Hendry Assessing Bullpen Options

[E.J.]

From Bruce Levine's ESPN blog:

 

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has watched the Iowa Cubs play over the last two days. Right-handed pitchers Jeff Samardzija, Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart all have thrown well, which bodes well for the Cubs' options if they want to bring up a pitcher or two.

 

As far as the possibility of trades, some teams have contacted the Cubs about their relief corps. The Cubs can't send either David Patton or Angel Guzman to the minors without going through the waiver process. Guzman is out of options; Patton, because of the Rule 5 draft in December 2008, must stay on the big league team all season or be subject to waivers before he can return to the minors. The Cubs would lose both pitchers without compensation if they tried to put them through the waiver process.

 

In the short term, look for Samardzija to be called up as soon as the Cubs can trade one of their relievers.

 

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?name=levine

[Clem Fandango]

So who will they opt to trade? And who can we realistically get in return for some of these relievers?

[Little Slide Rooter]

The only one whose really been a problem is Cotts, and you need your lefty. Then again, hes equally bad against lefties and righties, so it wouldnt really make a difference.

[Butterscup1679666578]

maybe samardzija to the rotation and marshall to the pen? it doesn't make sense to go with all righties in the pen.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

maybe samardzija to the rotation and marshall to the pen? it doesn't make sense to go with all righties in the pen.

 

If the lefty is a guy with not much of a split like Cotts, there isn't much of a difference.

[Butterscup1679666578]

maybe samardzija to the rotation and marshall to the pen? it doesn't make sense to go with all righties in the pen.

 

If the lefty is a guy with not much of a split like Cotts, there isn't much of a difference.

 

well true, but you think they'd want to upgrade with a solid lefty instead of replacing a crappy lefty with a meh righty.

[KaiserCesar]

Cotts isn't exactly a Mike Remlinger out there, but he's really not much of a loogy. Jason Waddell down in Iowa might be a guy to watch, yet to give up a run or walk this year.

[cubswin2009]

Bye Cotts

[NCCubFan]

maybe samardzija to the rotation and marshall to the pen? it doesn't make sense to go with all righties in the pen.

 

If the lefty is a guy with not much of a split like Cotts, there isn't much of a difference.

 

well true, but you think they'd want to upgrade with a solid lefty instead of replacing a crappy lefty with a meh righty.

Meh is an upgrade from crappy.

[Roast]

My question is who the hell is contacting the cubs about their relief pitchers? I mean, outside of marmol, who could they actually WANT on their team?

 

 

Really though, I don't want to see Neal Cotts on the mound ever again -and I don't care if that means going all-righty for a while. A righty that is okay against lefties is a lot better than a lefty who sucks against everyone.

[CubColtPacer]

My question is who the hell is contacting the cubs about their relief pitchers? I mean, outside of marmol, who could they actually WANT on their team?

 

Well, Heilman has been very good, but I really doubt the Cubs will trade him since they really like him.

 

I'm sure other teams would want Gregg, but wouldn't want to pay the price the Cubs would demand, nor would the Cubs be interested in trading him.

 

Cotts probably can't be traded at this point at any price for self explanatory reasons, although if it was later in the season it wouldn't be unbelievably shocking to see another team take him on for cash.

 

Vizcaino has been very good so far. If the Cubs were willing to eat part of his contract, somebody might be interested now that they see that he's pitching a little bit better. The Cubs might be willing to do that as he clearly is not part of their plans in the bullpen this year. That's still very unlikely at this point though.

 

Probably the two most likely to be traded then are Guzman and Patton, who have both struggled with their control in the early going but have shown flashes of what they can do. The Cubs might not want to give them the innings they need (especially since Guzman has clearly lost the 7th inning battle to Heilman), but another team might.

 

The Cubs also have a few arms at AAA that another team might want for their major league bullpen.

[biittner77]

My question is who the hell is contacting the cubs about their relief pitchers? I mean, outside of marmol, who could they actually WANT on their team?

 

 

Really though, I don't want to see Neal Cotts on the mound ever again -and I don't care if that means going all-righty for a while. A righty that is okay against lefties is a lot better than a lefty who sucks against everyone.

 

Guzman has the potential to be a lethal set up man. He will also be relaitively cheap for a few years. Probably half the teams in the league could use a guy like that. There's also a lot of interest because they probably figure he won't cost very much.

 

As for Cotts, he seems to be the exception to the Piniella doghouse rule.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=288264&src=152

 

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is scheduled to return to Wrigley Field today after visiting the Class AAA farm team in Des Moines for the past several days.

 

There has been speculation the Cubs would call up a pitcher because the bullpen has struggled, but Hendry indicated Monday nothing was imminent.

 

Manager Lou Piniella echoed that Tuesday. The beleaguered bullpen got a break with a rainout Sunday and Monday being an off-day.

 

"We're going to pitch them all, like I said," Piniella said. "They're here. We have confidence in them. A few of them have to step it up a little bit. Like I said the other day, we haven't talked about any of our players that are in Iowa at all.

 

"Jim Hendry always goes down there early in the season to have a pretty good idea of where we stand in case we need to make some changes."

[abuck1220]

holy crap, the bullpen has thrown like 8 innings all season...let's everybody calm down before we go doing something crazy.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Aside from Cotts and his 3.33 WHIP, our pen really hasnt been that bad at all.

 

WHIPs

 

Marmol 0.95

Vizcaino 0.55

Patton 1.29

Heilman 1.27

Gooz 1.20

Gregg 1.83, but seems to be shaping up

[rawaction]

Aside from Cotts and his 3.33 WHIP, our pen really hasnt been that bad at all.

 

WHIPs

 

Marmol 0.95

Vizcaino 0.55

Patton 1.29

Heilman 1.27

Gooz 1.20

Gregg 1.83, but seems to be shaping up

 

It would help if Lou would use some guys consistently, bring them in before there are 2 men on base, and not use Patton in a close game vs. the #1 offense in the NL.

 

I think the pen is fine, other than Cotts. Everyone else is fine in the role that they are in, Lou just needs to keep them in those roles and not overthrow his back 3 as much as he has (will).

[Little Slide Rooter]

Aside from Cotts and his 3.33 WHIP, our pen really hasnt been that bad at all.

 

WHIPs

 

Marmol 0.95

Vizcaino 0.55

Patton 1.29

Heilman 1.27

Gooz 1.20

Gregg 1.83, but seems to be shaping up

 

It would help if Lou would use some guys consistently, bring them in before there are 2 men on base, and not use Patton in a close game vs. the #1 offense in the NL.

 

I think the pen is fine, other than Cotts. Everyone else is fine in the role that they are in, Lou just needs to keep them in those roles and not overthrow his back 3 as much as he has (will).

 

The trouble is, any time the slightest situation comes up, Lou goes straight to Marmol, which isnt good for Marmol or the rest of the pen. IE, last night when Cotts got into a little bit of a mess. There were 2 on, 1 out, and a 5 run lead. You cant tell me that Lou couldnt have gone to someone else in that situation?

[Butterscup1679666578]

I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't mind seeing Vizcaino in a more prominent role since he's looked pretty solid early in the year.

[mul21]

I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't mind seeing Vizcaino in a more prominent role since he's looked pretty solid early in the year.

 

Last night I was really hoping to see him in the game instead of Marmol after Cotts put the 2 guys on. Using Marmol in that spot is just going to cause problems down the line.

[SouthSideRyan]

Gooz is awesome, and if he stays healthy he'll be no worse than the 2nd best pitcher in the pen. The bullpen will be(and already is) fine.

[JWCUB]

I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't mind seeing Vizcaino in a more prominent role since he's looked pretty solid early in the year.

 

Last night I was really hoping to see him in the game instead of Marmol after Cotts put the 2 guys on. Using Marmol in that spot is just going to cause problems down the line.

 

I wanted to see Cotts get out of it on his own. At that point the Cubs had a big enough lead and with the wind blowing the way it was, just let him pitch his way out of it. IMO, Marmol should not have been used. As Len and Bob pointed out, the Cubs are starting a stretch of 20 straight games. Rest Marmol when you can.

[jersey cubs fan]

I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't mind seeing Vizcaino in a more prominent role since he's looked pretty solid early in the year.

 

Last night I was really hoping to see him in the game instead of Marmol after Cotts put the 2 guys on. Using Marmol in that spot is just going to cause problems down the line.

 

I wanted to see Cotts get out of it on his own. At that point the Cubs had a big enough lead and with the wind blowing the way it was, just let him pitch his way out of it. IMO, Marmol should not have been used. As Len and Bob pointed out, the Cubs are starting a stretch of 20 straight games. Rest Marmol when you can.

 

The Cubs were coming off 2 straight off days, and Marmol had only thrown twice in an 8 day stretch. I don't typically like using him in a 5-run lead situation, but he threw just 7 pitches. He should be fine for tonight, if necessary. But hopefully he only throws in one of the next 2 games.

[SouthSideRyan]

I never thought I'd say this, but I wouldn't mind seeing Vizcaino in a more prominent role since he's looked pretty solid early in the year.

 

Last night I was really hoping to see him in the game instead of Marmol after Cotts put the 2 guys on. Using Marmol in that spot is just going to cause problems down the line.

 

I wanted to see Cotts get out of it on his own. At that point the Cubs had a big enough lead and with the wind blowing the way it was, just let him pitch his way out of it. IMO, Marmol should not have been used. As Len and Bob pointed out, the Cubs are starting a stretch of 20 straight games. Rest Marmol when you can.

 

The Cubs were coming off 2 straight off days, and Marmol had only thrown twice in an 8 day stretch. I don't typically like using him in a 5-run lead situation, but he threw just 7 pitches. He should be fine for tonight, if necessary. But hopefully he only throws in one of the next 2 games.

 

It worked out because Marmol got out of the inning with only 7 pitches. It could've turned into a 20 pitch inning if we were unlucky. It's not the worst Piniella's done to Marmol, but it was pretty unnecessary considering our upcoming schedule.

[Outshined_One]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cubs pursue someone like Jamie Walker or Mike Gonzalez via trade to take over Cotts' spot if he continues to struggle. I get a feeling that Waddell and JR Mathes are not the answers in AAA and that the guys down in AA are not quite ready yet.

[treebird]

the cubs should see if mike wuertz is available

 

just kidding, the a's aren't dumb enough to trade good relievers in order to make room for sucky rule 5 guys