Fans and pundits alike were surprised when Daniel Murphy fell to the Cubs on revocable waivers, and that was the reaction of the Cubs’ front office as well, GM Jed Hoyer explains to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Hoyer says the Cubs had been claiming anywhere from one to as many as “eight or nine” players per day without much to show for it and were indeed “surprised” to learn they’d been awarded the claim on Murphy. (Interestingly, Rogers notes that the Cubs also tried to claim Bryce Harper, though the Dodgers reportedly blocked other contenders from succeeding in that regard.) Hoyer delves into negotiations with the Nationals a bit and reveals that the Murphy trade came together all of two minutes before his waiver period was set to expire.
Rogers’ column gives interesting insight into the mechanics behind the waiver process from the team perspective, explaining how clubs go about placing claims and learning when they have or have not succeeded in claiming a player. Rogers also chats with Murphy himself about the waiver process and the transition from the Nationals to the Cubs. Those looking to learn more about August trade maneuverings and the nuts and bolts behind these claims will want to check out the column in full to gain some additional perspective. And, of course, we’d be remiss to not thank Murphy for his readership, as the veteran infielder tells Rogers he “frequents” MLBTR and first learned of his placement on waivers right here.
Here’s more from the division…
- The Reds announced this afternoon that lefty setup man Amir Garrett has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a bone bruise in his foot. Righty Jackson Stephens was activated from the 10-day DL and added to the roster in his place. As Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer examines, the situation illustrates just how far Brandon Finnegan’s standing within the organization has fallen. Interim skipper Jim Riggleman suggested to reporters that the team wouldn’t bring up a lefty in the short term and, asked specifically about Finnegan, wouldn’t commit firmly to a September call-up for the 25-year-old. Finnegan was very arguably the headliner of the 2015 trade that sent Johnny Cueto to Kansas City, but he’s struggled immensely in 2018 and, since being moved to the bullpen in Triple-A, has an ERA north of 7.00 with 19 walks against 20 strikeouts.
- Brewers fans are growing increasingly restless as they clamor for the team to make some kind of upgrade between now and month’s end, and general manager David Stearns addressed his lack of activity to this point in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today (Twitter link, with full audio). Stearns made clear that he has confidence in the Brewers’ current pitching staff and suggested that expanded September rosters will allow Milwaukee to take pressure off the rotation by shortening games, but he also plainly stated that he’s staying active in trade discussions as he seeks upgrades. “You generally know who has cleared waivers,” said Stearns. “At this point, most of the guys have gone through. We are having conversations. I think most contending clubs are having conversations.” Stearns added that the limited rental period for impending free agents acquired this time of season makes the cost of acquisition even more crucial but said the Milwaukee front office is still “out there looking to improve the team if we can find the right match.”
“Finding the right match”. Brewer talk for “as long as people come and spend money, we probably don’t have to do much””
The Chicago articles regarding Murphy were of a political tone completely missing the point that the trade was for Murphy, for defense, for offense and experience, not to be a diplomat or politician.
He’s not a good defender.
Personally, I think Stearns jumped the gun, and I fear that the Phillies could ultimately do the same
While the Brewers were good last season, they upgraded in all the wrong places. When they needed rotation help over the offseason, they added a pair of outfielders leaving Domingo Santana to waste in AAA all season, when they needed starters at the deadline, they actually traded a near major league ready starter for a second baseman, and then proceeded to play him at short.
While I didn’t like the Cabrera deal simply because of the fact that I like Kilyome, I’m not going to criticize anything that the Phillies did this summer based on the fact that they really didn’t give up anything to get Bautista, Ramos, Loup, Avilan, or Bour- but I’m just hoping that they don’t overpay for another power hitter when we need a player with good on base numbers and possibly an extension for Nola who has been unbelievable.
Agree re Brewer pitching but hard to argue that Yelich and Cain are a significant upgrade over Santana and Broxton. Yelich in particular playing at mvp level right now and both players under contract for years.
Cain and Yelich were great acquisitions and without them they would not be in this position
Just to clarify- I never said that the Yellich and Cain pick-ups were bad, but when the main need was starting pitching, I think that they should’ve at least turned some of the focus to starting.
Santana may have been bad this season, but hell, I know that if I had the season that he had, and then was replaced, I know I would lose all motivation for that team as well. He’s a huge change of scenery candidate for this offseason IMO
Yelich and Cain made this team significantly better. There were a lot of reasons to think Santana couldn’t repeat his numbers and Broxtons numbers were never good enough to be an everyday CF on a playoff team. Yelich and Cain are nearly at 11 bWar. That’s conservatively a 5-6 win jump over what Broxton and Santana would’ve produced. I believe more. Clearly they should’ve addressed the rotation at some point but I don’t think you criticize those 2 moves. Criticize schoop and Moose instead of a pitcher but the outfield is massively better.
The pitchers from last years free agency have all been pretty bad this year and that makes Stearns look pretty good. They went after Yelich and Cain because it would cost them way less money than pitching would. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to make any significant trades for pitching due to what teams are wanting in return.
Brewers are about to be all over Estrada…they will have like seven #4-5 hole starters on any other playoff team (you know, the guys usually moved out of a starting role come October)
I was gonna say Estrada seems to fit the Brewers rotation fairly easy.
The Crew also quietly made probably the best move for a starting pitcher in the off-season by signing Chacin.
Mikolas has been a better move than Chacin, about equally under the radar.
As long as Counsell blows through the few bullpen guys that can regularly get guys out, the Brewers are going nowhere.
Yup. This has always been a problem with Chicago media. It’s usually far too left, and it also doesn’t help that many of the journalists are hired from other markets (cities).
These guys are always starting trouble, because many of them don’t like the Cubs, and it also generates click bait. It’s all self-serving drivel.
Where does this post refer to Chicago media, Mr Newsbuster?
His reference is to another comment about the article mentioned in the post above. Also thanks for letting a Bay Area resident know about the sports writing happening in your town! No joke I really do appreciate that info, will make it easy to discern and avoid some of the stuff since the cubs are a pretty interesting team! Most of the Bay Area writers I have to say are pretty honest and that’s in regards to both teams they each understand what the teams are trying to do and don’t stop from admitting when it’s gone completely wrong w/ some spin don’t get me wrong some of them get paid by the team. Only one I could think to kind of avoid at this point would be mccoveychron just because grant bisbee is no longer the editor or writing articles and I just haven’t been impressed with the knowledge or direction the site has taken since. Opinions are like other things we all have but I appreciate them taking time to point this out ! Also it was purely factual they took no stances on the issues just informed its primary objective is for you to click it nothing else!
Was in response to @citizen’s comment. Hit the reply button to him and it posted in general, for some reason.
Lol…thanks for clarifying. We appear to have differing views on politics but I’m sure we can agree that the comment threads on MLBTR don’t always deserve rave reviews for user-friendliness… 🙂
PS I heart MLBTR, and I know it’s a free service…just having a little fun.
Hamels and Murph have been HUGE pick ups and they got them both for practically nothing. In 6 starts w/ the Cubs, Hamels is 4-0(Cubs are 6-0) and he as an ERA of 0.68 Murphy’s been great as well, batting over .400 with an OPS over .1300. The Cubs haven’t lost a game he’s started either.
Theo made up for this offseason where he did nothing but sign the wrong guy. That’s for sure.
“And, of course, we’d be remiss to not thank Murphy for his readership, as the veteran infielder tells Rogers he “frequents” MLBTR and first learned of his placement on waivers right here.” – that’s pretty awesome. Congrats MLBTR.
Yeah, had me wondering if any frequent commenter on MLBTR is actually a major leaguer. Pretty cool.
I think rayderek might be Jonathan Villar’s burner account
The reds had to have the highest number of highly regarded pitching prospects to fizzle out in recent memory. Crazy number of guys who haven’t had any success in the big league rotation. The orioles deservedly get drilled for not developing pitchers but the reds have had much better guys to develop recently.
As a Cubs fan I don’t want Harper on my team. He’s not worth what he’s gonna get this winter. He’s always want to play for the Yankees judge will be their DH if they sign him.