Cubs trade Barrett to Padres for Rob Bowen & Kyler Burke

[USSoccer]

Meh. I guess I'm not upset that Barrett is gone, but our already weak offense just took a hit. Hendry better be bringing in another bat soon or he's an idiot.

 

I have my doubts as to whether or not he can.

[Chocolate Milk]

I hope we see a lot more of Izturis with our new dedication to defense.

 

The bottom of our lineup is going to be horrid.

 

I'm surprised there isn't more support for Izturis around here judging by how much people seem to value defense.

 

it's because he's not really that good at defense

 

Defense: The subjective metric.

[nilodnayr]

Bowen doesn't need to throw out 60% of the baserunners. He just needs to avoid passed balls and fundamental baserunning errors. Here's hoping we don't lose any more games because of botched rundown plays.

 

Reducing these extra outs should exceed the OPS differential. Bowen is cheaper and younger. Catchers usually mature offensively later than the average Age 27 burst of other position players.

 

Bowen has had 1 throwing error and 2 fielding errors in 98 PAs this year with a .390 WP+PB/G vs Barrett whos had 3 throwing errors and 1 field ing error in 231 PAs with a .440 WP+PB/G. Its not like we just upgraded from Piazza to Pudge.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Davenport translations are garbage.

 

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Bowen/Soto platoon at catcher.

[seanimal]

 

Also, FWIW, by Clay Davenport's fielding metric, Bowen's defense may be just as bad as Barrett's.

 

But wait....I read a scouting report that he was good on defense! :lol:

 

defensive metrics are imperfect, thought that one tends to be one of the better ones from what I understand. this may sound a bit foreign, but perhaps we should... wait... and see... for ourselves how Bowen performs in the field, before we, say, jump to any rash conclusions based on cherry-picking the results one wants to hear.

[Soriano12]

 

Also, FWIW, by Clay Davenport's fielding metric, Bowen's defense may be just as bad as Barrett's.

 

But wait....I read a scouting report that he was good on defense! :lol:

 

judging by your posts, you haven't read anything about anyone. don't let that stop you from having overreactions and hyperbolic opinions about everything though

 

Don't worry. It won't.

 

BTW I look foward to this gold glove catcher Bowen, that everyone is talking about.

[ctcf]

Davenport translations are garbage.

 

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Bowen/Soto platoon at catcher.

 

That wishful thinking as unfortunately Hill didn't accompany Barrett to SD.

 

Also, I really hope this isn't the last trade that sees a player who needed to leave, leave.

[badger1679666666]

Guys, Barrett makes 4.5 mil dollars, I'm almost convinced it will show that the Cubs have given money to the Padres. I doubt it is the other way around considering how much Bowen and the abysmal minor leaguer make.

 

You do realize it's tough to judge NINETEEN YEAR OLD minor leaguers based on stats in Low ball right?

 

Man you are the king of hyperbole.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

 

Also, FWIW, by Clay Davenport's fielding metric, Bowen's defense may be just as bad as Barrett's.

 

But wait....I read a scouting report that he was good on defense! :lol:

 

judging by your posts, you haven't read anything about anyone. don't let that stop you from having overreactions and hyperbolic opinions about everything though

 

Don't worry. It won't.

 

BTW I look foward to this gold glove catcher Bowen, that everyone is talking about.

 

 

Who said he was a gold glove catcher? Stop it.

[jmajew]

I guess McDonalds now has to get rid of all of the Barrett commercials.

 

My bet is Piniella wanted this trade to happen. Just a hunch though.

 

Should we start a "curse of the McDonalds commercials"? First Pierre, now Barrett.

 

Next Big Z...

[BigbadB]

My confusion on this is why San Diego makes this deal. I thought they were pretty happy with Josh Bard. Not only is he their starting catcher, but he's been hitting clean up a lot this year.

 

I wonder if the Padres see Barrett playing a little 3b while Kouzmanoff is injured. He can DH in any remaining games in AL parks as well.

 

But, then again, the Padres won their division last year with Mike Piazza catching a majority of games, so evidently they are willing to trade off a bit of defense for the sake of offense.

[back2backjax]

Guys, Gals-

 

I notice Jake Fox is killing the ball at AA - 14/48/.298/.862. Does anyone know about his defensive and game calling skills? I'm wondering if moving Barrett was made easy by how Fox is hitting.

[Elrhino]

I don't know that I would consider Barrett's contract an "albatross" considering its just a 4 month commitment. If the Cubs did get cash in return, it's a pretty vibrant red flag for a future deal for a big contract (Tejada?).

[jersey cubs fan]

Guys, Barrett makes 4.5 mil dollars, I'm almost convinced it will show that the Cubs have given money to the Padres. I doubt it is the other way around considering how much Bowen and the abysmal minor leaguer make.

 

You do realize it's tough to judge NINETEEN YEAR OLD minor leaguers based on stats in Low ball right?

 

Man you are the king of hyperbole.

 

You can't be any good putting up stats that bad in low A ball.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Davenport translations are garbage.

 

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Bowen/Soto platoon at catcher.

 

That wishful thinking as unfortunately Hill didn't accompany Barrett to SD.

 

Also, I really hope this isn't the last trade that sees a player who needed to leave, leave.

 

I didn't necessarily mean immediately, Soto's still nursing a shoulder injury. Maybe Blanco will need that surgery and be forced to retire.

[YearofDaCubs]

Davenport translations are garbage.

 

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Bowen/Soto platoon at catcher.

I do think it's time to brign Soto up regardless. I would hate to see Blanco be our starting catcher, the guy flat out sucks on offense. I hate to say it but I'd rather have the guy stay on the DL. Bring Soto up and let's see if this guy can be our replacement for Barrett.

[Elrhino]

Guys, Gals-

 

I notice Jake Fox is killing the ball at AA - 14/48/.298/.862. Does anyone know about his defensive and game calling skills? I'm wondering if moving Barrett was made easy by how Fox is hitting.

 

If Fox could play a lick of defense, he would have been called up by now. As it stands, he's experimenting with playing 1B and corner OF.

[jersey cubs fan]

My confusion on this is why San Diego makes this deal. I thought they were pretty happy with Josh Bard. Not only is he their starting catcher, but he's been hitting clean up a lot this year.

 

I wonder if the Padres see Barrett playing a little 3b while Kouzmanoff is injured. He can DH in any remaining games in AL parks as well.

 

But, then again, the Padres won their division last year with Mike Piazza catching a majority of games, so evidently they are willing to trade off a bit of defense for the sake of offense.

 

They need offense, and aren't all that worried about a catcher somehow making their pitcher's worse.

[Pushfrog98]

My confusion on this is why San Diego makes this deal. I thought they were pretty happy with Josh Bard. Not only is he their starting catcher, but he's been hitting clean up a lot this year.

 

I wonder if the Padres see Barrett playing a little 3b while Kouzmanoff is injured. He can DH in any remaining games in AL parks as well.

 

But, then again, the Padres won their division last year with Mike Piazza catching a majority of games, so evidently they are willing to trade off a bit of defense for the sake of offense.

My guess is that they plan on using Barrett as a trade chip... they do seem to like Bard, so Barrett doesn't really improve offensively for him, and he's not much of a backup catcher because well... he's Michael Barrett. I wonder if they plan on swinging Barrett to the Reds in an attempt to get Dunn. The Reds have a bunch of catchers, but none that can hit...

[Derwood]

i submitted this story to FARK.com under the headline "Padres add some punch to their lineup". We'll see if I win

[E.J.]

Guys, Gals-

 

I notice Jake Fox is killing the ball at AA - 14/48/.298/.862. Does anyone know about his defensive and game calling skills? I'm wondering if moving Barrett was made easy by how Fox is hitting.

 

You think Barrett is a bad defensive catcher, wait until you see Fox. He's actually been playing the outfield quite a bit. Don't know if he's going to stick behind homeplate.

[ctcf]

I guess McDonalds now has to get rid of all of the Barrett commercials.

 

My bet is Piniella wanted this trade to happen. Just a hunch though.

 

Should we start a "curse of the McDonalds commercials"? First Pierre, now Barrett.

 

Next Big Z...

 

Can we sew a giant M to Jones' uni in that case?

[CubColtPacer]

Davenport translations are garbage.

 

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the possibility of a Bowen/Soto platoon at catcher.

 

That wishful thinking as unfortunately Hill didn't accompany Barrett to SD.

 

Also, I really hope this isn't the last trade that sees a player who needed to leave, leave.

 

I didn't necessarily mean immediately, Soto's still nursing a shoulder injury. Maybe Blanco will need that surgery and be forced to retire.

 

Yeah, I can definitely see a Bowen/Soto pairing in 2008, which would be better than the Cubs had before now. Basically, this deal is uncertain to how it affects 2007 (will Bowen continue to hit better than Barrett? How good is Bowen's defense really?), and better for the Cubs in 2008 and beyond.

[Outshined_One]

Guys, Barrett makes 4.5 mil dollars, I'm almost convinced it will show that the Cubs have given money to the Padres. I doubt it is the other way around considering how much Bowen and the abysmal minor leaguer make.

 

You do realize it's tough to judge NINETEEN YEAR OLD minor leaguers based on stats in Low ball right?

 

Man you are the king of hyperbole.

 

It's tough, but the guy's stats do not inspire much hope in me. Cripes, he's barely hitting over .200 and has a BABIP of .321.

[Amazing_Grace]

I'm a little curious what's up with the catching situation? Who's going to be our starting catcher? Are they really going to go with Koyie Hill, or will they be bringing up Soto? Did they acquire Bowen to start? If so, we just traded a starting catcher and the 4th best prospect in our system for a backup catcher and a journeyman reliever. Great job, Jim.

 

That said, neither of these guys had a tremendous amount of value. If EPatt really can't play 2b, then his value was going to go nowhere but down from this point forward, and we may as well trade him now and get something. I don't know what prospect Barrett would have gotten us, but I suspect that, at best, we'd get a 'project' type pitcher with a high upside but needing a lot of polishing.

 

This seems to be a "win now" type of trade, but it sure doesn't help the offense much. Bowen's OBP and IsoD look good, but his BA in the majors is .230 and he won't hit for much power. His minor league numbers aren't inspiring either from a power and BA perspective. Unless this is a prelude to some other moves, this is not a good deal. If EPatt ends up a bust, it's no harm done, as Barrett would have walked this offseason anyway, but if EPatt ends up being a good 2b, this trade looks bad.

 

By the way, take a look at Linebrink's Home/Road splits. It isn't pretty. His ERA is very much aided by pitching at Petco.