Cubs trade for Dexter Fowler

[JZsportsfan]

Olt/La Stella/ Alcantara will play at 3B until Bryant is ready according to Joel Sherman

 

[JP Hochbaum]

Fowler
Coughlan/Alcantra
Rizzo
Soler
Castro
Montero
Olt
Baez

If Olt does play out of his mind to average, we would have an excellent problem in LF/3B.

 

[chibears55]

Olt/La Stella/ Alcantara will play at 3B until Bryant is ready according to Joel Sherman

That an easy assumption now. ..[emoji6]

 

[chibears55]

Fowler
Coughlan/Alcantra
Rizzo
Soler
Castro
Montero
Olt
Baez

If Olt does play out of his mind to average, we would have an excellent problem in LF/3B.

They could very easily play fowler in LF and stick with AA in CF

They need a LH bat off bench now with some power, be interesting to see who they get

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

We need offense desperately. I like this move. Fowler gets on base a lot, which is great with the sluggers we'll have in the line up (Soler, Bryant, Rizzo, etc). Bryant will be manning the 3B position and AA can hold the seat warm for him until May.

Man this year will be exciting. Glad we got to hold on to Wood. I think he'll have a bounce back year. Spring Training cant come soon enough.

 

[SilenceS]

Its an alright move. Fowler is nothing special but he brings OBP. I think this moves AA to super sub. I still think Olt is the odd man out. Baez could start at AAA depending on how his change is going. He shows enough progress. I think the Cubs would love for him to continue to learn at the ML level this year.

 

[FrankieLyrical]

I'm not too familiar with Dexter Fowler. On a scale of 1 to we're breaking the curse, how excited should I be?

 

[chibears55]

They really need to add a LH bat with some decent power for the bench..
Right now Sweeney their best option

 

[Zvbxrpl]

Fantastic trade.

A real talented dual threat starting CF and at the plate when healthy for a scrub SP who cant cut it at AAA and a bench player on a good team.

 

[SilenceS]

I'm not too familiar with Dexter Fowler. On a scale of 1 to we're breaking the curse, how excited should I be?

He is a pretty average player. Hits singles and walks. Doesnt steal a lot of bags and seems to be losing speed. He fits a need, but is a complete complimentary player over anything else.

 

[knoxville7]

love the trade. gives the cubs what they desperately needed, a leadoff hitter. Coughlan played well in the role last year, but ideally he is a #2 hitter. this allows him to hit in the 2 spot now, giving us two guys at the top of the lineup who get on base in front of guys like Rizzo, castro, soler, and eventually Bryant.

as far as 3rd base goes, theres really no concerns. just mix and match for the first 17(or however many the number is) games till Bryant comes up. if somebody like Olt or lastella is tearing it up then that's a good problem to have and Bryant might have to play some LF then.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Its an alright move. Fowler is nothing special but he brings OBP. I think this moves AA to super sub. I still think Olt is the odd man out. Baez could start at AAA depending on how his change is going. He shows enough progress. I think the Cubs would love for him to continue to learn at the ML level this year.

Olt is going to make the club as a backup to Rizzo and Bryant unless he does something crazy for those first 17 games. Unless there are some more trades I think he's a lock to be a Cub in 2015.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

He is a pretty average player. Hits singles and walks. Doesnt steal a lot of bags and seems to be losing speed. He fits a need, but is a complete complimentary player over anything else.

Have to disagree with you on him being average. He's a pretty good player. Yes he has defensive short comings but his career OBP is .360+. That's pretty darn impressive -- especially for a team in desperate need of offense. We have enough home run swingers with Baez, Bryant and Soler. It would be nice to have guys on base for when they come up.

Plus we didn't give up much. Valbuena has no place here long term.

 

[TL1961]

Have to disagree with you on him being average. He's a pretty good player. Yes he has defensive short comings but his career OBP is .360+. That's pretty darn impressive -- especially for a team in desperate need of offense. We have enough home run swingers with Baez, Bryant and Soler. It would be nice to have guys on base for when they come up.

Plus we didn't give up much. Valbuena has no place here long term.

His WAR is not great. Offensively he is above average for a CF. (#4 in Wrc+). Defensively he is bad.

But in the Cubs' case, they were looking at heading into the season without an OBP guy at the top ahead of some HR hitters. Getting him and his OBP is a big plus from the offensive standpoint. The D will be a problem.

 

[knoxville7]

His WAR is not great. Offensively he is above average for a CF. (#4 in Wrc+). Defensively he is bad.

But in the Cubs' case, they were looking at heading into the season without an OBP guy at the top ahead of some HR hitters. Getting him and his OBP is a big plus from the offensive standpoint. The D will be a problem.

have him play more LF than CF then would be the move to make IMO

 

[TL1961]

have him play more LF than CF then would be the move to make IMO

That would help hide his defensive deficiencies but would result in him taking Coghlan's place rather than AA's. Coghlan had a good OBP, so it would be less of an impact. But with Fowler and AA both being switch hitters, we could definitely see Fowler in LF vs. LHP with Coghlan sitting.

 

[knoxville7]

That would help hide his defensive deficiencies but would result in him taking Coghlan's place rather than AA's. Coghlan had a good OBP, so it would be less of an impact. But with Fowler and AA both being switch hitters, we could definitely see Fowler in LF vs. LHP with Coghlan sitting.

against lefties thatll probably be the ideal situation for sure. also, at times play fowler in LF and Coughlan in CF...he seemed to handle it fine the times when he played it last year

 

[SilenceS]

An average player that fit a need. We shouldnt have to go much deeper or build him up. He gets on base and that is why they got him. He fit a need for cheap and wont block anyone.

 

[knoxville7]

the cool thing is how versatile this lineup is. maddon is going to have a lot of fun making lineups

 

[TL1961]

against lefties thatll probably be the ideal situation for sure. also, at times play fowler in LF and Coughlan in CF...he seemed to handle it fine the times when he played it last year

No way can Coghlan play CF. He had trouble judging balls in LF. He's not good defensively.