Cubs Trade Rob Bowen and Jerry Blevins for Jason Kendall

[Drew Doughty]

Saying this may get me in trouble, but if you like this trade, get your head examined.

Yeah, because trading a crappy catcher and a minor league relief pitcher for a guy who has been solid in 11 out of his 12 MLB years is always a bad idea.

 

what is your definition of "solid"? He's been a below average hitter in 5 of his last 7 seasons, including an awful year this year. By all accounts he's not very good defensively.

Based on what, the almighty OPS+? If you look at his average and his OBP, he hasn't been anywhere near below average. He's not a power hitter... most baseball players aren't.

 

yeah, OPS+ sucks...batting average is clearly where it's at.

If you want to look at one stat to determine how good a player is, go for it. OPS+ says that Jason Kendall has been barely, just barely, above average during his career. If you really believe that... well, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Thing is, you have to consider the fact that kendall is at a position chock full of guys way below league average. That is not factored into OPS+.

No dude, OPS+ is all that matters. Nothing else is important. NOTHING.

 

i'm considering the fact that he's been a catcher. i said that over the last few years he hasn't been a good hitter. if he were a good defensive catcher, that would be acceptable, because his numbers hadn't been terrible. unfortunately, he is bad defensively and he is awful offensively so far this year.

 

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

[rawaction]

I agree with a lot of things said in this thread, but I disagree with a lot also. Most people are ruining the thread by generalizing and oversimplifying things. It's not Blevins himself who is the problem with this deal. It's the fact that the Cubs gave up any young pitching for a player who has performed, at best, equal to what the 5 other guys who have caught for the Cubs this year have produced. They have done so while adding salary, to what may be a tight budget as is.

 

To me the bottom line is: Hoping 33-year old, Jason Kendall turns things around and puts up his career numbers aren't worth the $3-4M the Cubs are paying. He won't put the Cubs over the top, and there's just as good of a chance that one of the guys (in their mid-20s, who are all better defensively) will put up similar numbers.

 

Kendall has caught nearly 10,000 innings. There's no reason to think he can come close to his career numbers.

[YearofDaCubs]

So we DFA Bowen and then add another catcher. What happens now? Soto gets demoted to AAA? Now that this trade settled in a bit I'm whatever about it. It sucked that we gave up Blevins but at this point we're in full win now mode and trying to catch Milwaukee. This is only good if Kendall can give us at least .350 obp. The guy hasn't been that great the past month. 6R 1HR 3RBI .247AVG and 2 walks. Edited July 17, 2007 by YearofDaCubs

[Omar]

Bold prediction: Jason Kendall will be the 2007 version of the 1998 Gary Gaetti.

 

Well, I guess a change of scenery could do no harm for a guy that is struggling.

[Schwarber Fan]

Didn't the Cubs trade Damian Miller to Oakland for Barrett?

 

Miller for Kendall :lol:

[Mizzou]

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

Jesus Christ. Can we stop looking at OPS and OPS+ for two seconds? Is it so hard to admit that (like most players) he's not a power hitter? He hits for average and gets on base at a high rate. Why is this so hard to understand?

[cheapseats]

No one has mentioned that Kendall's CERA is 3.38. He clearly knows how to call a good game, and I can't wait to see how he'll help Jason Marquis, Rich Hill, etc.

 

Now the big question is: who is our backup catcher?

 

Hill hasn't done much with the bat, but his CERA is 2.79, so it's like he's driving in runs with his pitch-calling.

 

Soto's CERA is 4.75, which means the Cubs give up almost 2 runs more when Soto catches than when Hill catches. I don't think his bat can possibly make up for 2 runs every game.

 

Blanco's CERA is 4.04 this year. I don't know if that's good enough to make him the backup.

[dew1679666265]

I agree with a lot of things said in this thread, but I disagree with a lot also. Most people are ruining the thread by generalizing and oversimplifying things. It's not Blevins himself who is the problem with this deal. It's the fact that the Cubs gave up any young pitching for a player who has performed, at best, equal to what the 5 other guys who have caught for the Cubs this year have produced. They have done so while adding salary, to what may be a tight budget as is.

 

To me the bottom line is: Hoping 33-year old, Jason Kendall turns things around and puts up his career numbers aren't worth the $3-4M the Cubs are paying. He won't put the Cubs over the top, and there's just as good of a chance that one of the guys (in their mid-20s, who are all better defensively) will put up similar numbers.

 

Kendall has caught nearly 10,000 innings. There's no reason to think he can come close to his career numbers.

 

It's not his career numbers I'm hoping he reverts to, it's last year's numbers. Unless he's fallen off a cliff (which is possible) I don't see why it's impossible that he comes close to last year's OBP.

[Drew Doughty]

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

Jesus Christ. Can we stop looking at OPS and OPS+ for two seconds? Is it so hard to admit that (like most players) he's not a power hitter? He hits for average and gets on base at a high rate. Why is this so hard to understand?

 

Because hitting for average and getting on base isn't all that a hitter has to do. He has been average or worse as a player 5 of the last 7 years.

[E.J.]

Ugh. Not CERA. And you're basing Soto's CERA as well? He's been up for a whole 5 games now.

[A New Era]

Those saying Kendall has been decent the last month and a half should take a look at his July. It's just as putrid as his April/May: .229/.229/.286/.514 (yes, 0 walks in 35 ABs).

 

He must have had a CRAZY June because the caption said "Jason Kendall, who is hitting .297 in his last 25 games, is expected to be in uniform Tuesday. (Getty)".

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall. All he does it hit singles I take it from people complaining about his weak OPS+. But I have a bit of faith in our scouting department. Look at how most of our FA's turned out this year.

Edited July 17, 2007 by A New Era

[dew1679666265]

Bold prediction: Jason Kendall will be the 2007 version of the 1998 Gary Gaetti.

 

Well, I guess a change of scenery could do no harm for a guy that is struggling.

 

And he gets back to working with Gerald Perry, who he's had success under the past few years.

[dorjecub]

Guess we won't be going after Salty now, not that we could've gotten him anyway. Hopefully Soto stays up and can maybe learn a few things from the "vet"

[Mizzou]

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

Jesus Christ. Can we stop looking at OPS and OPS+ for two seconds? Is it so hard to admit that (like most players) he's not a power hitter? He hits for average and gets on base at a high rate. Why is this so hard to understand?

 

Because hitting for average and getting on base isn't all that a hitter has to do. He has been average or worse as a player 5 of the last 7 years.

Hate to break it to you, but not every player in the lineup "has" to hit home runs and doubles.

 

You're expecting way too much.

[cheapseats]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

[dew1679666265]

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

Jesus Christ. Can we stop looking at OPS and OPS+ for two seconds? Is it so hard to admit that (like most players) he's not a power hitter? He hits for average and gets on base at a high rate. Why is this so hard to understand?

 

Because hitting for average and getting on base isn't all that a hitter has to do. He has been average or worse as a player 5 of the last 7 years.

 

So he won't be the perfect player, but he can provide us with a solid OBP - which people have been bemoaning the lack of for a very long time. He can't hit for power, ok he never could. But he can set the table either for Lee, Ramirez, Floyd (or potential big bat) or if he's low in the order he can set the table for Soriano and Theriot/Fontenot.

[Drew Doughty]

Bold prediction: Jason Kendall will be the 2007 version of the 1998 Gary Gaetti.

 

Well, I guess a change of scenery could do no harm for a guy that is struggling.

 

And he gets back to working with Gerald Perry, who he's had success under the past few years.

 

 

that is actually a fairly good point, because it's not just his OBP that worries me; he's hitting far fewer line drives/groundballs and is hitting a lot more flyballs (so if you're citing past babip numbers: don't. he's not the same hitter he was when he was posting those numbers). him hitting flyballs is a bad bad thing. maybe getting back to a hitting coach he's comfortable with might help.

[A New Era]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

 

Hey it worked for the first few months, didn't it? :wink:

[ctcf]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

 

Is that sarcasm?

[dew1679666265]

Guess we won't be going after Salty now, not that we could've gotten him anyway. Hopefully Soto stays up and can maybe learn a few things from the "vet"

 

Much as I wanted him, he was a pipedream from the start. Considering what the Braves would have demanded, we couldn't have given them what they wanted without severly damaging the major league team.

[Butterscup1679666578]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

 

Marquis has gone 1-4 with a 5.80 ERA since May 9th (i think that's the date, whenever he went 5-1). He sucks.

[Drew Doughty]

Looking at the league average OPS for catchers in the NL this year (699) and his last 7 years (including and starting with this season) he's been way below average, slightly above average, below average, well above average, well above average, slightly above average, and below average.

 

factoring in defense he has come up far short of "solid".

Jesus Christ. Can we stop looking at OPS and OPS+ for two seconds? Is it so hard to admit that (like most players) he's not a power hitter? He hits for average and gets on base at a high rate. Why is this so hard to understand?

 

Because hitting for average and getting on base isn't all that a hitter has to do. He has been average or worse as a player 5 of the last 7 years.

Hate to break it to you, but not every player in the lineup "has" to hit home runs and doubles.

 

You're expecting way too much.

 

no, i would hope my players would be above average in one of the two aspects of the game. He's below average offensively and defensively. I could swallow his normal offensive output if he was anything of a good defensive catcher any more, but he's not.

[cheapseats]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

 

Hey it worked for the first few months, didn't it? :wink:

 

Jason Marquis' ERA is only 9 points higher than Matsuzaka's. And we didn't pay $100 million for him. Our scouts are good.

[dew1679666265]

Bold prediction: Jason Kendall will be the 2007 version of the 1998 Gary Gaetti.

 

Well, I guess a change of scenery could do no harm for a guy that is struggling.

 

And he gets back to working with Gerald Perry, who he's had success under the past few years.

 

 

that is actually a fairly good point, because it's not just his OBP that worries me; he's hitting far fewer line drives/groundballs and is hitting a lot more flyballs (so if you're citing past babip numbers: don't. he's not the same hitter he was when he was posting those numbers). him hitting flyballs is a bad bad thing. maybe getting back to a hitting coach he's comfortable with might help.

 

That's what I'm hoping for. I'm far from comfortable with this deal, but I don't think it's close to a definite horrible trade.

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

 

I'm willing to give our scout and our excellent hitting coach a month to see if they made a good choice on Kendall.

 

Me, too.

 

Look at the job the team has done with Marquis.

 

I trust the Cubs with reclamation projects.

 

Marquis has gone 1-4 with a 5.80 ERA since May 9th (i think that's the date, whenever he went 5-1). He sucks.

 

He's being sarcastic.