Cubs Complete Trade with Minnesota, Make Three Other Moves

[Tim]

Per the front page of the site (via Cubs Media Relations)...

 

The Chicago Cubs today acquired right-handed pitcher Adam Harben from the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade which sent Phil Nevin to Minnesota on August 31. In addition, the Cubs have recalled right-handed pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu and catcher Jose Reyes from Triple-A Iowa while right-handed pitcher Jerome Williams has been claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics.

 

Harben, 23, has compiled a 32-28 minor league record in 108 career games (91 starts) while posting a 3.40 career ERA (194 ER/513.1 IP). The 6-foot, 5-inch, 210-pounder has allowed just 21 home runs in 513.1 innings of work, recording 468 strikeouts compared to 240 walks.

 

Harben produced a 3.96 ERA (54 ER/122.2 IP) in 29 games (22 starts) for Double-A New Britain in the Eastern League this season. He posted a 0.42 ERA (1 ER/21.1 IP) in five April games (four starts), while limiting hitters to a .149 average (11-for-74) in that span.

 

In 2005, Harben was ranked the 16th Best Prospect in the Florida State League by Baseball America after went 10-5 with a 2.66 ERA (40 ER/135.1 IP) in 25 starts for Single-A Fort Myers.

 

Ryu, 23, begins his fourth stint with the Cubs this season, having made three appearances for Chicago. The right-hander made his Major League debut May 14 vs. San Diego, tossing 1.0 inning of relief. Signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent on June 1, 2001, Ryu spent the majority of this season with Iowa, going 8-8 with a 3.23 ERA (50 ER/139.1 IP) in 24 games (23 starts) while limiting opponents to a .237 batting average.

 

Reyes, 23, split this season between Double-A West Tenn and Triple-A Iowa, combining to hit .238 (60-for-252) with 22 RBI in 84 games. The right-handed batter hit .357 (15-for-42) in 17 August contests with Iowa. Reyes, who will wear uniform number 61, is looking to make his Major League debut.

 

Williams, 24, was acquired by Chicago in the trade which sent pitcher LaTroy Hawkins to the San Francisco Giants on May 28, 2005. Williams went 6-10 with a 4.26 ERA (56 ER/118.1 IP) in 23 games (19 starts) for Chicago. He began this season with the Cubs, going 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA (10 ER/12.1 IP) in five games (two starts) before he was optioned to Iowa on April 23. He went 5-7 with a 4.76 ERA (59 ER/111.2 IP) in 29 games (16 starts) with Iowa this season.

[Guest]

Looks like we're back to 39 on the 40 man roster.

[JeffH]

Looks like we're back to 39 on the 40 man roster.

 

Nope. Harben was added.

[WindyCity]

So the Cubs get nothing for Jerome..... I guess that's been the M.O. for Hendry. I know Jerome hasn't performed well this year, but he was still under the Cubs control and you'd think a 24 year old starter that had past success would get you something (however little) in return.

[goonys evil twin]

So the Cubs get nothing for Jerome..... I guess that's been the M.O. for Hendry. I know Jerome hasn't performed well this year, but he was still under the Cubs control and you'd think a 24 year old starter that had past success would get you something (however little) in return.

 

Think about it in terms of what they got out of the Hawkins signing. One good season that went down the drain when the manager decided to rush him into the middle of a disastrous 9th inning with 2 men already on base (if you were willing to use him at all, you should have just started the inning with him). A pretty bad relief pitcher and a disinterested starter who they cut. And they lost a draft pick for their troubles.

[Guest]

Looks like we're back to 39 on the 40 man roster.

 

Nope. Harben was added.

Ah yes, you are correct.

[Rob]

I can't figure out for the life of me why we let Williams slip away for nothing... and why we picked up yet another live arm for Nevin instead of a position prospect, which our farm system would be sorely in need of.

 

Hendry needs to go.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I can't figure out for the life of me why we let Williams slip away for nothing... and why we picked up yet another live arm for Nevin instead of a position prospect, which our farm system would be sorely in need of.

 

Hendry needs to go.

 

Williams was toast. He had lost velocity and it showed in his performance.

[JeffH]

I can't figure out for the life of me why we let Williams slip away for nothing... and why we picked up yet another live arm for Nevin instead of a position prospect, which our farm system would be sorely in need of.

 

Hendry needs to go.

 

If you're going to acquire some longshot prospect, it should always be a pitcher.

 

Guys with live arms who otherwise have major fundamental problems can sometimes have things click. Hitters with major fundamental problems rarely do.

[Guest]

I can't figure out for the life of me why we let Williams slip away for nothing... and why we picked up yet another live arm for Nevin instead of a position prospect, which our farm system would be sorely in need of.

 

Hendry needs to go.

 

If you're going to acquire some longshot prospect, it should always be a pitcher.

 

Guys with live arms who otherwise have major fundamental problems can sometimes have things click. Hitters with major fundamental problems rarely do.

doesn't stop the cubs from drafting them though.

[sweetpeteman]

YAY! ANOTHER TALL PITCHER!

[Andy]

Well, so much for "we robbed the Giants in that Hawkins deal".

[Outshined_One]

Well, so much for "we robbed the Giants in that Hawkins deal".

 

As far as I'm concerned, Aardsma and Williams did way more for this team than Hawkins ever could have done.

 

We still robbed them.

[goonys evil twin]

Well, so much for "we robbed the Giants in that Hawkins deal".

 

As far as I'm concerned, Aardsma and Williams did way more for this team than Hawkins ever could have done.

 

We still robbed them.

 

Yet you're very wrong. Aardsma and Williams have combined to do absolutely nothing. Hawkins was actually a very effective relief pitcher. The problem is relief pitchers are notoriously inconsistent and have a short-shelf life. The proven closer label is just an excuse to overpay for inconsistency.

[CubColtPacer]

Well, so much for "we robbed the Giants in that Hawkins deal".

 

As far as I'm concerned, Aardsma and Williams did way more for this team than Hawkins ever could have done.

 

We still robbed them.

 

Yet you're very wrong. Aardsma and Williams have combined to do absolutely nothing. Hawkins was actually a very effective relief pitcher. The problem is relief pitchers are notoriously inconsistent and have a short-shelf life. The proven closer label is just an excuse to overpay for inconsistency.

 

Williams did better than Hawkins did for SF last year. Aardsma has almost exactly the same stats as Hawkins does this year (with Aardma being just a tick better). Hawkins makes 4.4 million this year, Williams and Aardsma did not. Hawkins is 33-Aardsma is 24. We might not have gotten that much better-but we certainly got better when we made that trade, if only to get rid of some salary.

[Outshined_One]

Well, so much for "we robbed the Giants in that Hawkins deal".

 

As far as I'm concerned, Aardsma and Williams did way more for this team than Hawkins ever could have done.

 

We still robbed them.

 

Yet you're very wrong. Aardsma and Williams have combined to do absolutely nothing. Hawkins was actually a very effective relief pitcher. The problem is relief pitchers are notoriously inconsistent and have a short-shelf life. The proven closer label is just an excuse to overpay for inconsistency.

 

Williams contributed quite a bit during his time with the Cubs. Heck, his September led most people to believe that he'd be guaranteed to be the #3 guy behind Zambrano and Maddux. His presence was not detrimental to this team last season; why he dropped off so suddenly is beyond me.

 

Aardsma has some amount of promise and still is young enough to likely have the best years of his career ahead of him.

 

Hawkins' shelf life came to an end while he was with the Cubs. I don't know what the heck his problem was, whether he should have stayed as a setup man or it was something else, but it was clear the man wasn't the same pitcher he was with Minnesota.

 

Cripes, remember what happened when the Giants played the Cubs at Wrigley and he came out three days in a row? The crowd was merciless and it was clear they got to him considering he gave up 3 runs and 3 hits in 1.3+ IP. That tells me his head was not screwed on straight.

 

Considering his 1.47 WHIP and deflated K/9, I don't think he's done any better in Baltimore.

 

The Cubs got the much better end of the deal with SF. We all knew it at the time, to boot. I think this constitutes the trade being a robbery.

[goonys evil twin]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

[Guest]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

$4.1M in salary relief is more than nothing.

[Electron Blue]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

 

If it's a robbery, it's one of those bizzare ones where a mentally ill criminal breaks in at night, takes what he wants and leaves a twenty dollar bill on the counter to cover the loot. Sure it looked like a robbery at the time, sure they had to replace that window, but next day it's business as usual; nothing lost, nothing gained.

[BigbadB]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

$4.1M in salary relief is more than nothing.

 

It's still robbery if the 4.1m in salary relief was given to Glendon Rusch and Neifi Perez.

[NorthsideAvenger]

At the time of the trade Williams and Aardsma was consider a robbery of the Giants. On September 5, 2006, that deal is still considered a robbery. Getting two young and viable arms like Aardsma and Williams for a middle reliever was and is consider a move that 95% MLB teams would have made. Now if the two young arms don't reach their potential at their new destination, that's a different story. Bottomline: Williams/Aardsma for Hawkins was and still is consider a steal.

[EricG]

Notes: Pie absent among roster moves

Ryu, Reyes called up; Nevin deal completed with righty Harben

"It didn't work out," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "[The Athletics] have a very good idea of Jerome. I have a pretty good idea of Jerome. I didn't see the Jerome I'd hoped to see or we'd hoped to see. Sometimes these things happen."

[Hector Villanuevas Pants]

I know it's fun (and easy) to bash the Cubs, but the Hawkins for Williams/Aardsma trade is a clear win for the Cubs. Hawkins was easily one of the most hated Cubs since Todd Hundley and was only getting worse. Since the trade he has done nothing in San Francisco or Baltimore. Williams had potential, but was ultimately disappointing. It would have been nice to get something for him, but realistically his attitude and performance in Iowa rendered him worthless. I still have some hope that Aardsma could be OK. I'm not sure how anyone could say that they'd rather have Hawkins and his salary rather than Williams and Aardsma.

 

And how the Cubs spent the money saved through this trade (on Neifi and Rusch perhaps) is immaterial to this discussion.

[mhuber92211]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

$4.1M in salary relief is more than nothing.

 

It's still robbery if the 4.1m in salary relief was given to Glendon Rusch and Neifi Perez.

 

Just to Rusch now!

[NorthsideAvenger]

It's not a robbery when you get nothing of value.

$4.1M in salary relief is more than nothing.

 

It's still robbery if the 4.1m in salary relief was given to Glendon Rusch and Neifi Perez.

 

Just to Rusch now!

 

Those fun house mirrors are expensive as hell. I'm glad Glendon find something that makes him look thinner then what his Cubs uniform does.