Jake Fox Called up; Izturis traded to Pittsburgh for PTBNL

[JC]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

I'm happy he's gone, too. But, he ought never have been on the roster in the first place. He was an overpaid "dandy little gloveman" coming off an injury with no reason to believe he would grow into even a mediocre offensive threat.

[Outshined_One]

Cubs.com says Jake Fox will have number 9 for the Cubs. Some of the recent Cubs to wear number 9:

 

Juan Pierre, Scott McClain, Jody Gerut, Paul Bako, and Todd Hundley. Hank White also wore it for a season.

 

Already the best player to wear #9 in recent years.

 

I dunno, Gabor Bako set one heck of a high bar to reach.

[Omar]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

I'm happy he's gone, too. But, he ought never have been on the roster in the first place. He was an overpaid "dandy little gloveman" coming off an injury with no reason to believe he would grow into even a mediocre offensive threat.

 

He also only had 1 good season or at least it looks good because there were no other good shortstops in the NL.

[bukie]

I think this is a great deal. One stipulation: The returning PTBNL must be alive.

 

Second stipulation: The returning PTBNL must not be Izturis.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Wow. I feel sorry for Pirates fans.

[chuckywang]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

[YearofDaCubs]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

Maybe by trading them they are not on the hook for his buyout which i believe is 200k or 500k, but I could be wrong.

[weis21]

Side Note: Izturis is only 27??? He's the oldest looking 27 year old i've ever seen.

[jersey cubs fan]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Because this way they save a couple hundred thousand and presumably get some sort of asset in the form of a PTBNL.

[weis21]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Even without the PTBNL, the pirates are going to pay 1/3 of his salary left. If he was DFA'd we'd be on the hook for all of it.

[Post Count Padder]

Rotoworld:

 

Cesar Izturis-SS-Pirates Jul. 19 - 12:55 pm et

 

Pirates acquired infielder Cesar Izturis and cash considerations from the Cubs for a player to be named.

 

With the Cubs clearly not interested in having him around, Izturis would have made a lot of sense as a backup on a contender. The Pirates, though, had no reason to acquire him. Giving him time at shortstop is only going to further damage their chances of ever moving Jack Wilson, and there's also little point to playing him over Jose Castillo. He's a clear upgrade over Don Kelly, but the Pirates aren't going to be helping themselves long-term by giving him at-bats now.

 

[maandig]

Good day. I like this regime. Theriot plays well, hustles, works hard, and he is rewarded with PT. Theriot continues to play well, Fontenot comes up, rakes when he gets here, but begins to struggle a bit, and the brass reacts by shipping out veteran dead weight. These are good times. These are great times. If Lou wants to put Fox in because of his "moxie" regardless of the OBP he posted at AA, then more power to him. The sayonara to Cesar confirms what we've not witnessed in several years: performance will be rewarded. If Fox flails, he'll be back down in AA. If he doesn't, one more arrow in the quiver.

[NCCubFan]

I think this is a great deal. One stipulation: The returning PTBNL must be alive.

 

Second stipulation: The returning PTBNL must not be Izturis.

Good point; we don't want this to be Dickie Noles for Dickie Noles Part 2. :D

[badgercub]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Because this way they save a couple hundred thousand and presumably get some sort of asset in the form of a PTBNL.

 

Yeah, might as well get something back. Look how Fontenot has turned out for the Cubs after coming over as filler in the Sosa trade. Look how A ball prospect Dontrelle Willis turned out for Florida. You never know, it worth getting something back in return.

[Balsa]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Because this way they save a couple hundred thousand and presumably get some sort of asset in the form of a PTBNL.

 

Yeah, might as well get something back. Look how Fontenot has turned out for the Cubs after coming over as filler in the Sosa trade. Look how A ball prospect Dontrelle Willis turned out for Florida. You never know, it worth getting something back in return.

Not so well recently.

[brinoch]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Even without the PTBNL, the pirates are going to pay 1/3 of his salary left. If he was DFA'd we'd be on the hook for all of it.

 

Less the pro-rated major-league minimum for any team who picked him up.

 

It's not a bad deal for either side -- the Cubs got something (a marginal prospect presumably) for a terrible player taking up a needed roster slot. For the Pirates, they do have a need, and they get a cheap roster filler (to whom they have no commitment) until they can either trade Wilson or Bautista comes off the DL.

[badgercub]

Frankly, I don't care if the PTBNL ends up being a random fan they picked out of the stands to play LF for Altoona. I'm happy the Cubs got him off their roster!

 

Why didn't the Cubs just cut Izturis if they wanted to open up a roster spot?

 

Because this way they save a couple hundred thousand and presumably get some sort of asset in the form of a PTBNL.

 

Yeah, might as well get something back. Look how Fontenot has turned out for the Cubs after coming over as filler in the Sosa trade. Look how A ball prospect Dontrelle Willis turned out for Florida. You never know, it worth getting something back in return.

Not so well recently.

 

Still helped them win a World Series regardless of how poorly he has played this year. And I am guessing he will be shipped out for some decent prospects in the next week or so.

[brinoch]

Rotoworld:

 

Cesar Izturis-SS-Pirates Jul. 19 - 12:55 pm et

 

Pirates acquired infielder Cesar Izturis and cash considerations from the Cubs for a player to be named.

 

With the Cubs clearly not interested in having him around, Izturis would have made a lot of sense as a backup on a contender. The Pirates, though, had no reason to acquire him. Giving him time at shortstop is only going to further damage their chances of ever moving Jack Wilson, and there's also little point to playing him over Jose Castillo. He's a clear upgrade over Don Kelly, but the Pirates aren't going to be helping themselves long-term by giving him at-bats now.

 

 

Castillo is terrible -- probably worse than Izturis. It might be that Tracy thinks he can helps Izturis. Who knows. On the other hand, it could be -- as Jake has conjectured -- that Wilson is out the door and they need someone at SS. It may also be that Littlefield spins Izturis to a contender in a week and makes a tidy profit off this deal.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've been wondering for awhile. If you DFA guy, you have 10 days to trade him. If you trade him in that window, you're not liable for his contract right? (Obviously, if you have to pitch in money to work the deal you are, but just generally speakign here) Cause I've been arguing for awhile now that DFAing our dead weights, that way getting actual help to the big league club, and putting some pressure on whatever insane teams out there actually want to pay some of the contracts of them by creating an artificial deadline to the market.

[JWCUB]

Nice move by Jim. I'm sure he is not done yet. Anyone wanna guess what he does next?

[Derwood]

how will we ever replace his .602 OPS?

[inari]

Nice move by Jim. I'm sure he is not done yet. Anyone wanna guess what he does next?

 

Unless he really feels Jake Fox is the answer in right field, I expect him to try to get someone to play there. A starter wouldn't be shocking either, though it would almost certainly not replace the worst guy in the rotation.

[JWCUB]

Nice move by Jim. I'm sure he is not done yet. Anyone wanna guess what he does next?

 

Unless he really feels Jake Fox is the answer in right field, I expect him to try to get someone to play there. A starter wouldn't be shocking either, though it would almost certainly not replace the worst guy in the rotation.

 

MLBTRADERUMORS suggests that Fox was brought up to showcase him.

[PrimeTime]

Pirates fans seem not to mind the trade.

 

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-pirates&tid=44084

[inari]

Nice move by Jim. I'm sure he is not done yet. Anyone wanna guess what he does next?

 

Unless he really feels Jake Fox is the answer in right field, I expect him to try to get someone to play there. A starter wouldn't be shocking either, though it would almost certainly not replace the worst guy in the rotation.

 

MLBTRADERUMORS suggests that Fox was brought up to showcase him.

 

They're usually wrong, but I don't think so here. It makes a lot of sense.