Cubs should stand pat

[TL1961]

Want to improve the team, offensively and defensively? Bring Baez up and put him at SS. Sit Castro.

a 250 average and bad D at SS is not good. Baez won't hit for a higher average, but he adds pop. Castro hits way too many ground balls. Guy doesn't know how to hit a line drive. What happened to him?

 

[CSF77]

Want to improve the team, offensively and defensively? Bring Baez up and put him at SS. Sit Castro.

a 250 average and bad D at SS is not good. Baez won't hit for a higher average, but he adds pop. Castro hits way too many ground balls. Guy doesn't know how to hit a line drive. What happened to him?

Why? You could just plug Baez at 3B and move Bryant to LF. Thus pushing Coghlan into a bench role with Lake. You will end up losing too much by shedding Castro.

 

[TL1961]

Coghlan is not hitting well and is not great defensively. But he is as good offensively as Castro, and hurts you less defensively.

Believe me, I think LF needs an upgrade. But SS is a black hole right now. And far more important a position. I know they'll not make this move, but I wish they would.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Want to improve the team, offensively and defensively? Bring Baez up and put him at SS. Sit Castro.

a 250 average and bad D at SS is not good. Baez won't hit for a higher average, but he adds pop. Castro hits way too many ground balls. Guy doesn't know how to hit a line drive. What happened to him?

Too much uppercut, imho.

 

[chibears55]

Want to improve the team, offensively and defensively? Bring Baez up and put him at SS. Sit Castro.

a 250 average and bad D at SS is not good. Baez won't hit for a higher average, but he adds pop. Castro hits way too many ground balls. Guy doesn't know how to hit a line drive. What happened to him?

Not sure how that automatically improve the team offensively. .

I mean im all for bringing back Baez , but would do so at the expense of Coughlin. .

What has Baez shown at the Major League level to make anyone feel comfortable replacing castro bat, slump or not.

 

[mj23]

Baez does have serious power and I think that would be an asset in itself

 

[TL1961]

I am not at the point where I am certain Baez will hit major league pitching. I want to see whether he can. I do feel he will provide as much offense as Castro or more with his power, and far better D. But to say i am certain of it? No. I am not.

But they aren't putting Castro to sleep. Just putting him on the bench.

 

[chibears55]

I am not at the point where I am certain Baez will hit major league pitching. I want to see whether he can. I do feel he will provide as much offense as Castro or more with his power, and far better D. But to say i am certain of it? No. I am not.

But they aren't putting Castro to sleep. Just putting him on the bench.

juch rather put Coughlin on bench..

Castro much more likely to break out of slump sooner and provide more offense then Coughlin

 

[SilenceS]

Sit Castro!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit! Wow!

 

[CSF77]

Lets see, Coghlan 4th OF. Castro MI...Castro 3 time all star on a contract til 2019 sitting on pine.... ya pretty dumb ass idea. 900 career hits at 26...

Ideal:

Fowler CF
Bryant LF
Rizzo 1B
Baez 3B
Soler RF
Montero C
Castro SS
Pitcher
Russell 2B

Bench

Coghlan LF/CF/RF
Lake LF/RF/3B
Herrera SS/2B/3B
Ross C

Still leaves 1 spot open for a back up 1B/PH type. You would want a LF bat preferably. But that spot most likely will go to Denorfia.

 

[Boobaby1]

Theo has ignored it in the draft during this rebuild, and its apparent that its biting them in the ass.

Their was an interesting article at CCO, and McLeod talked about "Best Player Available" in the draft.

McLeod says “It’s the best player available for us. You trust in your process that you put in place. You trust in your people and the scouts and the analysis and all of the information that we bring in. You trust in that. You go out and you scout the talent pool for that year and we get in here and line it up and we have a lot of discussion about what is best for our organization long term. How those conversations shake out, how the evaluations shake out, that is who is going to be at the top of our board. When we get to that pick, we are going to take the best player we feel provides the best fit for us as an organization long term. It doesn’t matter if it is a pitcher or a hitter. It just so happens that our last three drafts here it has been a position player at the top.”

This by no means implies that they won't take a pitcher, but he goes on to say, " You can't scout in a vacuum. You really limit yourself if you go into a draft thinking we HAVE to take a pitcher or hitter".

Personally, I have faith in McLeod and his staff, and whether or not they take a pitcher doesn't bother me. Eventually they will hit on some of these arms, and to think that these scouts have done their homework on Soler, Russell, Rizzo, Grimm, Ramirez, Edwards, Underwood, Schwarber, Bryant, Russell, McKinney, Black, and a host of others leads me to believe that they know what they are doing.

To me, even if they take a position player again, sooner or later, they will deal some of these players and get a good young pitcher via the trade route.

To me, it is not how or when you acquire them, just that you do acquire them.

 

[TL1961]

Sit Castro!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit! Wow!

It won't happen.

But tell me what he brings right now? He is poor defensively, and is batting .260. He has 5 RBI in a month, and those came on outs (as did most of his first 20). He gives away AB's. Just watch him. He treats trips to the plate like they are an annoyance. Nothing at all like what you want to see from a batter.

We have a few guys who are complete drains on the offense - Ross, Coghlan and now Castro. Guy led the league in hits, and now looks like he has no idea. He's "soft". He looks like he has never worked out a day in his life. He is just along for the ride. He works hard at nothing.

 

[TL1961]

Lets see, Coghlan 4th OF. Castro MI...Castro 3 time all star on a contract til 2019 sitting on pine.... ya pretty dumb ass idea. 900 career hits at 26...

Ideal:

Fowler CF
Bryant LF
Rizzo 1B
Baez 3B
Soler RF
Montero C
Castro SS
Pitcher
Russell 2B

Bench

Coghlan LF/CF/RF
Lake LF/RF/3B
Herrera SS/2B/3B
Ross C

Still leaves 1 spot open for a back up 1B/PH type. You would want a LF bat preferably. But that spot most likely will go to Denorfia.

..

During the offseason, I was among those who wanted the Cubs to hang on to Castro vs trading him, as many suggested. But I was kidding myself, thinking he'd start being an asset. I saw a listing of the Top 10 SS on High Heat, and Castro was not on it. The host made the case that he should be, and could be as high as #4 or 5, and I was glad to see that.

But look at that list today. Not one guy on there that he would replace on the list. His head is in his ass 90% of the time, and he just isn't getting it done. I have changed my stance 180 degrees.

"Three time all star". Hilarious.

The most important defensive position on the filed (or 2nd behind C), and we are the worst in the league. Add to that the fact that he is hitting the ball like a little girl, and that is simply not an asset to a team. He doesn't exactly offer the intangibles. His head is never in the game. He doesn't offer an ounce of leadership.

Trade him? Who is giving up much for Castro?

Name a team in worse shape than we are at SS.

 

[CSF77]

You are pretty clueless.

That said Castro got his hit mechanic messed up due to a lack of talent on the team. Thus he was pushed into the clean up role and changed his swing to become more of a power hitter. His production fell after.

D wise he started as a 30 error guy and has improved into a 20 error guy. He has made some solid plays this year.

Sure he is not perfect by any stretch but the best way to get him on the right track is to lessen his role on the team and let him go back to a line drive swing vs uppercutting. That happened when they traded out Sori and thrust him into that role. A role he was not suited for.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Castro is a good player in a terrible slump. His -.4 dWAR has him as negative WAR player right now but by the end of the year he will be close to his career averages of .283 And .729 OPS. That's a 4th or 5th best player on a championship team and as such has value especially with that contract. He's not garbage and no amount if ranting makes that so.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Back to the thread topic, I think if moves are made they're going to be zero sum moves like signing Soriano for bullpen help or promoting from within. Those will probably keep them relevant into September. I still don't discount a larger deal for long term pitching help but I think there are limited partners for that so I wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens until the offseason. In the meantime we'll see Baez, possibly Alcantara, Jacob Turner and some pen arms likely to include Corey Black and Carl Edwards Jr. This year is still, in the end, about learning and figuring out what they have.

 

[Zvbxrpl]

Their was an interesting article at CCO, and McLeod talked about "Best Player Available" in the draft.



This by no means implies that they won't take a pitcher, but he goes on to say, " You can't scout in a vacuum. You really limit yourself if you go into a draft thinking we HAVE to take a pitcher or hitter".

Personally, I have faith in McLeod and his staff, and whether or not they take a pitcher doesn't bother me. Eventually they will hit on some of these arms, and to think that these scouts have done their homework on Soler, Russell, Rizzo, Grimm, Ramirez, Edwards, Underwood, Schwarber, Bryant, Russell, McKinney, Black, and a host of others leads me to believe that they know what they are doing.

To me, even if they take a position player again, sooner or later, they will deal some of these players and get a good young pitcher via the trade route.

To me, it is not how or when you acquire them, just that you do acquire them.

Is that for this year? Because that's been VERY debatable in 2012-2014 with what you've suggested, Boo. Big time kool aid slurping going on.

You can't tell me at the time in 2012, Almora was 'BPA' ahead of Appel. I call bullshit.

2013 with picking Bryant came down to the wire if I recall. Before the pick, many fans were 50-50 on him and Gray.

2014 it was greatly thought that the Cubs picked Schwarber because they knew he'd be a low cost to sign, definitely not because he was the best on the board. He was not the best hitter available, or even Catcher available at the time (Max Pentecost.) He then chanced it on some 'may not sign' guys in later rounds and signed them.

There is a formula here. Epstein is taking the best hitting that's cost permitted based on his spending pool within balance of the top 10 picks; he spent more in 2013 because he could with his larger pool. He takes hitting talent then bulk drafts substandard, not TOR pitching talents. Except apparently an 18 year old with TJ this past year.

I'm saying that needs to change. Take a fucking chance. Draft TOR pitching that will be available at 9.

 

[beckdawg]

2014 it was greatly thought that the Cubs picked Schwarber because they knew he'd be a low cost to sign, definitely not because he was the best on the board. He was not the best hitter available, or even Catcher available at the time (Max Pentecost.) He then chanced it on some 'may not sign' guys in later rounds and signed them.

Schwarber was widely regarded as the best hitter in the draft. The reason he wasn't higher on people's radar was many felt he was LF/1B only.

 

[Zvbxrpl]

Schwarber was widely regarded as the best hitter in the draft. The reason he wasn't higher on people's radar was many felt he was LF/1B only.

If we're going to nitpick......

Schwarber was considered the best power hitter in the draft. Best overall hitter was Trea Turner, who I believe fell to 11 or 12 because he got hurt in a US game and his defense at SS needed work because he transitioned to SS from I forget where and was a 1 year starter. Turner won a cew NCAA Awards too.

Both are killing it right now in AA.

 

[CSF77]

Back to the thread topic, I think if moves are made they're going to be zero sum moves like signing Soriano for bullpen help or promoting from within. Those will probably keep them relevant into September. I still don't discount a larger deal for long term pitching help but I think there are limited partners for that so I wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens until the offseason. In the meantime we'll see Baez, possibly Alcantara, Jacob Turner and some pen arms likely to include Corey Black and Carl Edwards Jr. This year is still, in the end, about learning and figuring out what they have.

Talk is they are thinking on moving Rondon to a lesser role. I could see a 1 year with Soriano to close and let Rondon sit in middle relief.

Another good move would be to bolster the bench roles. Right now it is Ross (catcher), Szczur(LF platoon), Herrera (UI), Baxter (not used). If they move Bryant to LF, Soler to RF and Denorfia gets off of the DL. They need to shed 3 roster spots. I see Szczur and Baxter as the easy choices. With the OF set with full time players it makes sense to push Lake to AAA to play full time then. Leave him down for emergency depth. At that point I would trade for Ben Zorb. Let him roam around and demote/boot Herrera. The team will get more use out of a guy that can move around more. Not to mention it puts 2 vets on the bench in Denorfia and Zorbrist.

So at that point:
Zorbrist
Denorfia
Coghlan
Ross

Pen
Soriano
Strop
Rondon
Grimm
Rosscup
Russell
Wood
Motte

It leaves the bench short but in reality they can start an OF in LF and move Bryant to 3B when you need to move Baez to the MI. There is still plenty of flexibility just in the starters alone. Keeping a few players in AAA for injury reserve should suffice.

Eventually you would want to trade out Jackson and Wood but I do not see that happening yet. Mott is another. But meh he was a waste of $$$.