The Cubs announced Friday that they’ve signed outfielder Ryan LaMarre to a minor league deal. Chicago also confirmed its previously reported minor league deal with infielder Derek Dietrich and added 2020 draftee Burl Carraway to its 60-man player pool. All three players will head to the team’s alternate training site in South Bend.
LaMarre, 31, has spent time in the Majors in each of the past five seasons, most recently with the Twins in 2018-19. The 2010 second-rounder, who is a career .236/.286/.338 hitter in 246 trips to the plate, had recently opted out of a minor league deal with the Rays. He’s capable of playing all three outfield positions and carries a solid .281/.349/.415 batting line in parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level.
Carraway, selected in the second round out of Dallas Baptist University, is seen as a pure bullpen prospect with a powerful fastball/curve combination. He misses bats with ease but also has struggled with his control. He was widely regarded as a top-100 prospect in this year’s draft and could rise to the Majors quickly — although a 2020 debut would nevertheless register as a surprise.
ETA for “dumpster diving Theo” comments…3…2…1…
The San Diego version of that guy would have complained about the Kirby Yates signing.
I usually read the “dumpster dive” comments as “I am a hack commenter, and by posting this, all my comments on this site should be taken as baby talk”.
This isn’t dumpster diving. They made a deal with the devil to get that flag in 2016 and now are living through the consequences. Coupled with the fact that there’s a pandemic and they can’t develop pitching, I think the best way to respond this year is to throw all your Carraway.
Technically Correct, you’re, well, technically correct. These are just facts that all these suburb Cub fans refuse to accept. Oh well, only a few more hours til Eloy and Co. get this season started!
The Chicago Cubs: Living Rent Free Inside the White Sox Fan Head Since 1900.
How was that start to the season by Eloy and co? While the Sox pitching was busy giving up double digit runs, cubs pitching threw a shutout. Glad to see Eloy and co. get it started though
Technically Correct—-you are technically correct—they did get that flag in 2016…….but, not a single consequence matters.
Woo hoo 2016 flag flies forever . I guess the 1988 one for Dodgers does too. Man 31 year old hasn’t seen dodgers win a World Series.
Burl Carraway is now my newest favorite soap opera star! Now all I have to do is start watching soap operas.
Starting to realize it is going to be a difficult year for my NL Cubbies. Hoping a record of 20-40 this season we can sneak in to the playoffs with this new hockeyjohn format. And get to the World Series as a surprise team. Yikes!
I like hockeyjohn. Great random amalgam of words and names and all sorts of amalgam-y.
the central shouldnt be that hard. they can win 20 games against the AL Central alone
I know that in this case (and possibly all others) of recently drafted players being added to the 60-man player pool could be entirely just for development. It will be interesting to see if Carraway (or any other 2020 draftee) actually winds up making their major League debut this season without any minor league experience. Just given the overall circumstances and that for the first time ever, these guys will be training with other MLB/MLB-Ready guys if someone impresses in those workouts it’s possibly a team will take a chance on them and give them a look in the majors. It’s quite possible this doesn’t happen… but it will be an interesting storyline to keep an eye on… especially if a team winds up being decimated by injuries or coronavirus they’ll only have so many replacement players ready to contribute from their 60-man pool… so that could potentially open the door for a unique “straight to the majors” debut for some guys.
Theo thanks for Torres. I would of done the same thing. However trading for Quintana and others afterwards trying to repeat should not of happened.
Yikes. LaMullett is more like it.