I suspect we’ll see both Deichmann and Hermosillo up after the dust clears from the trade deadline so the Cubs can see to what extent either one can be an actual piece of a MLB outfield next year.
Chicago Cubs 2021 season
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Truer words were never spoken.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Kimbrel would fit in very nicely here in Houston. Their bullpen has been struggling (blew a 7-0 lead last night) but they just traded for two relivers from Seattle (the very team they are playing) so I don't see a trade happening there.
Post deadline things to watch with the Cubs in the order in which I thought of them:
1. How real is Patrick Wisdom? Even after that explosive first 15 games, he's managed to continue to be respectable with the bat while showing a nice arm at third. I don't think the Cubs can expect him to be a .900 OPS batter going forward, but a perfectly serviceable .775 OPS hitter seems reasonable. If he can be a cheap and pretty good answer at one of the corner infield spots for a few years, that means the Cubs can spend their copious amounts of free agent spending cash on other positions.
2. Similar question on Hoerner. He's a gold glove caliber defender. Can he keep showing enough with the bat that the Cubs can consider one of the middle infield spots covered for the near future?
3. Can Bote and Happ recover some value? They're young, cheap, controlled for a few more years, and before this year had a good track record with their bats. They've both been hurt and bad when healthy this year. (Although Bote has looked good in his first 3 games since coming off the IL.) Can either or both of them show enough over the course of the rest of the year to warrant consideration as vital parts of the team going forward?
4. Do any of the veterans who are not traded get extensions? Not just the stars like Baez, Rizzo or Bryant, but Chirinos looks like a guy that you might want to have back. Does Marsinick keep playing in a way that makes his $4MM team option look really reasonable?
5. Any position players from the farm make a bid for playing time? Particularly Deichmann and Hermosillo. Can either of them show enough for the Cubs to think they're part of the outfield mix in 2022?
6. Starting pitcher tryouts... Justin Steele is being stretched out to start after really impressing in relief. They just sent Keegan Thomas down to do the same after being even more impressive in relief. Alec Mills has been relatively impressive since coming back to the rotation. Alzolay continues to work out the kinks. Brailyn Marquez should be back in the Big Leagues at some point this year. Trevor Williams and Kohl Stewart are both still under Cubs control next year. Can any of these guys nail down a starting spot alongside Kyle Hendricks and however many free agents get brought in?
7. Some very intriguing bullpen arms... I want to see some more Tommy Nance. I think he got overused in his last few appearances, causing his ERA to balloon. Has Dillon Maples really, truly finally figured it out? Can Brad Wieck get over his health problems and come back to what he was doing before his ticker started acting up again? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can Rowan Wick ever get over his oblique injury? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can we get Ben Leeper and Manuel Rodriguez up from AAA and see what they can do?
1. How real is Patrick Wisdom? Even after that explosive first 15 games, he's managed to continue to be respectable with the bat while showing a nice arm at third. I don't think the Cubs can expect him to be a .900 OPS batter going forward, but a perfectly serviceable .775 OPS hitter seems reasonable. If he can be a cheap and pretty good answer at one of the corner infield spots for a few years, that means the Cubs can spend their copious amounts of free agent spending cash on other positions.
2. Similar question on Hoerner. He's a gold glove caliber defender. Can he keep showing enough with the bat that the Cubs can consider one of the middle infield spots covered for the near future?
3. Can Bote and Happ recover some value? They're young, cheap, controlled for a few more years, and before this year had a good track record with their bats. They've both been hurt and bad when healthy this year. (Although Bote has looked good in his first 3 games since coming off the IL.) Can either or both of them show enough over the course of the rest of the year to warrant consideration as vital parts of the team going forward?
4. Do any of the veterans who are not traded get extensions? Not just the stars like Baez, Rizzo or Bryant, but Chirinos looks like a guy that you might want to have back. Does Marsinick keep playing in a way that makes his $4MM team option look really reasonable?
5. Any position players from the farm make a bid for playing time? Particularly Deichmann and Hermosillo. Can either of them show enough for the Cubs to think they're part of the outfield mix in 2022?
6. Starting pitcher tryouts... Justin Steele is being stretched out to start after really impressing in relief. They just sent Keegan Thomas down to do the same after being even more impressive in relief. Alec Mills has been relatively impressive since coming back to the rotation. Alzolay continues to work out the kinks. Brailyn Marquez should be back in the Big Leagues at some point this year. Trevor Williams and Kohl Stewart are both still under Cubs control next year. Can any of these guys nail down a starting spot alongside Kyle Hendricks and however many free agents get brought in?
7. Some very intriguing bullpen arms... I want to see some more Tommy Nance. I think he got overused in his last few appearances, causing his ERA to balloon. Has Dillon Maples really, truly finally figured it out? Can Brad Wieck get over his health problems and come back to what he was doing before his ticker started acting up again? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can Rowan Wick ever get over his oblique injury? (Probably no point in pushing him in this lost year.) Can we get Ben Leeper and Manuel Rodriguez up from AAA and see what they can do?
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
You can never have too many 37 year old catchers on the roster.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Gee I wonder if Votto is seeing the ball well right now.
to him, its as large as a 16" softball these days
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Pretty decent return for a 60-game rental where the Cubs kicked in no cash. The #7 and #12 prospects from the Yankee’s 11th ranked farm system per Fangraphs.
Alcantara, the younger kid, is ranked just outside FG’s top 100 prospects.
Vizcaino is still relatively well thought of despite being a 24 year old who’s never gotten past High A ball. Don’t know the story there. I’d assume injuries and some really amazing stuff.
Alcantara, the younger kid, is ranked just outside FG’s top 100 prospects.
Vizcaino is still relatively well thought of despite being a 24 year old who’s never gotten past High A ball. Don’t know the story there. I’d assume injuries and some really amazing stuff.
Cubs kicked in a lot of cash
You’re right. I completely misunderstood the original tweet I saw. I thought it meant the Cubs didn’t pay any of Rizzo’s remaining salary. When instead it meant the Cubs paid the entirety of Rizzo’s remaining salary.
Which is great. Probably why the Cubs got as good a return as they did.
Per fangraphs, the return on the trades so far rank on the Cubs’ prospect list:
#2 Alcantara (Rizzo)
#11 Vizcaino (Rizzo)
#18 Deichmann (Chafin)
#22 Ball (Pederson)
#26 Palencia (Chafin)
#53 Horn (Tepera)
Gives you some idea of how much they’ve changed the nature of the Cubs’ system with this flurry of trades. Five of the top 26 prospects have come by these trades.
Bryant and Kimbrell yet to come at minimum, with Davies and Baez also possible.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
That's...sad.
There is absolutely no reason why the Cubs, with what will be a top 10 farm system and about $100 million to spend in free agency should be bad for long or even at all. They will have all the resources a team could possibly have to put together a competitive team next year in a bad division.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
You could say the same thing about this year…except the top 10 farm team. They should be spending like the Dodgers instead of the Royals.
It's amazing to me that Baez will probably be the last one left standing. Does Jed watch the games or just YouTube videos of Javy's greatest slides or greatest tags?
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Rebuilding five years after winning the World Series. That’s what small market teams do.
The team didn’t live up to expectations. The Cubs haven’t been one piece away from the World Series. They’ve barely done anything since 2016. Let’s not act like this is all just because they didn’t spend. Players didn’t execute. Hard to keep winning when the players don’t execute. There’s no player they could’ve signed that would’ve gotten them a second World Series. They never got that close. Let’s stop blaming a lack of spending for what happened here. The Cubs peaked in 2016. The stars aligned. Everyone played their best year. No way to predict what happened with Russell or that nobody would have good seasons at the same time again. It happens. This is the smart thing to do because a lot of these guys are nearly MLB ready so they may even be setting up to be good in 2-3 years again, while hendricks is still here, maybe Contreras if they extend him. This is what retooling actually looks like. They won’t be terrible next year.
Also, Heyward's contract hamstrung them in a lot of ways .
And I don't want to hear about his speech. We could have gotten Joel Osteen for less than a million.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Why? It's not like they have unlimited funds. The new Marquee Network isn't providing nearly the revenue stream that many predicted.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Are you saying that the Dodgers and Padres do have unlimited funds?