The Cubs have acquired reliever Sean Newcomb from the Braves for right-hander Jesse Chavez and cash, according to announcements from both teams. Both clubs’ 40-man rosters are now full.
It’s a new landing spot for Newcomb, who has spent the past six seasons in Atlanta. A first-round pick of the Angels in 2014, the left-hander quickly developed into one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. After the 2015 season, the Angels flipped him alongside Chris Ellis to Atlanta for five years of Andrelton Simmons.
Newcomb was a starting pitching prospect at the time, with evaluators holding out hope that his high-octane arsenal could make him a top-of-the-rotation caliber hurler. He remained in that role for his first couple major league seasons, starting 49 of his 50 appearances between 2017-18. Newcomb showed some promise, posting a 4.06 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout rate. As he had throughout his time in the minor leagues, though, he struggled to throw strikes. After walking 12% of batters faced through his first couple seasons, the Braves transitioned him to the ’pen in 2019.
During his first season of relief, Newcomb pitched to a 3.16 ERA in 68 1/3 frames over 55 outings. Curiously, his strikeout and swinging strike numbers took a step back relative to where they’d been while he was starting, but he induced grounders on nearly half of batted balls against him and posted a personal-low 9.9% walk rate.
It looked as if Newcomb might thrive in shorter stints, but the Braves made an ill-fated effort to return him to the rotation in 2020. He was bombed in four starts and spent most of the season at the alternate training site. He returned to the big league bullpen last season but dealt with his worst control woes yet. In 32 outings, Newcomb walked a ghastly 18% of opponents while seeing his ground-ball rate tumble back to 39%. His 28.7% strikeout percentage was a career-high, but the free passes allowed hitters to rack up a .383 on-base percentage.
Newcomb has gotten off to another rough start this season. He’s worked five innings of four-run ball, allowing seven hits with four walks and strikeouts apiece. Because he’s out of minor league option years, the Braves had to either continue running him out against MLB hitters or designate him for assignment. They chose the latter course of action yesterday, likely knowing someone else would take a chance on him.
That team will be the Cubs, who add a live-armed southpaw to their bullpen. Newcomb has averaged north of 95 MPH on his heater in each of the past two seasons. He generated plus swinging strike rates on both his cutter-slider and curveball last year. For a team that entered the night with Daniel Norris as its only lefty reliever, it’s understandable why Chicago will take a shot to see if they can iron out Newcomb’s control woes.
He’s making a modest $900K this season (a little more than $800K of which remains owed) and can be controlled via arbitration through 2025. There’s a chance Newcomb sticks around on the North Side for the next few seasons, but the Cubs — like the Braves before them — will have to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment themselves.
The Braves, meanwhile, will replace Newcomb in the bullpen with one of his old teammates. Chavez, a 15-year MLB veteran, spent the 2021 season with Atlanta after being selected onto the big league roster in June. He pitched to a sterling 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings, striking out a career-high 27.1% of batters faced against a fine 8.3% walk rate. Chavez rather remarkably didn’t allow a single home run in his 30 appearances.
That impressive strikeout total came in spite of a 91 MPH fastball and a subpar 7.1% swinging strike rate, though. Between Chavez’s lack of velocity, swing-and-miss stuff and understandable skepticism about his ability to repeat his 2021 home run suppression, teams didn’t ardently pursue him in free agency. He signed a non-roster deal with Chicago, although he wound up breaking camp nonetheless.
Chavez made three appearances as a Cub, tossing 5 2/3 frames of three-run ball. He has punched out three batters with a pair of walks and a homer allowed. He’ll return to Atlanta and again serve as a multi-inning bullpen option for skipper Brian Snitker.
GIGO
The weird thing is Newcomb had a salary of $900k and Chavez only had a salary of around $750k. So the Braves saved $150k on the trade alone and then the Cubs sent more cash over? Why pay the team who is already saving money? That’s pretty rare. How much did the Cubs pay on top of the $150k they took on by making the trade in the first place? Newcomb has to stay on the Cubs active roster the entire time he is there, too. They can’t send him down no matter how poorly he performs. He is out of options. It’s pay him to play in the majors or pay him to leave. Chavez is on a split minor league deal, though. I think that means the Braves can send him down if they want.
Interesting note:
Newcomb kept complaining about not being a starter even though he has almost always been a terrible starter. The braves told him they would give him one last shot in LA if Ynoa fell apart they would replace him early. They did that and Newcomb fell apart again. It was over then.
That extra cash is just a fee for speaking to the genius that is AA.
Maybe cubs sending cash was compensation for the arbitration control? Maybe it was to sweeten the pot against another teams offer?
Also, @steve if Newcomb still has that much of an ego to want to remain a starter rather than just be in the bigs, that’s ridiculous.
Rare, but Newcomb still has a higher upside, and the Braves took advantage by getting added cash.
Lol so one season of thirty starts, under a 4 era. Since, he’s started a total of eight games. But yes, let’s just decide he is awful as a starter. Maybe he won’t be, but some of the “reasoning” on this board reminds me why none of you actually works in baseball.
Great trade for Cubs. Chavez is fine, but expendable. Newcomb may still have a future.
I’m not sure sure what team you watch, but it clearly isn’t the Braves. Newcomb’s 2018 was good on paper yeah, but his second half was awful. His control is abysmal. His stuff honestly, isn’t that good or overpowering. Chavez can be horrible and I have no issues with this trade. Wish Newk the best, but tired of all the walks. All the hard hits given up lefty-lefty. Tired of seeing him be called upon.
I’m gonna laugh when Newcomb still sucks with the cubs
As always, we await developments.
Yes look at what the Cubs got in Arrietta same deal terrible for the Os but money for the Cubs
kinda weird that you dont post to participate in any discussion, but rather just to paste the same meaningless crap in a bunch of threads
if you are gonna spam at least spam some neat ascii art or something
Source?
Braves started 2021 out with the exact same record of 6 wins and 8 losses. Difference is Acuna will be back soon and hopefully healthy. Rosario and Swanson will start to hit eventually. The bullpen is better. Barring any big injuries this team could be better than last years team.
Trash exchange
Great minds think alike, and so do we
Chavez was pretty good for us last year, worth a flyer.
Tell me you know little about baseball without telling me you know little about baseball
They are baseball players not trash, have you taken out your trash lately?
well that’s unexpected
Should have included Duvall and got Suzuki back.
Typical Braves, trading away former top prospects they failed to develop for cash. I hope they can afford payroll this year.
I know you wanted the Mets to get him and destroy the Braves..admit it
He might turn out to be another Collin McHugh. Oh, i bet you wish the Mets didn’t fail to develop him.
He did.
“New York will pick him up and fix him. He’s too talented and will be of use elsewhere. Thanks AA.”
Oh crap
Yea, can’t wait for Acuna, Riley, Albies, and Anderson to get traded. Really missed the window on Freddie Freeman. Too bad none of them are really good. They could have won the World Series.
He was a “top prospect” for the Angels, which means he’s at best 15-20 in almost any other org.
Top “pitching” prospect. From an organization that has been so bad at finding and developing pitching they spent 20 draft picks on pitchers in 1 draft.
Angels. Worst run MLB franchise.
They are definitely in the running.
I see your Angels and raise you a Rockies, sir
Don’t forget about the Rangers
Like that Trout dude.
With the best record in the AL
I mean, in Newcomb defense, he was a top 100 prospect in baseball for multiple years and kept battling for the top 5 in the Braves organization that (at the time) was loaded with top prospect status. The problem was that with all the “tools”, he never could throw strikes and kept getting promoted. So all in all, they really didn’t fix a legitimate problem before pushing him along in the system. He should still be in the minors working on stuff and never have been in the show cause that’s truly where he is in his development. That said, he’s too old at this point and he is what he is. So he should be released
Yeah. Rockies are bad but it’s the owner in COL. He is bad for baseball.
Well said. As a Braves fan, he’s had plenty of promise watching him these past few years, but either he can’t get it together or if he can someday, the Braves haven’t been the team to make that happen. I’m okay with cutting bait on him at this point either way.
Being a top prospect for the Angels is like being the smartest kid in summer school. Hell, you barely hear about Trout for crying out loud. Is he still playing?
Yes I remember that being the case when the Simmons/Newcomb trade happened. He was one of the top prospects for the Angels, who had a terrible farm system. The “experts “ then were saying Newcomb wasn’t going to rank that high in Atlanta’s system. I hope Newk figures it out with Chicago.
Dude was a top 100 prospect so that’s complete BS. He was ranked high in both systems.
Said it before Samantha Jake Arrietta the Cubs turned him into a Cy young
Dude, that was nearly a decade ago.
Suzuki, the Suzuki the Cubs have is a outfielder and never played for the Braves. The Suzuki you are speaking of plays for the Angels.
????
My post was a joke….but only because Duvall is terrible. Actually, it is also because the Cubs will never trade now nor need to trade him. The Braves should trade Duvall though if they are bad by the deadline. I’m afraid the Braves are taking the path of the Nationals after their WS win.
You apparently have not looked at Duvall’s stats!!!
Not only have I seen his stats, but I have also seen enough popups and strikeouts watching the games from him to know he is a one-dimensional hitter with giant holes in his swing. To be fair to him though, only Olson (and maybe Riley) are elite hitters on the team currently (until Acuna comes back).
He was he leader of RBI’S on the planet last year , If it wasn’t for him they probably wouldn’t have made it to the world series. Put the pipe down!!!
“If it wasn’t for him they probably wouldn’t have made it to the world series.”
You kidding right? You apparently have not watched the playoffs last season.
Duvall is a modified 3 outcome player – home run, strikeout, or infield oppo popup in the infield.
This is pretty much true, but he was still a 103 OPS+, 2.5 WAR player last season and his playoff run was incredible. I agree that he’s not very good, but I also agree with James– the Braves likely don’t win the WS without him doing what he did in the playoffs.
@Trump Chop
Ozzie Albies is just 25, he has 95 home runs and 320 rbi’s, at just 24 he had 30 home runs and 106 rbi’s +20 stolen bases-that is elite. The end.
The correct statement should be, “the Braves don’t even touch the PLAYOFFS without Duvall” last year. Seriously did you watch last season? How many 3 run homers did he hit? You’re unbelievably incorrect. He was huge last year. It’s surprising seeing someone who sounds like a Braves fan completely devalue how huge he was for us.
Bro, it’s a modified league anymore. Strikeout or home run. Exit velocity and launch angle is all that counts. However,in terms of Duvall, he is a .350 hitter with runners on base. Should count for something.
Albies is a good hitter, but a great baseball player. That is all!
Albies is FAR from being an elite hitter. He is a free swinger looking to homer every at-bat, which results in his low OBP and his sub-800 OPS last season. Duvall can get away with this, but Albies is capable of better. I won’t label him such until he proves it though.
I don’t know what problem you have with Duvall . he is cheap, a decent fielder, and he has a slightly above average bat (OPS+103)_. Can’t take a walk but makes up for it. He is fine, nothing great but he helps the braves win.
These April trades sure are strange
Gonna be a bunch of these in the next 10 days, with the 28 to 26 roster cuts on May 1. Lots of pretty decent players who are out of options. Newcomb might be one of the lesser of the bunch.
Do Braves need a RHP out of the bullpen that bad?
And what are the Cubs doing? They don’t seem to be tanking or rebuilding more retooling?
This move made me confused
No. Chavez was excellent for the Braves and they got a chance to get him back instead of giving Newcomb away for nothing.
Newcomb is a perfect change of scenery guy. Camargo is doing well for now with the Phillies. Nothing wrong with giving him a chance.
After his 2018 season with the Braves, Camargo should have been playing somewhere for the Braves in 2019. Happy to have him in Philly. Plays all over the place with aplomb, and looks like a good dude.
I wish the best for him, but Camargo had a horrible attitude problem.
Hey Jesse did it just last year after pitching like crap so who knows its early and sometime all you need is a new uniform.
The Cubs are not really trying to win this season but they are loading the roster with players that have some chance to produce for cheap. Throwing darts to see which ones stick.
They need to find sign Nick Green just so they can trade him to the mets again
Kelly Johnson, you mean.
Hoyer thinks every former top pitching prospect is going to be the next Jake Arrieta which is why we have a track record of making these types of trades (and signings).
Cubs picking up a pitcher they can control for a couple years in exchange for a one year contract guy. Exactly the type of trade the Cubs should be doing. Allows them to see if this guy can work for them and not worry about resigning him if he does and not a lot to lose if he doesn’t.
And I would add, Tommy Hottovy and his ‘pitching lab’, just might be the best in baseball.
The only lefty in the Cubs pen is Daniel Norris. It’s helpful to have another left-handed option.
—especially when the only lefty option in the pen IS Daniel Norris. Yikes…..not been impressive at all.
So now Jesse can get his on pregame ring ceremony at Truist this Friday.
Didn’t they already have the ring ceremony a couple weeks back?
They didn’t give Freeman his ring yet. I believe they are waiting for their homestand against the Dodgers.
I realize that. Chavez would have gotten it when the Cubs played the Braves at Truist next week. The post made it sound like it was the ring ceremony,
Newcomb back to starting?
I hope the Cubs give him a shot
Same here. Always liked newcomb, maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.
Change of scenery is the answer—-I just checked and he’s been great—AT GWINNETT. Maybe the Cubs can petition to play there when he’s schedule to pitch.
If they were smart, they’d leave him in the bullpen. That’s the only place he had some “consistent success” with the braves
Maybe the Cubbies can bring newcombe back to life
Guess the Braves are going to see if they can get another good season out of Chavez.
Cubs have a ton of young RH relievers in their system, who are ready for their chance at the big league level. Some like Keegan Thompson, Ethan Roberts are already there and doing a nice job. Chavez is a nice reliever to have, but he’s long in the tooth, and it’s a decent gamble for the Cubs.
Overpay
Good trade.
LOL Braves – way to ruin a top prospect!
Yea they sure did ruin guys like Riley, Ozzie, Fried, Minter. But real question is how many World Series championships has your team had recently?
Prospects don’t always pan out. How is it the Braves fault he can’t throw strikes?
As a Braves fan, I agree. They have been the only team so far to not have every top prospect pan out. It just makes me furious that they are the only team not turning every top prospect into a major league starter. What are they doing?
Braves really broke you,huh?
Braves still got that ring so I think the organization could give two $hits about a Newcomb.
Ol’ Jesse returns. As long as Newcomb is out of the organization..
This trade falls into the category of “why not?” for both teams. The Braves couldn’t unlock Newcomb and the Cubs only signed Chavez so they could trade him later anyway. So, why not? These trades are good for both teams.
I mean, this is about as dumb of a decision for the cubs as you can possibly do. Thank you…
Dumb? They only have one left hander in the bullpen and a ton of right handed options. It was a smart trade.
What are you talking about? They could have found any Joe in the minors that was left-handed that would perform just as good (bad) as Newcomb can and it would be cheaper also. Just because he’s left handed, doesn’t make this a good trade. I’d rather have zero left handed arms in the bullpen than Newcomb.
Chavez is a quality pitcher. And Hawkins must see something in Newcomb that he can fix… plus Newcomb is 10 years younger.good for both in my view from the garage…
Sometime a player just gets stagnant and sometimes they just tune out the pitching coaches and maybe a new system will help Newk.
AA loves him some Chavez, this is like the 4th or 5th time he’s got him
Jesse Chavez is almost 39 years old, so I understand why the Cubs would take a shot on Newcomb here. Chavez has struggled so far this season so why not flip him for a talented, yet broken 28 year old who has a much better arm. Worst case, both pitchers flame out for their new teams and get released within a month. I’d say the Cubs get more upside here so perhaps that is why they threw in a little cash to make this deal happen. Chavez had zero trade value right now so they took a flier on Newcomb.
So let me get this straight. Cubs don’t want to punt on the season, yet they traded for a pitcher who has sucked for quite some time and no matter how bad he continues to be, can’t be sent down? OK, now I’m clear as mud.
Because hes still 28 and still has a live arm and hes a Lefty. We have seen guys turn it around before just by simply moving to a new team so he still has talent and really its a no risk move. If he sucks you cut him with no real loss and if he plays to his talent then you have a guy who can do something.
I guess you’re right. And it’s not like the Cubs are real contenders yet anyway so yeah my initial reaction may have been a bit harsh.
No, the Cubs are punting. They don’t really expect to contend this year, though there is an outside shot if everything breaks right. They have a roster full of question marks that are getting tryouts to see who is worth keeping for the longhaul. Newcomb fits that plan better than Chavez.
More like running on third and long. Too soon to call it punting.
Maybe the Hail Mary will work…
I don’t mind this deal. The cubs need upside and Chavez has none. They have done a pretty good job firing darts at the wall and hitting. Hook him up to the pitch lab.
Good move for both sides. Prefer Chavez this year but Newcomb has longer term upside if he can fix his control woes.
Rebuilding team gets young player. Contender gets a vet that might have gas left in the tank. For what it’s worth the last time Chavez pitched for Cubs and Braves before 2022 he was great for both teams. Cubs purchased 13 players this off season. Half the team. Have assembled a nice 80 win team. Braves are looking to overtake fading Mets team by late summer. Look for Mets
to tank again.
Being middle of the pack is not a strategy for longer term success however. They won’t make the playoffs (unless everything breaks right for them) and yet won’t get a high draft pick. It’s basically baseball hell.
Kind of strange commentary — 15-year veteran Chavez in the header and 1st sentence and not mentioned again while Newcomb who was DFA’d is discussed in the remaining 4 paragraphs.
OTOH, while Chavez has been around for a log time with a lot of teams, he’s never amounted to much except for collecting more than $22,000,000.
How can you not root for guys like Chavez—dude was a 42nd round pick and a true grinder. Earned everything he’s got, not a ton of accolades but Logs almost 1,000 IP, wins a WS, spends a veritable lifetime in the Bigs (earning himself a pension), prolly pitched for your team, got stories for days, sitting on of a nice chunk of coin too (>$23MM)…love to see these types do well. Heart and grit type players
Jessau Modesto’s Top 5 Left handed pinch hitters of all time:
1. Mike Aldrete
2. Matt Stairs
3. Ron Hassey
4. Ichiro
5. Tony Philips
What, no Lenny Harris or Dave Hansen? Good list nonetheless.
Smokey Burgess anyone?
The younger option has more trade value if he works himself out and if he doesn’t they can just cut him loose.
I honestly wouldn’t be shocked to see either of these guys DFA but the Cubs are hoping he can bring value and flip him around the deadline. Maybe in a package??
The Cubs have no reason to flip him if he shows any value. He is under team control for a few more seasons.
Good trade for the Cubbies. Newcomb is still young enough to salvage. Won’t be the first former top prospect to succeed after the hype is gone. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Cubs stretch him out and make him a SP again. Okay, might be a five-and-dive guy because, with poor control, he’ll be at 90+ pitches by the fifth inning.
Wish him well. And now he gets to be teammates with the guy he was traded for in 2015. That’s pretty cool.
Would have liked to see what Newcomb could do were he traded to the Giants or Dodgers. They have some miracle sauce they sprinkle on pitchers other teams no longer want that seems to work very well.
To wit, just watch how successful Tyler Anderson (Former Rockie, Buc and Mariner) is with the Dodgers this year. Bet he wins 10 games and has an ERA right around 4.00 or less.
You sir, have a low bar for what success is.
I think it’s more likely that they will try to develop him into the left handed complement to Thompson, someone with length to go 9-11 batters mostly in long relief. Start him in low leverage (last night’s loss to Tampa would have been a good example) and try to use him once a series so that very few hitters outside the division ever see him twice in a season.
The deal makes sense for both teams based on where they are in their win-now or future cycle. Cubs get a once promising pitcher to see if they can help him reach his potential; the Braves get a pitcher who has been consistently useful arm.
I remember when the Angels fans were all wringing their hands over trading Newcomb to the Braves for Simmons. In the end, we got the better deal with Simmons, sort of. Newcomb demanding to be a starter is as funny as Pujols demanding not to be platooned. Don’t know if “demand” is the right word, but you get the sentiment.
Who knows maybe the Cubs can fix him or at least get him on the path to being effective.
It was time. Dude had a great start in LA a few years ago then pouted about not starting. He didn’t throw enough strikes. Long term, Braves don’t have worry about Arb numbers each year on a guy who proved that he needs to figure it out.
Hey cub fans do you still think Arenado won’t help the Cards or even hit away from Coors Field? Be prepared to look up at the Cardinals ass all season.
I’m just glad I don’t have to live near Missouri.
I thought it said Cardinal fans are asses, which makes more sense.
No cub fans are the arrogant asses
You’ve had 1 fluke year out of the last 115.
“no you”…witty.
No one thought that.
Somebody has some pent up anger. Relax we are in week 2.
i want to go ahead and apologize for themed on behalf of cards fans all he is just another troll, most cards fans try to be respectful of other team with the occasional jab. also to themed the cubs are in this mess right now because of theo “going all in” one too many times and depleted there farm and bloated there payroll with underperforming vets just like in boston. if theo wouldn’t of tried for back to back ws (or multiple in a 4 year window) it would be mil and chc fighting it out for the top spot with our bird spinning our wheels in mediocrity
Spinning our wheels? Cards compete every year never tanking. They’ve won more playoff games than the cubs have even been in. Just the facts man.
so your ok with just being good enough to get in, heck our last championship was over 10 years ago and last ws appearance 7. for the last 5~6 years we’ve been swimming in the pool of mediocrity and dont even bring up 19 because we didn’t deserve to be in the nlcs. we only got there because the braves beat themselves not because we were that much better of a team
Your funny not all of us Cubs fans said that and if The Cubs had better pitching we would ne on top. We have scored the most runs in baseball
Nice to at least get something in return for Duke Newcomb.
Cubs gave up virtually nothing for a lottery ticket. Doubtful either player makes any sort of significant impact on their new clubs.
This has to be the case of Newcomb wearing out his welcome in ATL and become a distraction. They rather have a guy that works hard on his baseball IQ and has less upside than the player with more upside and no baseball IQ..
That plus Daniel Norris not looking particularly useful in Chicago as their only lefty.
Maybe a change of scenery will help Newk ? The wind blowing out won’t.
At least Chavez throws strikes.
Weird that the Braves fooled around and lost Webb before making a move.
Oh well.