- It’s unclear what the Cubs might need at the trade deadline, Rosenthal says. A left fielder is one possibility if Jorge Soler can’t get it going and if the Cubs elect to keep Kris Bryant at third. There’s also a chance they could add pitching. They could move Adam Warren from the bullpen to the rotation if needed, but might need to pursue relief help if they did.
Cubs Rumors
Jed Hoyer Takes Unusual Path To Cubs' Front Office
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer took an unusual path to Major League Baseball, working in the admissions departments at two universities before taking an internship with the Red Sox at age 28, David Hough of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Ben [Cherington] said, ’Do you really want to do this? You know it will be a huge pay cut and you’ll be an older intern,”’ says Hoyer. “And I said, ’I don’t care, I’ll look at it as grad school, take on debt for a couple of years and if it works, great. If not, I’ll have no regrets.”’ Shortly after Hoyer joined the organization, the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein as its GM. The two got along and have worked together ever since, with the exception of the two years Hoyer spent as GM of the Padres. Here’s more on the NL Central.
Cubs Designate Ryan Kalish For Assignment
The Cubs have designated lefty-hitting outfielder Ryan Kalish for assignment, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The move clears space on the team’s active roster for catcher Miguel Montero, who’s returning from a back injury.
The 28-year-old Kalish made ten plate appearances for the Cubs this season. His last significant big-league experience came in 2014, also with the Cubs, when he batted .248/.295/.347 in 130 plate appearances. He did not play in 2015 after a minor-league pact with the Blue Jays fell apart. Kalish was once a top prospect in the Red Sox organization, but a series of injuries presented obstacles in his path to big-league success. He’s now played in parts of four big-league seasons, but has never appeared in two consecutive ones, also sitting out most of 2011 and all of 2013.
Cubs Notes: Arrieta, Bryan
Jake Arrieta has drawn plenty of attention of late as he’s continued to generate phenomenal results for the Cubs. He’s maintained all along both that he hopes to remain in Chicago and that he won’t take a discount to do so, and it’s still not clear whether the club will be willing to offer what Arrieta considers fair market value. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney argues in an Insider piece that the Cubs are unlikely to go beyond the recent Stephen Strasburg extension, and won’t pursue a bidding war to bring back Arrieta when he reaches free agency after next season. Then, says Olney, he’ll have a chance to cash in, particularly since he’d enter an “incredibly weak market” for starting pitching. That’s a debatable assessment of the free agent class — among the potentially available arms are Yu Darvish, Alex Cobb, Johnny Cueto, Tyson Ross, Lance Lynn, and several others of interest — but there’s little doubt that Arrieta would be a major target if he can keep up anything approaching his recent performance level.
- Kris Bryant has kept on producing for the Cubs after a stellar rookie campaign, but as August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs explains, he’s dong it differently. Bryant has worked to flatten his swing plane as a way to cut down on his swings and misses, with very promising results. Though he’s more or less hitting at the same levels he did in 2015, Bryant’s managed to reduce his strikeout rate by one-third thus far. As Fagerstrom explains, the biggest impact of the adjustment may be that it raises Bryant’s floor as a hitter.
Arrieta: "Aces Get Seven Years"
- Cubs ace Jake Arrieta won’t offer the team a discount in extension talks, he told reporters, including ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers. According to previous reports, the Cubs have been hesitant to commit to anything greater than a four-year term, and that length clearly isn’t of interest to the 30-year-old reigning Cy Young winner. “Aces get seven years,” Arrieta candidly said in the interview. Asked what he felt his market to be, Arrieta declined to answer directly, instead telling reporters: “I’ll let you judge that. Just look at the numbers.” Arrieta again emphasized that his preference is to remain with the Cubs but that being compensated at the same level as the game’s other elite arms is also a factor. “Financially I’m fine, regardless,” he said. “You want to be paid in respect to how your peers are paid. I don’t think that changes with any guy you ask. It happens around baseball every year.” As Rogers points out, Scherzer and David Price are likelier comparables than the recently extended Stephen Strasburg, who secured a seven-year, $175MM deal.
Cubs Notes: Hammel, Victorino, Epstein
Every player has different priorities, many of which go beyond maximizing earnings, though that’s not always easy to discern from publicly available information. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports provides an interesting recent example, though, in Jason Hammel of the Cubs. The right-hander and his wife were disappointed to be dealt away from Chicago at the trade deadline in 2014, with Hammel telling Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein that he would “pitch well enough that you bring me back” even as he departed for the A’s. Though Hammel wasn’t as good in Oakland as he had been before the deal, that’s just what happened, as Hammel inked a two-year, $18MM deal in the offseason. It looked like a nice value for the team at the time, and the veteran has rewarded the Cubs with 204 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA pitching since his return.
- Shane Victorino is active at Triple-A Iowa for the Cubs, but he might not spend much time there before a decision is made on his future with the organization. Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register tweets that Chicago has informed the veteran outfielder that his status will be reevaluated after a few weeks with the team’s top affiliate. Victorino is off to a solid start, with five hits — including two doubles and a triple — in his first four games.
- There’s long been talk that Epstein would sign a new deal with the Cubs before reaching executive free agency after the season, but he tells Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link) that there are no imminent extensions — either for himself or with any of the team’s players. Nevertheless, the presumption still seems to be that Epstein will re-up with the organization at some point.
Cubs Acquire Alex Sanabia
- The Cubs have purchased the contract of righty Alex Sanabia from the Mexican League Tijuana Toros, MLBTR’s Zach Links has learned. Sanabia will head to Triple-A Iowa to bolster the club’s rotation depth. The 27-year-old has seen action in parts of three MLB seasons with the Marlins, throwing 138 2/3 innings over 24 starts and four relief appearances and posting a sturdy 4.15 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. Sanabia had a rough go of things with the Angels’ top affiliate last year, but has given the Toros 30 innings of 3.60 ERA ball with 6.0 K/9 against a stingy 0.9 BB/9.
- One more from Eddy, who adds that the Reds traded outfielder Pin-Chieh Chen to the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. The 24-year-old Chen, signed by the Cubs as a free agent out of Taiwan prior to the 2010 season, has climbed as high as Double-A in the minors, spending parts of four seasons at that level and compiling a .236/.344/.327 batting line there. Baseball America rated him as Chicago’s No. 31 prospect prior to the 2012 season but didn’t rise higher than that on their prospect rankings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/8/16
Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around the majors:
- The Padres announced that they have placed second baseman Jemile Weeks on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring strain and recalled Jose Pirela. Prior to suffering the injury Saturday, Weeks collected 57 PAs and hit just .140/.204/.200. Pirela, also a second baseman, has slashed .306/.352/.447 at the Triple-A level in 2016. He was with the Padres earlier this season and appeared in four games, racking up five PAs and a double.
- Catcher Adam Moore, whom the Indians designated for assignment earlier this week, will stay in the organization after accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus, tweets Tribeinsider.
- The Astros reinstated catcher Max Stassi from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle was among those to report (Twitter link). Prior to undergoing surgery on the hamate bone in his left wrist in mid-March, Stassi was expected to team with Jason Castro to form the Astros’ catching tandem. The club is now preparing Evan Gattis for a role behind the plate, however, lessening the need for Stassi – whom Baseball America ranked as Houston’s 19th-best prospect entering the season.
- The Cubs have activated right-hander Neil Ramirez from the bereavement list and optioned righty Spencer Patton to Triple-A Iowa, the team announced. Ramirez has amassed six innings of three-run ball this year (seven strikeouts, four walks), while Patton made his sole big league appearance of the year Saturday and faced two batters – one of whom walked, the other of whom doubled.
- The Athletics have optioned right-hander Jesse Hahn to Triple-A Nashville and recalled righty J.B. Wendelken, per a team announcement. Hahn threw 17 2/3 innings in the minors this year before the A’s recalled him at the end of last month. He made two starts with Oakland, allowing four earned runs in 12 innings while walking six and striking out four. Hahn had a rough start Saturday, surrendering eight hits, four earned runs and four walks in 5 1/3 innings of work in a loss to Baltimore. Wendelken, 23, is now in position to make his major league debut after racking up 315 2/3 innings in the minors, where he has posted a 4.08 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
- The Reds announced that they have sent outfielder Scott Schebler to Triple-A Louisville and recalled outfielder/first baseman Kyle Waldrop. Schebler’s demotion is the result of the Reds wanting to give him playing time, which he hadn’t been receiving enough of in the majors lately because of the success of left fielder Adam Duvall. Schebler hit just .188/.246/.344 with a home run in 69 plate appearances prior to his demotion. Waldrop, not to be confused with the former major league reliever of the same name, has hit .276/.322/.437 in 2,445 career minor league PAs. The 24-year-old got his first taste of big league action last season, though he accrued only one at-bat.
Cubs To Add Big-Name Outfielder?
- Like their crosstown rivals, the Cubs could also pursue Bruce, Gonzalez and Markakis, in addition to Ryan Braun and Josh Reddick, reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden. The 23-6 Cubs don’t look like a team in need of a major acquisition, though they did lose a highly useful outfield cog early in the season when Kyle Schwarber suffered a catastrophic knee injury. In Schwarber’s absence, the depth-laden Cubs have divvied up left field playing time among star third baseman Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Matt Szczur.
Cubs Place Matt Szczur On DL, Select Ryan Kalish's Contract
- The Cubs announced that they’ve placed outfielder Matt Szczur on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring and selected the contract of outfielder Ryan Kalish to take his place on the active roster. In order to clear a spot for Kalish on the 40-man roster, the club has transferred infielder Christian Villanueva to the 60-day disabled list. Kalish, 28, was long a top-rated Red Sox prospect and is, as such, quite familiar to president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Excellent production in the minors has earned Kalish his first taste of the Majors since 2014 (also with the Cubs). In 20 games (70 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level thus far, Kalish is batting a ridiculous .368/.471/.509 with four doubles, a pair of triples, three steals and more walks drawn (10) than strikeouts (nine).
- The Reds have purchased the contract of catcher Rafael Lopez from the Bridgeport Bluefish, the indy league club announced. He’ll head to Triple-A Louisville, providing another depth option for an organization that is filling in for injured MLB starter Devin Mesoraco. Lopez, 28, has only appeared briefly at the major league level. He spent last season at Triple-A in the Cubs and Angels systems, slashing .266/.339/.335 over 246 plate appearances.
