention 17 HRs in only 186 ABs. Meaning as the year wore on he improved GREATLY. Yet morons like yourself think he’s a bust and is only destined to play in the AL as a DH…. maybe, because you think he is an awful player not only defensively but also offensively now because he had a horrible April and May. It amazes me how short sighted fans are nowadays and how the put so much stock in stats a player posts in only 1-2 months out of the season. So many people are what term “what have you done for me lately” fans. But that’s not really a accurate way to describe them, because if that was truly the case people would be calling Schwarber untouchable in the trade market because, again, his numbers the last few months of the season were solid….. STELLAR for a guy in his first full season. I mean give him and other young guys on this team time to develop and mature before you cast them aside. I mean this team is comprised of how many dudes under the age of 25-26 years of age? If ANYONE on this team offensively is deemed expendable I’d say it is Addison Russell. Baez is as good if not better offensively and defensively. But if they were to keep him they’d have IMO 4…. FOUR MLB starting caliber middle infielders in Russell, Baez, Happ, and the under appreciated Tommy La Stella. La Stella would likely be a starting 2nd basemen on at least 25 or so other teams…… on the Cubs he’s like their 25th guy on the roster, barely cracking the team. In the last 2 years La Stella has posted about a .280 BA with a .370 OBP and has hit 7 HRs in about 270 ABs. Assuming he maintains those averages over, say, 550-560 ABs in a full season he’d hit about 15-16 HRs assuming he maintains that HR pace. How many 2Bmen hit .280 with a .370 OBP and possess 16ish HR power while playing adequate defense at 2B? Answer….. not many. And yet he’s labeled as their 4th middle infielder and backup 3Bman to Bryant. Hell, with zobrist still cloggin up a spot on the roster he’s technically their FIFTH middle infielder behind Russell, Baez, Happ, and Zobrist. Then they have Almora who was quite possibly their best hitter this year hitting about, what, .295-.298 this year. Yet he was pretty much their 4th if not 5th OFer behind Schwarber, Heyward, Zobrist, and Jay. Give that kid every day ABs in 2018 as the every day CFer and he might be a .280-.290 hitter with a .340-.350 OBP and in 2017 showed he might have about 15 HR power given every day ABs (he had 8 HRs in only 299 ABs in 2017). People claim this team needs a leadoff hitter, desperately….. I say they might have one already in Almora……. if their idiot manager actually plays him. If Almora can start working counts a bit better and up his walk rate slightly he’s a stud. In only 411 career ABs he owns a healthy .292 BA and a .330 OBP. That OBP improved greatly though already in 2017. Assuming the trend continues in 2018 as he gains more experience and matures I’d be thrilled with a lead off hitter in Almora if he can hit .290 with a .345-.355 OBP and pop about 13-16 HRs. That’s pretty much what the over adored Fowler produced on average in his two year tenure here. IMO the 2018 lineup should look like the following
CF Almora
C Contreras
3B Bryant
1B Rizzo
LF Schwarber
2B Happ
SS Baez
RF Heyward
Leaving Russell, Zobrist, La Stella, and….. say…. Caratini on the bench. That bench alone has 2 former all stars on it in Russell and Zobrist for f***s sake. But yeah….. their offense is a weak point. GTFOH.
What would it take for the Pirates to get Baez? Cole?
Cole’s fixing to go away or get expensive. Why would the Cubs do that?
2 more years of arbitration, and why wouldn’t he consider signing with the Cubs long term? They have Happ and Cole would be a better and a cheaper option than the pitchers in the market
TBH, I can’t see why the Pirates would do this. Baez is an average hitter and a plus defensive second baseman- useful, but not exactly as valuable as an above-average, borderline All-star SP, even factoring in the contract disparities
Cole has struggled, he’s given up the long ball a lot. I don’t think Cole resigns with the Pirates, so why wait until 2019 to trade him when Baez could be available now. They could use Baez as 2B and deal Harrison, or even move Harrison to 3B if Kang isn’t back. They could even leave Harrison at 2B and move Baez to SS, which I think is an upgrade over Mercer.
Then he would need to agree to an extension before the trade.was finalized.
WHo says he will be cheaper than Lynn or Cobb. He will make a team pay for giving an arbitration years.
The same reasaons you want to trade him are the same reasons other teams wil balk.
Pitt would never trade Cole to the Cubs unless they overpaid. I’m a Cubs fan and if Baez, Happ, and the Cubs top prospect of Pitts choosing wouldn’t be enough for 2 years of Cole(even if they weren’t trading the Cubs). 2 years of a top of the rotation starter is worth 60-70 mil, now monetize that with happy at Baez and the upside.
I get that the Cubs would be a better squad with Cole than without. He would also cost less in dollars than some options.
However, in case you haven’t noticed, Joe Maddon likes to “vary up” his lineup. Likely more than most managers.
Parting with Baez leaves the Cubs with only one real SS. It worked in 2017, while Russell was injured. However, it only worked because Baez avoided injury.
The Cubs don’t have a “fire extinguisher SS” for if they trade either Baez or Russell. As Gleyber Torres is no longer an option, They don’t have a viable SS to serve as a back-up if either is traded.
Which is a far more huge barrier than most consider.
If the Cubs had a 2-Win SS they could summon to replace Baez/Russell, that makes perfect sense. As they don’t, any talks of the Cubs flipping Baez or Russell are likely a bit mislaid.
Cole isn’t resigning. From what I’ve heard he really doesn’t like pirates organization
If I’m pirates I trade him now to get max value.
And Paredes. Who will be good
If the R’s don’t fill one of the corner positions with a fairly big FA, that will unfortunately signal a rebuild and with Yonder Alonso & Jay Bruce (for example) not having compensation attached or more over, hometown product Logan Morrison being available and most likely not issued a qualified offer, well, if they didn’t pursue assets like this, again, tear it down!
It makes no sense to field a 100 million dollar team and not go anywhere fast so either compete or rebuild but don’t jack around in between…
keep Hoz and let the rest walk , The AL central is still a winnable division , The Royals still are an “alright” team despite’s the losses and Hunter Dozier was a hell of a prospect not so long ago , so maybe a year in the bigs can get him going
Keeping Hoz is the plan. However, if he gets bigger $ elsewhere, I think Dozier is a great idea at 1B. He was a top prospect not all that long ago and had big year in 2016 (and was injured most of 2017). Of course, I am pulling for Schwindel. That kid has raked at every level but somehow isn’t even one of the team’s top 30 prospects.
Tilson is a chandelier. Expect Engel or Garcia, manning CF for next year and beyond for the WSox. Though Engel has to find his bat, at least he is healthy..
If he is that valuable and he is going to make upward of twenty starts, then why not just make him the fifth starter?
I don’t mind him in the bullpen, but the logic is kind of flawed.
I assume you’re talking about Montgomery.
Because he has been more valuable and better out of the pen.
In 2017 as a reliever he owned a 2.49 ERA in 30 games and 61+ IP. As a starter in 14 games he owned a 4.15 ERA in 69+ IP. While that’s tolerable for a 5th starter you can do better. Especially if you’re a team like the Cubs and have truck loads of cash you can spend. Also, with the addition of Quintana and with Lester having 3 more years left on his deal, they already have 2 lefties in the rotation as is. Montgomery has proven to be a solid “left handed specialist” and long reliever out of the pen…… that’s a very valuable asset to have. Also, filling the role as the swing man/6th starter to give the main rotation of 5 guys an extra day off here and there and especially down the stretch….. Montgomery fills that role well too.
With Lester, Hendricks, and Quintana already inked in as at least their 1-3 starters, they only need 2 more guys. I still don’t think it is as impossible to re-sign Arrieta as people are making it out to be, but if they don’t bring him back I expect them to look to add a couple of guys like Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb to round out the rotation. A rotation of Lester, Hendricks, Quintana, Lynn, and Cobb is pretty friggin nasty. Toss Montgomery in as their swing man/6th starter and that’s a pretty stellar crew they have that can start games. Alec Mills is also an intriguing possibility to step up and possibly become a backend of the rotation starter….. and he’s already in the system. Cubs got him last year for Donnie Dewees via trade with the Royals. Mills has shown promise. Owning a 3.00 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 420+ minor league innings in his young career. Not to mention his sparkling 8.5 K/9 rate and 1.9 BB/9 rate in the minors as well. If that can translate to the ML level they might already have their 4th starter in-house already.
Mills missed a lot of time this year with a bum ankle I believe. He only accumulated 7 starts in his first year in the Cubs org. In those 7 starts he only pitched 28 innings but was a stellar. Posting a 2.57 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP. If….. IF they re-sign Arrieta or sign Darvish I can see them signing someone like Tyson Ross or Andrew Cashner on 1 year deals to compete for the 5th and final starting spot in addition to Mills and Montgomery also competing for that last spot.
Point is, unlike most I am not too worried about their rotation going forward. IMO their biggest need to address is the bullpen. I find that to be an area that is more interesting to find out how they’re going to address it. I am really hoping they make a somewhat “under the radar” move and sign Mike Minor early this winter. Minor returned to MLB in 2017 as a reliever after missing the last two years. After making the switch from starter to reliever he saw success similar to what Wade Davis saw when he first made the switch from starter to reliever several years ago. Minor, with the Royals, pitched almost 80 innings this year out of the pen and had a 2.55 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 10.2 K/9 rate to go with a 2.5 BB/9 rate. Sure it’s not as lights out as Davis has been since making the switch, but it is still a stellar performance nonetheless. I think he can be had for cheap, especially if they get him early this winter. To top it all off……. he’s a lefty too. Other than me hoping they add minor, I’d like to see them also add Tony Watson, Bryan Shaw, and Sergio Romo. Yeah, that’s a lot of dudes to be adding to a bullpen, but right now I only really see Edwards and Strop as guys who will definitely be returning to action in 2018. Rondon had a down and disappointing year after being removed from the closer’s role… in which he never got appreciated for despite posting stellar numbers as a closer. But he was mediocre at best in 2017 and Maddon and this organization never seems to have truly valued him his entire time he’s been here. I wouldn’t be shocked if they release him. So again….. the only guys I see coming back are Edwards and Strop…. oh yeah, and montgomery of course. So adding, Minor, Watson, Romo, and Shaw may seem like a lot of added personnel….. they need to add a lot of personnel. If Rondon is back adding those guys would make 8 dudes out of the bullpen with Montgomery, Minor, and Watson all being lefties. As for who would close games out. I’d make it a spring competition between Watson, Minor, Rondon, and I guess Edwards even though I think Edwards is too wild to be a serious option. Maybe they bring Lackey back…. as the closer. hahaha. He definitely has the demeanor. FYI….. just kidding on that last part.