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I'll be damned, a Cubs thread
we are the lovable losers. we moving in a positive directions though.
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I'll be damned, a Cubs thread
I'll be damned, a Cubs thread
we are the lovable losers. we moving in a positive directions though.
Kris bryant has been promoted to iowa cubs. Triple A.
Sooooooooooon.
Sahadev Sharma @sahadevsharma 2m
Rizzo, Castro, Arrieta, Valbuena, Wood, not a terrible group to work with. And that's without the kids coming up & the Shark/Hammel return.
Not that I should be surprised, being that it’s promotion season and all, but dude. This is fun.
After learning today that Kris Bryant was finally getting his promotion to AAA, Jesse Rogers reports that he won’t be alone:
Jesse Rogers @ESPNChiCubs
Triple A going to be loaded now. P Armando Rivero and Arodys Vizcaino headed there with Bryant. Ill be on ESPN 1000 at 3:45 to discuss
Vizcaino, 23, was the big component of the Cubs’ Paul Maholm trade back in 2012, as he recovered from Tommy John surgery earlier that year. A setback in Spring Training and a follow-up surgery in 2013, and we didn’t actually get to see him pitch for the Cubs until Spring Training of this year. Since then, it’s been a very cautious, measured return to action for Vizcaino, who worked his way back at Daytona and then Tennessee. Across those stops, he’s posted a 1.99 ERA over 22.2 innings, striking out 26 and walking 7. Vizcaino very clearly has a Major League arm, and it’s just a matter of ensuring his recovery is complete before bringing him up.
As for his future, you can still bank on Vizcaino being a back-end reliever long-term. There was always hope that he could start, but, given the durability concerns, the ability to max-out his fastball as a reliever, and the two recent elbow surgeries, it just seems wise to not expect more than a bullpen arm at this point. But, by all accounts, he’s got the upside of an elite back-end reliever.
Rivero, 26, was one of the Cubs’ big-ish Cuban signings last year, netting a $3.1 million bonus. He didn’t arrive until later in the year, and dominated the low minors in relief before pitching in the AFL. This year, it’s been more of the same for Rivero, who’s posted a 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings at AA Tennessee, mostly serving as the closer there. He’s struck out an absurd 54 batters in that time, walking 16.
Each pitcher will now pitch in the late innings at AAA, getting their final test before coming up to the big leagues, potentially as soon as later this year. The Cubs’ bullpen, as we’ve seen, is already flush with quality power arms, so let’s hope this is the first step in having the bullpen strength turn into an embarrassment of riches.
(And, when Vizcaino and Rivero do arrive, there’s a fair chance that having them will provide the Cubs cover if they want to try and stretch out guys like Neil Ramirez and/or Justin Grimm to be starters next year.)
These promotions, if and when they become official, will obviously displace two arms at AAA Iowa. There are actually a lot of quality arms there right now – good problem to have – so we may have a twinge of sadness soon. But this is what happens in strong organizations.
Arietta looked great again today.
No team has been more open about its approach to this market than the Cubs. Next year is the year they expect to turn the corner. So it's time once again for their June/July sell-off, except with a more limited selection of soon-to-be-ex-Cubs to choose from.
Teams that have spoken with them say the Cubs expect to move Jason Hammel in the next two weeks. A year ago, they dealt away Scott Feldman on July 2. And they've told other clubs they expect a similar time frame this year with Hammel.
But Hammel is just the warm-up act for Jeff Samardzija, who is positioned to be the No. 1 alternative to Price for top-of-the-rotation shoppers everywhere.
The Cubs continue to tell other teams they'd still like to get Samardzija signed, and that's not impossible. But they said the same thing (although with less conviction) about Matt Garza last year. And clubs that have spoken with them seem convinced the Cubs are just making sure, once and for all, that's not going to be possible.
So Samardzija is probably going to be somebody's signature late-July purchase -- and, very possibly, for a package closer to Price's than you might suspect.
Remember, Samardzija is going to make about half as much money over the next season and a half as Price (who's earning $14 million this year, to Samardzija's $5.345 million). And the Cubs can do what the Rays can't -- stoke an official AL East bidding war to up the ante.
So Jeff Samardzija is going to be a popular guy in a few weeks -- especially in a market with so few impact players to shop for.
Cubs top prospect Kris Bryant ended his Double-A career by winning the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game and last night he started his Triple-A career by homering in his first game.
Bryant went opposite field for a two-run homer, giving him 23 long balls in 69 total games this season between the two levels. And if you toss in his numbers in the low minors last year, plus his numbers at the University of San Diego before being drafted No. 2 overall last June, he’s got 63 homers in 167 games dating back to the start of 2013.
So far the Cubs’ front office has given every indication that Bryant will not be promoted to the big leagues this year, but it’s worth noting that as recently as two weeks ago they were also hinting pretty strongly that they had no plans to even promote him from Double-A to Triple-A. Hitting like he has–.353 with a 1.161 OPS overall–tends to change some plans.