As is usually the case with the Chicago Cubs these days, intrepid manager Joe Maddon has a new slogan to rally the troops:
Mr. Maddon modeling the shirt: pic.twitter.com/T9gYJSZPJH
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) March 6, 2016
It’s a simple enough message (you can buy the T-shirt here), and if you’ve paid any attention at all this past year, the Cubs are very unlikely to flat out suck in 2016. In fact, they might even be more talented than last year, even if the win totals don’t ultimately reflect it. Baseball is weird like that, but let’s have Maddon explain the bounty of options the Cubs have now:
.@CubsJoeMadd has a plethora of lineup options: https://t.co/BOSetXPJ5M pic.twitter.com/GySEOShr6L
— MLB (@MLB) March 6, 2016
Between “Try Not To Suck” and “Thick All The Way,” I think we have not seen the last of fun sayings for this season. However, even with our selfish desire to keep everyone in camp, roster rules and job availability means that we may have seen the last of a few guys we’ve become accustomed to. Enter Crazy Uncle Bruce Levine:
The body of work has certainly improved for Cubs left-hander Travis Wood. Finding a niche in the team’s bullpen last season helped the likable Wood establish himself in a new role.
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Other clubs have contacted the Cubs about the 29-year-old Wood. In a perfect world, he would be a fourth starter for another team. For their part, the Cubs aren’t likely to have a rotation spot open.
Levine usually has good sources even if his analysis is a bit off, so we do take this a bit seriously. It also does make sense given how many teams have a need for pitching, even if they are on the rebuild; someone needs to eat those innings. In addition to Travis Wood, other Cubs starters that COULD be dealt include Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks, but considering the dearth of MLB-ready pitching for the Cubs, I doubt any of these trades actually happen. I guess the most likely to go is Wood for the reasons Levine stated (salary, redundancy), but there’s a reason the Cubs have been so proactive about increasing the depth and versatility of their pitching corps. In addition to Levine’s “analysis,” I think Wood’s skillset doesn’t play as well given the Cubs’ defensive makeup since he’s such a fly-ball heavy pitcher. He has shown an ability to ramp up his velocity in the bullpen, though, and the outfield defense has been shored up with the re-aquisition of Dexter Fowler. My amateur opinion is that, at least for the period prior to the July trade deadline (now August 1), the Cubs keep as many of their current pitchers as possible. But if everyone performs as projected, then I think the Cubs have plenty of trade assets to play with.
Speaking of Fowler, the Cubs now have four starting-caliber outfielders and a super-utility guy who can play outfield in Javier Baez. This has rekindled some discussion of the Cubs potentially shopping Jorge Soler, who was a popular trade chip all offseason. Now that Starlin Castro has been traded, it doesn’t make sense to shop Baez for the time being, but Soler and Kyle Schwarber could form a pretty strong platoon in left field as Fowler and Jason Heyward patrol center and right field. A more logical trade chip at this point might be Matt Szczur, who I thought would be the logical benchwarmer prior to the Fowler signing. Szczur’s issue is that he is purely redundant at this point, he doesn’t have a strong enough bat to warrant significant playing time, and he is also out of options, so this spring might be a showcase period. Just as with the Chris Coghlan trade, I wouldn’t expect too much back, although the Cubs could potentially go after teams with competitive balance picks to trade. However, look at the teams in the competitive balance portion of the draft:
Round A (selections occur after first round)
1. Reds
2. Athletics
3. Rockies
4. Diamondbacks
5. Marlins
6. PiratesRound B (selections occur after second round)
1. Padres
2. Indians
3. Twins
4. Brewers
5. Orioles
6. Rays
Of these, the Reds, A’s, Rockies, Marlins, Padres, Brewers, and Rays are in various stages of rebuilding, so it’s highly unlikely they’ll want to cough up their pick. The Pirates’ outfield is set, so they’re unlikely to be a match either. The Orioles already lost out on Fowler, and are rumored to be trying to trade for outfielders like Jay Bruce from the Reds, but after losing their opportunity to recoup picks because of resigning their own qualifying-offer-eligible free agents and signing Yovani Gallardo, I don’t know that they’ll give up their pick now. The Diamondbacks are poised to contend after signing Zack Greinke and trading for Shelby Miller, but it looks like their outfield is pretty much set as well.
If I were to make an educated guess, I’d say that the Cubs keep everyone they can right now, and Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer stay true to their claim that they’re done with trades and are happy with their current roster. They may try to shop Szczur for a lottery ticket, but they may actually just try to sneak him back to Iowa or let him be the fifth outfielder. I’m going to make a quick 25-man roster prediction right now:
Starting Pitchers
Jake Arrieta
Jon Lester
John Lackey
Jason Hammel
Kyle Hendricks
Relievers
Travis Wood
Clayton Richard (has options but can refuse an outright)
Adam Warren
Pedro Strop
Hector Rondon
Justin Grimm
Trevor Cahill
Neil Ramirez (he’s out of options, so he gets first crack)
Catchers
Infielders
Anthony Rizzo
Ben Zobrist
Addison Russell
Kris Bryant
Javier Baez
Outfielders
Kyle Schwarber
Jason Heyward
Dexter Fowler
Jorge Soler
Matt Szczur
It’s a good roster. And we have a month to see if it comes to fruition.
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