Just for fun, I look back at the prospects let go..

[UMFan83]

Looking at the prospects that were traded away while making a pennant push in 2003 and 2004

 

Ray Sadler (traded to the Pirates in 2003 for Randall Simon)

 

Currently playing for AAA Indianapolis. His season numers:

 

.186/.265/.271/.536

 

Had a cup of coffee during September callups last year. Had 8 AB, 2 H, 1 HR, 1 RBI

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Ray-Sadler.shtml

 

Enmanuel Ramires (traded to the Rockies in 2003 for Tony Womack)

 

Strangely enough his now 26 year old pitcher is no where to be found on Baseball Cube or MILB.com. He must have since departed baseball after the humiliation of being traded for Womack. This is what the Cub Reporter had to say after he was traded:

 

As far as the pitcher the Cubs gave up, Enmanuel Ramirez is a 23-year-old righty in his fifth year in the Cubs system. He has pitched at both Daytona (A) and West Tenn (AA) this season. He opened the campaign as a reliever at Daytona, going 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA in 11 games spanning 14.1 innings. After being promoted to the Double-A level in mid-June, he appeared in 22 games for West Tenn and was 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA. Those aren’t bad numbers, but a 23-year-old ought to pitch that well at A and AA ball, so it’s not like the Cubs gave up much.

 

Mike Nannini (traded to the Marlins along with Hee Seop Choi for Derrek Lee)

 

Currently in the Mariners organization with AAA Tacoma. This is his third team this year as he has also spent time in the Reds and Tigers organiations. Here are his season numbers at AAA:

 

0-0 10.00 ERA 9 G 9.0 IP 9 BB 7K 2.56 WHIP

 

He is now 26 years old and has never appeared in a major league game.

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/N/Mike-Nannini.shtml

 

Wilton Chavez (traded to the Expos for Jose Macais)

 

As many of you know, Wilton is back in the Cubs organization, pitching for the AAA Iowa Cubs. Here are his numbers:

 

2-2 4.58 ERA 10 G 19.2 IP 9 BB 12 K 1.32 WHIP

 

Chavez has never been up to the majors. Jose Macais should never again.

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Wilton-Chavez.shtml

 

Steve Smyth (traded with Juan Cruz to the Braves for Andy Pratt)

 

Looks like Steve is currently out of baseball. He last pitched in the A's organization in 2005, getting beat up on their AAA team. His only appearence in the major leagues came before this trade, in 2002 with the Cubs. As we know he went 1-3 with a 9.35 ERA in 7 ill fated starts with the Northsiders that year before starting the next in the minors.

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Steve-Smyth.shtml

 

That's all I feel like doing right now (gotta get back to work :)) Several more interesting prospects to update including:

 

-Justin Jones (Nomar)

-Brendan Harris (Nomar)

-Andy Pratt (Ben Grieve)

-Francis Beltran (Nomar)

-Dave Noyce (Damian Miller)

-Gary Johnson (Damian Miller)

-Matt Bruback (Aramis/Lofton)

-Jason Fransz (Doug Glanville)

[jjgman21]

I find it amazing that Jason Smith, the PTBNL in the McGriff deal, inexplicably stuck around baseball and logged ML ABs in every year since the trade.

 

guy shouldn't be in pro ball.

[Soriano12]

I really thought Francis Beltran was gonna be a big time MLB player.

[CubinNY]

I really thought Francis Beltran was gonna be a big time MLB player.

He was damaged goods when the Cubs traded him. Frankly, I suprized the Cubs didn't get called out.

[erik316wttn]

What about that Willis guy?

[erik316wttn]

I really thought Francis Beltran was gonna be a big time MLB player.

He was damaged goods when the Cubs traded him. Frankly, I suprized the Cubs didn't get called out.

 

Beltran never did it for me. He had good stuff, but his control issues were absolutely maddening.

[Wilmo]

Seeing the name Wilton Chavez, made me think of Wilton Guerrero. (I think he Vlad's little brother) Anyway, didn't we pick him up at some point last season, maybe before the season started. Not that I expected him the be playing for the Cubs, but anyone know what happened?

[neely crenshaw]

i have never minded trading prospects for proven talent. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. we could all be pissed about willis but he was just a class a throw in for a deal for a provem starter(clement) and a closer(6finger) at the time we had just lost our closer at the beginning of the season and truthfully at that time closers are not very easy to get. that part certainly did not work but matt was solid for a couple years.

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought, for a middle reliever. for the most part non set up middle relief does not go for a top prospect...

my biggest complaint is that we actually don't use our farn system to get proven guys. i would rather list the "untouchable" guys we refused to trade that now(or previously) have no value!

names like..

dubois

patterson

brownlee

christenson

wood..for sure

prior...wuite possibly

wuertz...although he is coming back

farnsworth

guzman

hill..rich not bobby

mitre

nolasco

wellmeyer

kelton

at one time everyone of these guys was considered untouchable by the cubs. think of who we might have been able to get for one or a combo of these guys!

now the best we have been able to make is a 3 for 1 for pierre-which is only for 1 season...not very good especially when you think back to how close we were after 2003..a deal or 2 may have sealed a championship instead we one player(pierre) on the roster as a result of these prospects!

[jjgman21]

i have never minded trading prospects for proven talent. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. we could all be pissed about willis but he was just a class a throw in for a deal for a provem starter(clement) and a closer(6finger) at the time we had just lost our closer at the beginning of the season and truthfully at that time closers are not very easy to get. that part certainly did not work but matt was solid for a couple years.

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought, for a middle reliever. for the most part non set up middle relief does not go for a top prospect...

my biggest complaint is that we actually don't use our farn system to get proven guys. i would rather list the "untouchable" guys we refused to trade that now(or previously) have no value!

names like..

dubois

patterson

brownlee

christenson

wood..for sure

prior...wuite possibly

wuertz...although he is coming back

farnsworth

guzman

hill..rich not bobby

mitre

nolasco

wellmeyer

kelton

at one time everyone of these guys was considered untouchable by the cubs. think of who we might have been able to get for one or a combo of these guys!

now the best we have been able to make is a 3 for 1 for pierre-which is only for 1 season...not very good especially when you think back to how close we were after 2003..a deal or 2 may have sealed a championship instead we one player(pierre) on the roster as a result of these prospects!

 

I agree in general with selling high, but the way you put the Willis trade into context got me to thinking. in the post Ed Lynch era, the name Willis is bantereed about, but you look at the other players mentioned here, and this team has brought good players in via lots of trades for minor league or marginal players. the net result has been something like

 

Mueller/McGriff/Bellhorn/Clement/Simon/Lofton/Aram/Barrett/Lee/Nomar/Murton/Pierre(please spare the debate of his goodness for this point)

 

for

 

Willis/Nolasco/Damian Miller/Todd Worrell and a bunch of kids who flamed out or failed and a few marginal ML players

 

I would like to see a better job of selling high and maintaining the 40 man roster, but the Cubs have given up very little when compared to what they have received via trade, even including the two worst trades of the bunch.

[Soriano12]

i have never minded trading prospects for proven talent. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. we could all be pissed about willis but he was just a class a throw in for a deal for a provem starter(clement) and a closer(6finger) at the time we had just lost our closer at the beginning of the season and truthfully at that time closers are not very easy to get. that part certainly did not work but matt was solid for a couple years.

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought,

 

Judy Garland..a stud! I dunno about that.

 

Bad trade..we probably should have kept Judy..but he is no stud.

[KingCubsFan]

i have never minded trading prospects for proven talent. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. we could all be pissed about willis but he was just a class a throw in for a deal for a provem starter(clement) and a closer(6finger) at the time we had just lost our closer at the beginning of the season and truthfully at that time closers are not very easy to get. that part certainly did not work but matt was solid for a couple years.

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought, for a middle reliever. for the most part non set up middle relief does not go for a top prospect...

my biggest complaint is that we actually don't use our farn system to get proven guys. i would rather list the "untouchable" guys we refused to trade that now(or previously) have no value!

names like..

dubois

patterson

brownlee

christenson

wood..for sure

prior...wuite possibly

wuertz...although he is coming back

farnsworth

guzman

hill..rich not bobby

mitre

nolasco

wellmeyer

kelton

at one time everyone of these guys was considered untouchable by the cubs. think of who we might have been able to get for one or a combo of these guys!

now the best we have been able to make is a 3 for 1 for pierre-which is only for 1 season...not very good especially when you think back to how close we were after 2003..a deal or 2 may have sealed a championship instead we one player(pierre) on the roster as a result of these prospects!

Of those names, the only ones I think the Cubs considered untouchable at one point were Patterson, Wood and Prior. Maybe Guzman, as well. The other players were either prospects that have been traded or low-level prospects that were never that highly regarded and probably couldn't get much in a trade. Kelton and Hill may be exceptions (although Hill still has time to prove he's a quality starter).

And while I agree the Karchner trade was horrible, I would hardly call Garland a "stud" pitcher. He basically has had one good season.

[Jehrico]

i have never minded trading prospects for proven talent. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. we could all be pissed about willis but he was just a class a throw in for a deal for a provem starter(clement) and a closer(6finger) at the time we had just lost our closer at the beginning of the season and truthfully at that time closers are not very easy to get. that part certainly did not work but matt was solid for a couple years.

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought, for a middle reliever. for the most part non set up middle relief does not go for a top prospect...

my biggest complaint is that we actually don't use our farn system to get proven guys. i would rather list the "untouchable" guys we refused to trade that now(or previously) have no value!

names like..

dubois

patterson

brownlee

christenson

wood..for sure

prior...wuite possibly

wuertz...although he is coming back

farnsworth

guzman

hill..rich not bobby

mitre

nolasco

wellmeyer

kelton

at one time everyone of these guys was considered untouchable by the cubs. think of who we might have been able to get for one or a combo of these guys!

now the best we have been able to make is a 3 for 1 for pierre-which is only for 1 season...not very good especially when you think back to how close we were after 2003..a deal or 2 may have sealed a championship instead we one player(pierre) on the roster as a result of these prospects!

 

Mitre and Nolasco don't fit on that list. Whether you like the trade or not, they were traded for a guy with a career average over .300 and a career OBP over .350, who was considered one of the elite leadoff men in the game. While I don't like the trade, I wouldn't classify those guys as guys we wouldn't/didn't trade for proven major league talent.

[Bruno7481]

Saw Brendan Harris play last night.

 

Thought I'd throw that out there.

 

He will probably be a Sept callup for the Reds.

[Jon]

I really thought Francis Beltran was gonna be a big time MLB player.

He was damaged goods when the Cubs traded him. Frankly, I suprized the Cubs didn't get called out.

It's odd that the Pirates didn't say anything about Hill, as well, although I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is. I believe he revealed his back injury a few weeks after the trade and the Cubs supposedly had no knowledge about it.

[SouthSideRyan]

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought,

 

uhhhhh...

[snoodmonger]

my complaint is that we traded a very highly regarded young starter in garland, who has turned out to be the stud we all thought,

 

uhhhhh...

 

we definitely got the worst of that deal, but Garland isn't that good. A 4/5 rotation guy, IMO, who wins games because the Sox score runs by the bucketload.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

1. How's Bear Bay been doing? Now THAT was a stupid trade. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

2. Ricky Nolasco. Ouch.

 

3. Willis and Garland were pretty bad hits.

 

But the thing is, Juan Cruz or Ruben Quevedo or Ross Gload or (insert name here) could have been the ones, instead. It is SO hard to project minor leaguers. I think the Cubs have done pretty well overall in this regard, they at least seem capable of judging their own talent pretty well.

[ToupeeOnFire]

The problem with the Garland trade was that it was for Matt friggin' Karchner. Trading a first round, top 10 draft pick for a 31 year old reliever coming off one single half-way decent season is just incredibly stupid no matter how you slice it.

[Jehrico]

1. How's Bear Bay been doing? Now THAT was a stupid trade. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

2. Ricky Nolasco. Ouch.

 

3. Willis and Garland were pretty bad hits.

 

But the thing is, Juan Cruz or Ruben Quevedo or Ross Gload or (insert name here) could have been the ones, instead. It is SO hard to project minor leaguers. I think the Cubs have done pretty well overall in this regard, they at least seem capable of judging their own talent pretty well.

 

I forgot...who did we trade Bay for?

[erik316wttn]

1. How's Bear Bay been doing? Now THAT was a stupid trade. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

2. Ricky Nolasco. Ouch.

 

3. Willis and Garland were pretty bad hits.

 

But the thing is, Juan Cruz or Ruben Quevedo or Ross Gload or (insert name here) could have been the ones, instead. It is SO hard to project minor leaguers. I think the Cubs have done pretty well overall in this regard, they at least seem capable of judging their own talent pretty well.

 

I forgot...who did we trade Bay for?

 

Bartosh.

[Jehrico]

1. How's Bear Bay been doing? Now THAT was a stupid trade. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

2. Ricky Nolasco. Ouch.

 

3. Willis and Garland were pretty bad hits.

 

But the thing is, Juan Cruz or Ruben Quevedo or Ross Gload or (insert name here) could have been the ones, instead. It is SO hard to project minor leaguers. I think the Cubs have done pretty well overall in this regard, they at least seem capable of judging their own talent pretty well.

 

I forgot...who did we trade Bay for?

 

Bartosh.

Oh my goodness...I had forgotten all about him. What happened to him this year?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

1. How's Bear Bay been doing? Now THAT was a stupid trade. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

How is the trade so dumb if neither guy actually did anything?

[Milli1306]

how about guys like Eric Hinske and Kyle Lohse who could help the Cubs but were traded away (let go?) years ago...i realize that they may have never been highly regarded...but hindsight's 20-20 right?

 

also former Cubs: Brendan Donnelly (not resigned), Jose Molina (not resigned), more that i didn't bother to search too hard for

 

almost a Cub: Khalil Greene, *sigh* didn't sign him outta Clemson after Jr. year...*sigh*

 

I know none of these guys, save Greene, are really that much better than average, but wouldn't you rather have a guy like Lohse getting starts than Fat Glendon and Hinske playing everywhere instead of John Mabry, and maybe Molina isn't so great at all, but a dencent backup catcher, not that good 'ol Hank isn't good enough, but maybe too expensive...eh, whatever, you win some, you lose some...sadly Jim's lost too many recently I guess

[Derwood]

FWIW, Jon Koronka was sent to AAA in Texas. Guess the bloom's off that rose.