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Ben Zobrist To Begin Rehab Assignment

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AUG. 1: Zobrist’s rehab will begin this weekend at the Single-A level, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com was among those to report.

JULY 26: Cubs veteran Ben Zobrist is slated to begin a rehab assignment, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein tells reporters including ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers (Twitter link). Zobrist has been on the restricted list for much of the season for personal reasons.

It’s notable news for the Cubs, who are in a dead heat in a tightly contest NL Central. The club has struggled to find consistent production at second base and in the corner outfield — the two spots that Zobrist has appeared at most frequently. He’ll presumably step right back into the mix as soon as he is back up to full speed.

The Cubs likely won’t welcome back Zobrist right away. Though he has been working out, the 38-year-old has been inactive for so long that he’s likely to need a physical ramp-up along with a good bit of time getting back up to game speed. He wasn’t exactly at top form when he stepped away, having compiled 99 plate appearances of .241/.343/.253 hitting to open the season. While he carried a strong 12:14 K/BB ratio in that span, Zobrist managed just one extra-base hit.

There are also some payroll considerations to be accounted for. During his absence, Zobrist has foregone payment of his $12.5MM annual salary. But he’ll start earning again. (Whether that will take place once his rehab assignment starts or once he’s activated isn’t clear.) That means that the club cannot reallocate all of Zobrist’s remaining salary obligations to other players at the deadline.

It seems an early September target may make the most sense for all involved. That’d be an optimal time from a roster perspective, as the Cubs would be able to take advantage of the expansion of the active roster to ease Zobrist back in. He will need to come off of the restricted list by the end of August in order to be eligible for the postseason.

Cubs Notes: Deadline, Castellanos, Hamels, Morrow

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The latest out of Wrigleyville…

  • The Cubs’ acquisition of Nicholas Castellanos didn’t become a reality until around 20 minutes before yesterday’s 3pm CT trade deadline, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports.  The Cubs and Tigers had been in talks about Castellanos prior to Wednesday, though discussions didn’t reignite until almost literally the last minute, as the trade was finalized with eight minutes to spare.  As Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters, the turning point was ownership’s decision to okay adding roughly $2.5MM of Castellanos’ remaining salary to Chicago’s payroll.  The trade pushes the Cubs to the very edge of exceeding the $246MM maximum luxury tax penalty threshold, as Roster Resource estimates the Cubs’ luxury tax number as slightly less than $245.66MM.
  • While the Cubs have played some inconsistent ball over the first four months, they’re still tied with the Cardinals atop the NL Central.  Since the team was always in contention, Hoyer said his front office didn’t really think about a larger shake-up that would’ve seen Chicago subtract from its Major League roster.  “There’s the idea-generation time and then there’s like: What deals are we actually going to work on? None of those deals actually made it to that point. Yeah, of course, people called about our players, but our focus was on trying to add to this group,” Hoyer said.
  • While an official announcement has yet to come from the team, it is looking like Cole Hamels will be activated off the injured list to start Saturday’s game, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets.  Hamels has been on the IL since June 29 due to an oblique strain, and has completed two rehab outings in the minors.  Prior to his injury, the veteran southpaw was looking good in his first full season as a Cub, posting a 2.98 ERA, 8.76 K/9, 2.77 K/BB rate and a 51.1% grounder rate over 99 2/3 innings.
  • Brandon Morrow’s status is much less certain, as Hoyer said that while the Cubs are still “cautiously optimistic” that the reliever will be able to contribute, it would “be foolish at this point to make any decisions assuming that he was going to be a big part of this bullpen.”  Morrow hasn’t pitched since July 15, 2018 due to a biceps injury and then offseason elbow injury.  The former closer has experienced at least one setback during his recovery process from that procedure, and with only two months remaining in the season, Morrow is running out of time to get healthy and fully prepared for a return to Major League action.

Tim Collins Elects Free Agency

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Veteran lefty Tim Collins elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment from the Cubs, according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s transactions page. Chicago designated Collins, 29, for assignment over the weekend.

Collins appeared in nine games across multiple stints with the Cubs in 2019, allowing a total of three runs on nine hits and three walks with four punchouts. He’s whiffed 37 hitters in 27 Triple-A innings this season but has also issued 16 walks (three intentional) and surrendered seven home runs there.

Collins was a big piece of the Kansas City bullpen from 2011-14 but missed two full seasons due to multiple Tommy John surgeries. He’s totaled 31 1/3 big league innings between the Nationals and Cubs since returning from that pair of operations, posting a 25-to-15 K/BB ratio but has yielded a .237/.328/.492 batting line to opposing left-handers.

Still, as an experienced left-hander with a knack for missing bats, Collins should have little difficulty latching on with a different club — likely a contender. The elimination of August trade waivers will make adding depth via other avenues (e.g. outright waiver claims, free agency) of increased importance.

Cubs Designate Oscar De La Cruz

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  • The Cubs have designated righty Oscar De La Cruz, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic relays. The 24-year-old De La Cruz entered the season as the Cubs’ 15th-ranked prospect, per FanGraphs, and has since pitched to a 3.89 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 81 innings divided between the High-A and Double-A levels.

Rockies Acquire Jimmy Herron From Cubs

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  • In one of the day’s lesser trades, the Rockies acquired minor-leaguer Jimmy Herron from the Cubs in exchange for international bonus pool money, per an official Rockies announcement. Herron, a 23-year-old outfielder, was a third-round draft choice by the Cubs last season. He’s played his first full professional season with the Cubs’ High-A affiliate, appearing in 92 games. He’s managed a .220/.320/.336 slash line while stealing 19 bases. MLB Pipeline ranks Herron outside of Cubs’ top 30 prospects.

Cubs To Acquire Nicholas Castellanos

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The Cubs snuck in a last-minute stunner, working out a deal with the Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Paul Richan and Alex Lange are headed to Detroit in return, per Craig Mish of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Castellanos is earning $9.5MM this year before reaching the open market at season’s end. The Tigers will pick up approximately $500K of the $3MM left of Castellanos’ salary, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.

The Cubs will add a good bit of offensive pop in this move, creating some additional possibilities in their outfield mix. It’s not immediately clear how the club will deploy its newly numerous group of options, having also acquired Tony Kemp earlier today, but odds are Castellanos will be in the lineup against all southpaws and a fair number of righty hurlers as well.

Through 439 plate appearances of regular action this year for the Tigers, Castellanos carries a .273/.328/.462 batting line with 11 home runs. He has been inconsistent for much of the season, ramping things up after a slow start but falling off again more recently.

Richan and Lange are each recent top draft picks who could be MLB options in the relatively near future. While the Tigers are laden with pitching prospect depth, it never hurts to have more arms. Richan has been at the High-A level all year, where he’s through 93 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Lange carries a 5.82 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 86 2/3 innings on the season, split between High-A and Double-A.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres To Acquire Carl Edwards Jr.

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In yet another under-the-wire deadline deal, the Cubs traded right-handed reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to the Padres, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers tweets. The once-trusted setup man had clearly seen his standing with the organization slip, as evidenced by a recent demotion to Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs are getting lefty Brad Wieck back from the Padres in return for Edwards, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Chicago will also send $500K in international bonus pool money to the Padres in the deal, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. All indications are that the San Diego organization will take over the remainder of Edwards’s $1.5MM salary.

Edwards Jr. will join a strong bullpen unit in San Diego, offering value as a buy-low candidate with a high ceiling if Padres management can resolve the issues that have driven his fall from grace this season. While the Pads find themselves outside the playoff picture in 2019, the addition of Edwards could pay dividends in years to come; the 27-year-old will remain under team control through the 2022 season, which would seem to jibe with the Padres’ desired timeline for contention. If Edwards can return to form in San Diego, the Padres will add yet another bullpen weapon to its already-deep arsenal.

Wieck, meanwhile, is slightly younger than Edwards and has two more years of team control, which makes him an attractive long-term relief option. However, he lacks the Major-League track record and electrifying potential that made Edwards a mainstay in recent Cubs bullpens. While Chicago still finds itself in position to contend, Jed Hoyer and company viewed Edwards as a change-of-scenery candidate and may not have seen an opportunity for him to contribute to this year’s team. Replacing him with Wieck, while likely not improving their chances in 2019, may provide insurance against possible departures of veteran cogs: Pedro Strop, Brandon Kintzler, and Steve Cishek will all be free agents at season’s end, and there are few internal options outside of that group.

Wieck’s 2019 numbers are not pretty—his 6.57 ERA, fueled by allowing 2.6 HR/9, won’t inspire any optimism in Cubs faithful—but there are signs of promise. Despite the struggles, he’s struck out 11.3 batters per nine innings, good for a 3.44 K:BB ratio. In 2018, between Double- and Triple-A, he struck out 70 batters in 46 1/3 innings while walking just 17. He’s certainly not a finished product, and it’s questionable whether he provides more value to a contender than a diminished version of Edwards; however, with the extra years of team control and good strikeout stuff, the Cubs believe Wieck will grow into a more valuable long-term asset than the Edwards, who may well be a lost cause.

Over a three-year stretch from 2016-2018, Edwards established himself as a key member of the Cubs’ bullpen. Tossing 154 1/3 innings of relief over that span, Edwards posted a 3.03 ERA while striking out 12.4 batters per nine innings. However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse this season, as his ERA has ballooned to an unsightly 5.87. His strikeout numbers, while still impressive, dipped slightly; while his command issues haven’t waned, his 5.51 FIP seems to have been inflated by an increased proneness to the long ball, as he’s already allowed 3 in just 15 1/3 innings of work.

Astros Acquire Martin Maldonado For Tony Kemp

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The Astros have acquired catcher Martin Maldonado from the Cubs, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Outfielder/second baseman Tony Kemp is going to Chicago in return, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.

This is the second trade of the month for Maldonado, whose Cubs tenure was fleeting. They acquired Maldonado from the Royals for left-hander Mike Montgomery on July 15. At the time, the Cubs had just lost their starting catcher, Willson Contreras, to the injured list. He quickly returned, though, making Maldonado a superfluous piece for a team that already had the capable Victor Caratini as its reserve backstop.

The Astros reportedly pursued Maldonado before his trade to the Cubs, and he’ll now head to Houston for the second straight year. The club previously acquired Maldonado from the Angels last July. Maldonado now figures to supplant Max Stassi, who’s out of options and could now be on his way to a trade or a designation for assignment, as Robinson Chirinos’ backup. Stassi’s a quality defender who hasn’t hit this year, which doesn’t make him much different than the 32-year-old Maldonado. However, even Maldonado’s paltry .217/.285/.349 line easily outdoes Stassi’s .167/.235/.211 showing.

Maldonado, who’s earning the balance of a $2.5MM salary, will be a free agent at season’s end. Kemp, on the other hand, could be a multiyear piece for the Cubs. Kemp won’t be eligible for arbitration until after next season, though the Cubs won’t have the option of sending him to the minors without subjecting him to waivers. The 27-year-old’s time in Houston came to an end when it designated him on July 25.

Kemp, to his credit, had been amid his second straight useful offensive campaign before the Astros booted him from their roster. He has slashed .227/.308/.417 with seven home runs, four steals and a terrific 15.6 percent strikeout rate across 186 plate appearances this year, also logging 25-plus appearances at second and in the outfield.

The Cubs had been seeking help at second and in the outfield prior to this trade. Whether Kemp will be enough to satisfy those needs remains to be seen. The club could acquire further help at either position in the next few hours, but it does expect to get second baseman/outfielder Ben Zobrist back from the restricted list later in the season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cubs Acquire David Phelps

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The Cubs have added another fresh face to the bullpen, announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-handed reliever David Phelps and cash from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league right-hander Thomas Hatch. Chicago moved Xavier Cedeno to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Phelps. There are other changes afoot in the Chicago bullpen as well, as ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan reports that righty Pedro Strop is headed to the IL and will be replaced by right-hander Duane Underwood, who is being recalled from Triple-A Iowa (Twitter link).

David Phelps | Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Phelps, 32, was a high-quality setup piece for the Marlins and Mariners in 2016-17 but missed the 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery. He hit the open market last winter and latched on with the Blue Jays on an incentive-laden one-year contract that promised him a $2.5MM base salary. Toronto quite likely made the deal with this very type of scenario in mind, as Phelps has returned to post solid numbers through his first 17 1/3 innings of action: a 3.63 ERA with an 18-to-7 K/BB ratio.

A swingman with the Yankees from 2012-14, Phelps broke out with the Marlins in the bullpen and has now logged an impressive 2.82 ERA with 10.9 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 in his past 159 2/3 innings at the MLB level (129 relief appearances, six starts). He’s only appeared in 17 games this season but will see a $250K bump in salary upon reaching each of his 25th, 30th and 35th games pitched. He’ll also earn an extra $350K upon 40, 45, 50, 55 and 70 appearances on the year.

Phelps’ club option came with a tiny $1MM base salary but will jump to $3MM if he reaches 30 appearances, $5MM if he appears in 40 games and $7MM for appearing in 50 games. Obviously, he’s not likely to reach the top tier of his incentives and option escalators after missing the first two and a half months of the season, but it’s certainly plausible that he could push that 40-game threshold in 2019.

Phelps gives the Cubs an immediate boost in the ’pen — even if he’s not a dramatic upgrade — and also presents them with a relatively affordable option in 2020 due to that floating club option. Payroll constraints have been an ongoing obstacle for the Cubs’ front office dating back to the winter, but they’ll have a huge slate of free agents off the books this winter (Cole Hamels, Brandon Morrow, Strop, Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Brad Brach among them), which will render any decision on Phelps’ option a fairly small-scale consideration.

Hatch, 24, was the Cubs’ third-round pick back in 2016 and has spent the 2019 season in his second trip through the Double-A level. He’s tossed 100 innings of 4.59 ERA ball over the life of 21 starts, averaging 8.4 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and 1.17 HR/9 to go along with a 35.2 percent ground-ball rate. He didn’t crack the Cubs’ top 30 on Baseball America’s recent re-ranking of their system, but he landed at No. 26 on Fangraphs’ summer update of Chicago’s farm system. There, Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen noted that he hasn’t developed the control one would want to see to keep him in the rotation but could find success in the ’pen. Entering the season, MLB.com ranked him 29th in the Cubs’ system and actually gave him the potential for three average or better offerings while expressing similar concerns about his control. The Jays may well see if Hatch has the ability to start in the short-term, as there’s little harm for a rebuilding club to try it out.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet first broke the news of the Phelps deal (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post added that the Jays were sending cash in the deal (Twitter link).

Cubs, Orioles Have Discussed Jonathan Villar

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The Cubs have discussed a Jonathan Villar trade with the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, though he adds that a match between the two teams appears unlikely at this time.

Chicago was tied to Eric Sogard before he was traded from Toronto to Tampa Bay, and Addison Russell’s recent demotion to Triple-A Iowa further illustrates that the Cubs could be in the mix for a second baseman. The potential return of Ben Zobrist, who is slated to head out on a minor league rehab assignment, could lessen any urgency to make an outside addition, though.

Villar has split the 2019 season between shortstop and second base in Baltimore, drawing negative reviews at second base from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating a year after rating quite well in both categories. His familiarity with shortstop would also be a welcome addition for the Cubs, given that Russell’s demotion left the MLB roster without a true backup to Javier Baez there.

The 28-year-old Villar is hitting .262/.326/.421 with 13 home runs, 22 doubles, two triples and 22 stolen bases (in 28 attempts). Villar’s speed is an element the Cubs’ roster currently lacks. His 22 steals are only seven fewer than the Cubs have totaled as a team. Villar’s wheels likely hold some interest to the Cubs — they’ve also been connected to fleet-footed D-backs outfielder Jarrod Dyson — but Villar’s 24.1 percent strikeout rate (26.7 percent for his career) don’t align with Chicago’s reported interest in adding hitter with plus contact skills (e.g. Sogard, Dyson).

From a contractual standpoint, Villar is affordable. He’s being paid $4.825MM in 2019 (with about $1.66MM yet to be paid out) and is controllable via arbitration for the 2020 season as well. The Orioles were also willing to include some cash in the trade that sent Andrew Cashner to Boston, providing reason to believe they’d be willing to do so with their other trade assets as a means of sweetening the prospect return. Given his relative proximity to free agency and the Orioles’ aggressive tear-down, Villar is a logical trade candidate in the next three days. However, the demand for pitching help throughout the league is far greater than the demand for middle infielders, and the Orioles don’t necessarily need to move Villar if no appealing offer materializes.

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