Cubs Rumors

Athletics Claim Left-Hander Giovanni Soto From Cubs

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2016 at 2:29pm CDT

The Athletics announced that they’ve claimed left-handed reliever Giovanni Soto off waivers from the Cubs. Soto was designated for assignment four days ago when the Cubs needed to clear a 40-man roster spot to send Kyle Schwarber to the Arizona Fall League in preparation for his improbable World Series return.

The 25-year-old Soto, not to be confused with the catcher that was the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year with Chicago (Geovany Soto), has pitched just 3 1/3 innings in the Majors — all of which came in 2015 as a member of the Indians. The southpaw spent the 2016 season with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 5.14 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 5.7 BB/9 and a 56.6 percent ground-ball rate in 49 innings out of the Iowa bullpen. Soto’s ERA was the result of his poor control more than opponents hitting him especially hard; though he allowed slightly more than a hit per inning, only three of those hits left the yard. Opponents hit .274 against Soto but slugged just .387. In 111 innings of Triple-A ball, Soto has a 3.96 ERA with with a 114-to-69 K/BB ratio.

Certainly, it’s not a given that Soto will survive the winter on Oakland’s 40-man roster. Players that are claimed early in this manner often bounce around the league over the course of the offseason, but the left-hander does have minor league options remaining, so if he makes it to Spring Training with the A’s, he can be sent down without the risk of first exposing him to outright waivers.

Kyle Schwarber Activated For World Series

By Jeff Todd | October 25, 2016 at 9:04am CDT

TODAY: Schwarber has officially been added to the Cubs’ World Series roster. He’ll take the roster spot that had been occupied by reliever Rob Zastryzny in the NLCS.

YESTERDAY: The Cubs appear to have a fascinating new addition to their postseason run, as several reports suggest that slugger Kyle Schwarber is likely to be activated for the World Series after missing the vast majority of the season due to torn knee ligaments. “All signs” are that he’ll be activated, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets, with Jon Heyman of Fan Rag later adding that Schwarber is expected to make his triumphant return “barring something unforeseen.”

That possibility has been known for several days, with its plausibility increasing as Schwarber gets his cuts in during Arizona Fall League action. Chicago has said it would utilize its narrow window to evaluate him and assess whether to place him on the World Series roster. It’s a high-stakes decision: the 23-year-old slugger may not be ready to play much (if at all) in the field, he can’t be replaced on the roster if he suffers an aggravation of his knee problem, and he hasn’t played much since the early-April outfield collision that ended his regular season.

Still, it’s hard to deny the upside that comes in Schwarber’s bat. Selected fourth overall in the 2014 draft, he sped through the minors and debuted in the middle of 2015. The lefty swinging spark plug slashed .246/.355/.487 and swatted 16 home runs over 273 plate appearances on the year. And though he committed some notable defensive gaffes in the 2015 postseason, Schwarber rose to the occasion at the plate. In his 31 plate appearances, he recorded a 1.308 OPS with five dingers.

The Cubs have left no stone unturned in their quest to finally bring a championship back to Chicago, and calling upon Schwarber now would represent perhaps the most dramatic move yet. He’d presumably suit up as the team’s designated hitter and otherwise function as a bench bat, representing a somewhat limited role — but one that has added value since four of the possible seven games will be played under the American League rules. That the move is even being considered is testament both to Schwarber’s hard work and the front office’s faith in him. If it indeed occurs, it’ll add yet more drama to an already-highly-anticipated series.

World Series Notes: Cubs, Epstein, Miller, Chapman

By charliewilmoth | October 23, 2016 at 10:21pm CDT

The Cubs’ recent path to the World Series is “a case study in how to bring a team or a business back to life,” Alex Rodriguez (yes, that Alex Rodriguez) writes for FOX Sports. A-Rod praises top Cubs exec Theo Epstein, with whom he negotiated prior to the 2004 season, when the Red Sox were trying to bring Rodriguez to Boston in a pair of mega-deals that would have sent Jon Lester and Manny Ramirez to Texas, while also acquiring Magglio Ordonez and Brandon McCarthy from the White Sox for Nomar Garciaparra. The deal, in which Rodriguez was to take a $40MM pay cut, was vetoed by the players’ union. Rodriguez, of course, headed to the Yankees, but the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series anyway. “We were three 20-somethings convinced we were about to turn baseball upside down together,” Rodriguez writes, referring to himself, Epstein and Jed Hoyer. “Though I never got a chance to work with Theo, I knew then that he was going to be a force.” Here are more quick notes on the Fall Classic.

There’s little mystery to the Cubs’ success, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs writes. The reasons for the accomplishments of other recent World Series teams, like the Royals and Giants, have been a bit harder to explain, but the Cubs are simply “a super-good club, made up of super-good players.” Even if the Cubs lose this time around, they’re extremely well positioned to make a run at another World Series or three in the near future — they have Lester, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Hendricks and Willson Contreras under control for four or more seasons.
Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman both began the season as members of the Yankees, but they’ll finish it opposing one another in the World Series, MLB.com’s Richard Justice writes. Miller has been dominant thus far this postseason for the Indians, with 21 strikeouts in 11 2/3 scoreless innings thus far. Chapman has allowed three runs over eight frames for the Cubs. Both are obviously standouts as MLB pitchers go, but as Justice notes, this World Series could turn either or both into household names.

Heyman’s Latest: Schwarber, Dodgers, Tigers, Red Sox

By Connor Byrne | October 23, 2016 at 8:38am CDT

There’s a “very real” possibility slugger Kyle Schwarber will be able to contribute for the World Series-bound Cubs in their matchup with the Indians, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Schwarber has been out since early April after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee, but, as the Cubs were in the midst of defeating the Dodgers to clinch their first pennant since 1945, the 23-year-old returned to action Saturday in the Arizona Fall League. Schwarber accrued four plate appearances and said afterward that “it was overall a really great day for me” (via Jack Thompson of the Chicago Tribune). If Schwarber does return for the World Series, the player whom Cubs baseball president of baseball operations Theo Epstein deems a “special talent” could factor in as a DH and pinch-hitter.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Trade Market, Orioles, Jays

By Connor Byrne | October 22, 2016 at 9:57pm CDT

Behind 7 1/3 innings of two-hit, shutout ball from right-hander Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs defeated the Dodgers, 5-0, on Saturday to take the NLCS in six games and advance to the World Series. To knock out the Dodgers and win their first pennant since 1945, the Cubs had to overcome baseball’s best pitcher, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who yielded five runs (four earned) on seven hits in five frames. Among those hits were solo home runs from catcher Willson Contreras and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Chicago will now take on Cleveland in a battle of the majors’ longest championship droughts. The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908, while the Indians’ latest title came 40 years later in 1948. The long-suffering franchises will meet Tuesday in Cleveland for Game 1.

More on the NL champs and the rest of the majors:

Brilliant trades by the Cubs’ Theo Epstein-led front office have been integral to the team’s success, as Tyler Kepner of the New York Times details. Since Epstein took the reins in 2011, the Cubs have swung deals to land the likes of Hendricks, Rizzo, Jake Arrieta, Addison Russell and Dexter Fowler without surrendering any crucial pieces. The Cubs picked up Rizzo from San Diego, where two Chicago executives – general manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod – were before Epstein hired them. Their familiarity with Rizzo helped spur the 2012 trade that sent him to the Cubs for righty Andrew Cashner. “Having intimate knowledge of who he is as a person, on top of what we felt he was going to be as a player, played a huge role,” McLeod told Kepner. Epstein offered some insight to Kepner on the trade process, saying, “It’s best not to think about winning or losing trades anyway, because the best ones work out for both teams. But, as a rule, if you’re the team that’s selling — if you’re out of it and you’re trading with a team that’s in it — you usually have the pick of just about their whole farm system, with a few exclusions. You should hit on the guys that you get back.”
In his latest column, Joel Sherman of the New York Post outlines why league executives expect an active trade market during the offseason. One reason is a lack of quality free agent starting pitchers, leading Sherman to wonder if any of Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Jeff Samardzija or Ian Kennedy could end up on the block. Sherman opines that the Astros are in dire need of an ace and have a big-time trade chip in young infielder Alex Bregman, who would perhaps be able to land a front-end starter in return. On the position player front, Sherman observes that new Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen might consider trading first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Meanwhile, recently minted Twins executive vice president and chief baseball officer Derek Falvey has a potentially interesting trade candidate on his hands in slugging second baseman Brian Dozier.
If Orioles GM Dan Duquette decides to shop any veterans, right-handed reliever Brad Brach might carry the most appeal, writes Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic. Dubroff contends that the Orioles should deal Brach if they’re able to acquire help in the leadoff spot or behind the plate. That could be a tall ask in either case, though the soon-to-be 31-year-old Brach is under team control at affordable rates over the next two seasons and has been particularly effective since 2015. Over the past two seasons, Brach has combined for a 2.58 ERA, 10.29 K/9 and 3.58 BB/9 in 158 1/3 innings. Brach underwent knee surgery earlier this month, but it was a minor procedure that shouldn’t affect his 2017 availability.
In separate pieces for FanGraphs, Dave Cameron and Jeff Sullivan argue for and against a rebuild for the Blue Jays. Re-signing just one of Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista – both of whom are set for free agency – would push the Jays up against their budget, limit their ability to address other needs, and further age a roster that already includes several 30-somethings, writes Cameron, who suggests shopping shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, catcher Russell Martin and right-hander Marco Estrada. Moreover, in Cameron’s view, not committing to a short-term rebuild could hinder the team’s ability to keep third baseman Josh Donaldson for the long haul (the reigning AL MVP is under club control for two more seasons). Conversely, Sullivan still expects Toronto to contend even if Encarnacion, Bautista, Michael Saunders and Brett Cecil leave as free agents, citing the rest of the club’s talent.

Cubs Designate Giovanni Soto For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | October 22, 2016 at 4:18pm CDT

The Cubs have designated left-hander Giovanni Soto for assignment, the team announced. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Kyle Schwarber, who was activated from the 60-day DL to join the Arizona Fall League in an improbable quest to make Chicago’s World Series roster (if the Cubs can advance).

The Cubs acquired Soto from the Indians for cash considerations in April. Ironically, Soto’s spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster was originally created when Schwarber was placed on the 60-day DL in the wake of his seemingly season-ending knee surgery. Soto, 25, spent all of 2016 pitching at the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, posting a 5.14 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 1.77 K/BB rate over 49 relief innings.

The southpaw was originally a 21st-round pick for the Tigers in the 2009 draft, though he spent just over a year in Detroit’s organization before being dealt to Cleveland as part of the trade that sent Jhonny Peralta to the Tigers. Soto has pitched mostly out of the bullpen in recent years, and he owns a 3.29 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 2.3 K/BB rate over 514 career innings in the minors. His Major League experience consists 3 1/3 scoreless innings over six games with the Tribe in 2015.

Cubs Not Ruling Out Kyle Schwarber For World Series Return

By Mark Polishuk | October 22, 2016 at 2:28pm CDT

Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber will begin play in the Arizona Fall League tonight, and The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reports that there’s still a chance Schwarber could be activated in time to serve as a designated hitter should Chicago reach the World Series.

On April 7, in just his second game of the year, Schwarber tore both the ACL and LCL in his left knee after colliding with center fielder Dexter Fowler while chasing a fly ball. The injury was expected to sideline Schwarber until 2017, though he has been making good progress in his recovery, even taking part in an on-field workout at Dodger Stadium before Game 3 of the NLCS. Needless to say, it would be a shocking turn of events for Schwarber to return at all just 6.5 months removed from major knee surgery, let alone to make his return in the high-intensity environment of the Fall Classic.

Provided that the Cubs make the World Series in the first place, the team won’t have much time to evaluate Schwarber in the AFL given that Game One of the Series begins on Tuesday night in Cleveland. The plan would be to use Schwarber as a DH for the games in Cleveland and as a pinch-hitter for the games at Wrigley Field. ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link) that Schwarber won’t be playing the field and “running [is] still an issue,” so it could be that Schwarber will be strictly a bat-only player. The Cubs have enough multi-position players that they could potentially get away with using a roster spot on a very limited Schwarber, so Joe Maddon will face a fascinating decision if things line up his team’s way come Tuesday.

The young slugger burst onto the scene in 2015 by hitting 16 homers over his first 273 plate appearances in the bigs, and he has already proven himself to be a big October performer. Schwarber hit .333/.419/.889 with five homers over 31 PA during Chicago’s 2015 playoff run, making him the leading home run hitter in Cubs’ postseason history.

Central Notes: Cardinals, Fowler, Twins

By Steve Adams | October 17, 2016 at 1:11pm CDT

The Cardinals have a number of roster decisions to consider even before beginning to look at free agency this winter, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jordan Walden’s option will be bought out, while Seth Maness, who is currently on the 60-day DL, is a possible non-tender candidate in Goold’s eyes (though that decision won’t come until later this winter). Plenty of deliberation will need to be dedicated to the Rule 5 Draft, Goold writes, as the Cardinals have a large number of players to consider protecting. Last year, St. Louis opted not to protect right-hander Luis Perdomo, believing him to be too inexperienced to stick in the Majors for a full season, but the Padres hung onto him and received 15 starts with a 4.13 ERA in the final few months of the year. Goold lists 15 players that are in need of protection this winter, headlined by infielders Eliezer Alvarez, Edmundo Sosa, Allen Cordoba and Juan Herrera as well as outfielder Magneuris Sierra. Goold’s piece has quite a bit of additional info on each prospect listed, so Cardinals fans (and those who track the Rule 5 Draft in general) will want to check out his column.

More from the game’s Central divisions…

Dexter Fowler tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that his options in free agency last winter were “few and far between” before he decided to return to the Cubs. “My agent, Casey (Close), was talking to everybody, and I felt like this was the best fit to come back here,” Fowler explained. One reason for Fowler’s struggles on the open market last year, he says, was a perception of his defense. “They said I was a bad outfielder, and I kind of took offense to that,” he explained. “So I just moved back a few steps. I didn’t really do anything too different.” Fowler says that he approached Joe Maddon and other Cubs decision-makers in Spring Training about playing deeper in the outfield and was informed that they’d been hoping to talk to him about that very same strategy. Fowler rated +1 in both UZR and DRS this season, which may not seem overly impressive, but that DRS rating is a stark improvement from his 2015 mark of -12. Fowler implied that he’ll again aim for a long-term deal this winter, though obviously he’ll have more pressing needs on his mind over the coming two to three weeks.
Poor fastball command has become a systemic failure for the Twins, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and it was one of the chief reasons for the struggles of top prospect Jose Berrios in the Majors this season. Berardino examines the struggles that the Twins have had up and down their ranks with fastball location and spoke to pitching coach Neil Allen about the problem. While Allen isn’t even sure that he’s going to be employed by the team next season — the fate of the Twins’ coaching staff will be largely determined by new chief baseball officer Derek Falvey — but he’s taken steps to impress his new boss by compiling a comprehensive pitching plan that he hopes to have implemented throughout the entire organization. Allen said that a more stringent organizational emphasis was placed on fastball command while he was serving as the Rays’ Triple-A pitching coach before joining the Twins, and he hopes to deploy a similar philosophy in Minnesota in 2017 if retained.

Miguel Montero Thought Cubs Would Release Him

By Connor Byrne | October 16, 2016 at 7:38pm CDT

Catcher Miguel Montero’s tie-breaking, eighth-inning grand slam made him the hero of the Cubs’ 8-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday. The 33-year-old didn’t expect to be in that position, however, as he told FanRag Sports’ Jack Magruder after the game that he thought the Cubs might release him during the season. The Cubs never indicated that was a possibility, though, according to Magruder.

Montero’s currently slated to return to Chicago next season with a hefty salary – $14MM – to conclude the five-year, $60MM extension he signed with the Diamondbacks in 2012. The Cubs reportedly considered shopping Montero last offseason, which was before the two-time All-Star’s playing time markedly declined during arguably a career-worst year. Montero appeared in 86 games, his fewest since 2010, and batted a meager .216/.327/.357 in 284 plate appearances. Both rookie Willson Contreras and veteran David Ross took playing time from Montero during the regular season, and that has continued in the playoffs. Montero’s grand slam was his first hit of this year’s postseason, in which he has collected just five at-bats. He came to the plate Saturday as a pinch-hitter and is out of the Cubs’ lineup Sunday.

Going forward, Ross’ forthcoming retirement seems to bode well for Montero to remain with the Cubs in 2017. Ross’ departure will leave Montero as the Cubs’ only veteran backstop. The team also has Kyle Schwarber on track to come back from a knee injury that cost him almost all of this season. He conceivably could fall directly behind Contreras on the Cubs’ catcher depth chart next year, though there are questions about Schwarber’s defense. For his part, the 23-year-old slugger is “adamant” about factoring in heavily behind the plate, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reported in September.

On dividing his time between catcher and the outfield, Schwarber told Gonzales, “I want to get back to that point where it’s 50-50 on each side now and not 60-40.”

Regardless of Schwarber’s goal, the fact that full tears to his ACL and LCL cost him a year to develop further as a catcher might help Montero’s chances of finishing his contract as a member the Cubs. Notably, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein praised Montero’s pitch-framing and game-calling skills after last season, attributing some of the pitching staff’s success to his defensive work. Montero has indeed been an excellent framer throughout his career, which Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner indicate has again been the case in 2016.

We’ll know what 2017 holds for Montero soon enough. In the meantime, he’ll spend the next couple weeks trying to help the Cubs win their first World Series since 1908.

“I probably had a bad year, but I might be the MVP of the World Series,” he told Magruder. “I’m being kind of sarcastic, but in reality you never know. Baseball is kind of crazy. Anything can happen, and then nobody is going to remember what I did in the regular season.”

Heyman’s Latest: Baez, Soler, Lackey, Tigers, D’Backs, Bruce, Yankees

By Mark Polishuk | October 16, 2016 at 9:11am CDT

Here’s a postseason-flavored set of notes from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports…

The Cubs’ decision to keep Javier Baez has proven to be a wise one, and Heyman writes that the team kept Baez over Starlin Castro last offseason because the front office simply had more belief in Baez’s potential. Not only did Castro carry a much higher price tag than the pre-arb Baez, but the Cubs infielder is already looking like the more productive player — Baez posted 2.7 fWAR over 450 plate appearances, while Castro managed just 1.1 fWAR over 610 PA for the Yankees. Baez has shown great power and is cutting back on his strikeouts, though while he is still something of a work in progress at the plate, his defense has already drawn raves. One NL scout tells Heyman that he thinks Baez could win Gold Gloves at multiple positions in the future.
Jorge Soler could again be trade bait as the Cubs will be juggling a crowded outfield situation. Kyle Schwarber will return to play left field, plus Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist would seem to be penciled in for center and right, respectively. That mix also doesn’t include highly-touted rookie Albert Almora, or if the Cubs were to re-sign Dexter Fowler for center field. Soler drew a lot of trade attention last winter and is signed through 2020, so though he hasn’t truly broken out as a big leaguer yet, he would surely be a big trade chip if the Cubs indeed explored moving him.
The Tigers and Diamondbacks both “tried hard” to sign John Lackey last winter before the right-hander inked his two-year, $32MM deal with the Cubs. Lackey reportedly chose Chicago over two larger offers, though Heyman doesn’t know if the Tigers and D’Backs were the clubs behind those bigger deals. Arizona was known to have “at least checked in” on Lackey last winter, and while Detroit’s involvement in the Lackey market is new information, it isn’t a surprise given how the Tigers targeted starting pitching last offseason. Either team landing Lackey sets up several fascinating what-if scenarios, given that the D’Backs and Tigers made alternate pitching acquisitions that didn’t pan out in 2016. If the Diamondbacks signed Lackey, perhaps they then wouldn’t have made the franchise-altering decisions to sign Zack Greinke or trade for Shelby Miller. If the Tigers had gotten Lackey, perhaps they wouldn’t have spent $110MM on Jordan Zimmermann, or $16MM on Mike Pelfrey.
There have already been reports that the Mets intend to exercise their $13MM club option on Jay Bruce for 2017, and a rival executive tells Heyman that retaining Bruce is a move New York has to make. Keeping Bruce would create some defensive issues within the Mets outfield, though the exec noted that “if they don’t want him, they could always trade him.” Bruce slumped badly after joining the Mets but he posted strong numbers in the season’s first four months, so he’d certainly draw interest on the trade market.
Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield were the two headline prospects sent from Cleveland to New York in the Andrew Miller trade, and Heyman reports that some Indians staff believe Sheffield could be the bigger loss: “Sheffield is a lefty starter, which you can’t find, Frazier is a corner power bat, which you can.” It’ll be several years before we can access how that trade worked out for either the Yankees or the Tribe, though needless to say, nobody in Cleveland has any regrets right now, given Miller’s dominance.

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