Worth the Loss of Mark DeRosa

[THISisTHEyear09]

Last offseason the Cubs decided to trade Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for 3 young minor league arms. That trade was unpopular to say the least when it comes to the Cubbie faithful. There weren’t many who were able to see the reasoning behind the move, and I’ll try and shine some light on it to those who were and are still adamantly against it(mhm.mhm Kap).

 

With ownership in flux and the Cubs deciding they wanted a left-handed, power-hitting bat in the middle of the order, they were only able to add via subtraction. Mark DeRosa was going to be in a contract year coming off a career year. The odds of him sustaining the 2008-production were questionable at best, and the numbers do indeed show- he clearly had a worse year if you look at the numbers that really matter. He really was the only payroll that was going to bring back some positive young talent into a growing system along with opening up the payroll that arguably went to Milton Bradley. (We’re not arguing the Milton Bradley signing here, I’m stating the facts and reasoning behind the trade.)

 

The main reason that stuck out in my mind was the lack of pitching talent in the organization. Sure Jay Jackson made amazing strides this year, but Jeff Samardzija took a step back. Outside of that, the Cubs system was not full of crown prizes. There’s one guy who really made that trade worth it, and one guy who Cub fans are going to really fall in love with, probably sooner rather than later.

 

Chris Archer was taken in the 5th round of the 2006 draft by the Cleveland Indians and signed a contract with a bonus around 160,000. It was early on where most thought he had the real chance to be a special guy. Possessing a heavy fastball in the mid 90’s and a real good breaking ball, he was able to put up some impressive numbers this year including 6 hits per 9 innings pitched while striking out 119 in 109 innings. As good as those stats are, maybe the most impressive accomplishment and a testament to his stuff- he didn’t allow a home run all year long. That to me is outrageous and a real sign that his stuff is really really difficult to square up. His only knock might be his command while he issued 5 walks per 9 innings but when a young kid has electric stuff Archer has, it’s going to take some time to completely harness it. The kid has been said to have a good work ethic along with a good head on his shoulders which is going to pay dividends down the road for the Cubs. That alone is worth Mark DeRosa, and there’s a strong possibility that he’s going to be a key to the rotation in the coming years.

 

John Gaub put up cartoon numbers in AA, and after being promoted to AAA, has did even more of that. In 31 innings with Iowa he’s struck out 40, walked 16 and allowed only six runs. He has a high 90s fastball and a slider that scouts say he is virtually unhittable. Ranked the top Lefty in the minors by some organizations, welcome Mr. Gaub to the Majors next season

 

The Cubs made a real tough decision in regards to one of the fans favorite players. It will always be considered questionable in the eyes of Cub fans that refuse to believe the facts, but it was the correct baseball move then, and it’s still the correct baseball move now. Jim Hendry should be getting some apologetic emails from fans blasting this move when Chris Archer, John Gaub, and Jeff Stevens are part of the Cubs present- and future.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Was DeRosa a fan favorite? yes. a great player? yes. would he have saved the 2009 season from mediocrity? doubtfull. Thereofre, in hind sight, it was worth it.

[roadtotheshow]

Thisistheyear This article might be one of the best ones i have ever read on this website. Its good to know im not the only one to punch Kaplan through the tv screen every time he says he is a big cubs fan. This trade is worth the loss and the indians might be wishing they got more for the 3 pitchers. I hope Archer can project to be a great pitcher to stick it up all the guys on wscr you know what. Great Post

[THISisTHEyear09]

From what i hear from guys they think archer can be a stud. I hear the same with Gaub. Thanks for the compliments!

[Rob]

I said weeks before we even thought about it that trading DeRosa would be a good idea. Granted, a large portion of that was based on the idea that Fontenot would play like 85% of DeRosa and the Cardinals were not a real threat for the division crown, but it was still the right call to make at the time. Hindsight doesn't change that.

 

I'll admit that at the time of the trade, I was a bit upset, thinking we could have possibly gotten more for him. But I conceded that if there's one thing Hendry is good at, it's picking good young talent to trade for. Ceda for Walker, Burke for Barrett, etc... This appears to be another one of those situations.

[Guest]

Yeah, I was in favor of trading high, but was disappointed with the haul at the time.

[Serge]

Yeah, I was in favor of trading high, but was disappointed with the haul at the time.

 

Same here, luckily though Hendry's got a good eye for young players. Two guys who should most likely be good 7th inning relievers and a high upside guy like Archer is a pretty good haul for one year of Derosa.

[illiniguy]

Basically the trade was fine. We still could have had enough to win the division, who could have predicted Carpenter would do what he did this past year?

[Tim M]

You gotta give the Cubs scouts a lot of credit for some of these trades in the last few years. Ceda, Burke, Archer, Gaub were all guys with underwhelming numbers when we traded for them. The trades combined with Wilken's drafting have me feeling pretty good about our scouting department.

[jersey cubs fan]

The problem with the move was replacing DeRosa with Aaron Miles.

 

 

I'm really excited about Archer*

 

 

*the television show that begins in January on FX, don't really know much about the pitcher.

[Sammy Sofa]

The problem with the move was replacing DeRosa with Aaron Miles.

 

 

I'm really excited about Archer*

 

 

*the television show that begins in January on FX, don't really know much about the pitcher.

 

It's got Jon Benjamin, which is great, but it also reminds me that there will never be anymore Frisky Dingo. which makes me sad.

[Rob]

The problem with the move was replacing DeRosa with Aaron Miles.

 

 

I'm really excited about Archer*

 

 

*the television show that begins in January on FX, don't really know much about the pitcher.

 

Please, for the love of god, will people stop trying to say we replaced Mark DeRosa with Aaron Miles?

 

We replaced DeRosa with a combination of Fontenot and Miles at 2B, depending on who was pitching. Jake Fox at 3B. And Fox, Hoff, and Fuld in the OF.

[jersey cubs fan]

Please, for the love of god, will people stop trying to say we replaced Mark DeRosa with Aaron Miles?

 

Why? It's exactly what they did. They traded one guy then signed his replacement for a little less money. Just because Miles bombed so horrifically bad that they didn't use him as much as planned doesn't mean he was not the replacement for DeRosa. That's what he was and it's idioitic to pretend otherwise. Jake Fox wasn't even in the Effing picture when they made that move.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Mark DeRosa had 574 PAs in 2007, 593 in 2008.

 

Aaron Miles had 170 PAs in 2009.

[jersey cubs fan]

Mark DeRosa had 574 PAs in 2007, 593 in 2008.

 

Aaron Miles had 170 PAs in 2009.

 

But that wasn't the plan. He was hurt and much worse than expected. He was going to play a lot more.

 

 

Seriously, it's incredibly ridiculous to pretend Miles wasn't brought in to replace DeRosa. He was the super sub that could play OF, and multiple IF positions. He was given a 2 year multi million dollar contract. This team did all it could to not call-up Jake Fox when they needed help at 3rd. Guys like Fuld were not really in the plan. Miles was slated as a guy who was going to play a lot, but he sucked so much worse than they expected that he did not. If he was just mediocre he would have had 400+ easily.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

So if Miles had been as good as DeRosa, he would've played as much as DeRosa. But he's not, so he played less than 1/3 as much.

[jersey cubs fan]

So if Miles had been as good as DeRosa, he would've played as much as DeRosa. But he's not, so he played less than 1/3 as much.

 

Seriously, try paying attention sometime.

 

Who said be as good as DeRosa? How about be as good as he was in the past. Miles lost 100 points in both OBP and SLG off his career. But his career norms were already a downgrade from DeRosa's career, let alone his time in Chicago. They traded Mark DeRosa and signed his replacement, Aaron Miles, almost simultaneously. He was going to play a lot, likely 400+ PA if he was able to maintain his normal productio and stay healthy. He got hurt and he tanked, so they stopped playing him. But the plan was very obviously to have him be the new super sub guy.

 

 

Just because you are wrong doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.

[Guancous]

So if Miles had been as good as DeRosa, he would've played as much as DeRosa. But he's not, so he played less than 1/3 as much.

 

I always assumed that the hope was for Fontenot to replicate his 2008 production and for Miles to be a utility infielder. Instead we had everyone but Derrek Lee falling off a cliff.

[Ryno is God 23]

Was DeRosa a fan favorite? yes. a great player? yes. would he have saved the 2009 season from mediocrity? doubtfull. Thereofre, in hind sight, it was worth it.

 

Mark DeRosa was not a great player for us.....a good player, yes.

[CubColtPacer]

So if Miles had been as good as DeRosa, he would've played as much as DeRosa. But he's not, so he played less than 1/3 as much.

 

Seriously, try paying attention sometime.

 

Who said be as good as DeRosa? How about be as good as he was in the past. Miles lost 100 points in both OBP and SLG off his career. But his career norms were already a downgrade from DeRosa's career, let alone his time in Chicago. They traded Mark DeRosa and signed his replacement, Aaron Miles, almost simultaneously. He was going to play a lot, likely 400+ PA if he was able to maintain his normal productio and stay healthy. He got hurt and he tanked, so they stopped playing him. But the plan was very obviously to have him be the new super sub guy.

 

 

Just because you are wrong doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.

 

Yes, Aaron Miles was signed to be the new super sub guy but his role was very different from DeRosa's. For one, a large part of DeRosa's value as a sub was in the OF, while Miles playing the OF was an afterthought (and that was proven by the fact that Miles didn't play a single inning in the OF this year). Miles was also signed to back up SS which was not DeRosa's role. And finally, DeRosa's main role on the team was not as a supersub but as the starting 2B.

 

So they had one player who was the starter at 2nd and backed up at 3rd and the corner OF when there were injuries. Then they signed a player who was the short end of the platoon at 2nd base and backed up SS and 3rd.

 

To say Miles replaced DeRosa is very misleading. One was a starter that with few injuries would have gotten 500 AB's at 2nd base. The other one was a bench player that needed injuries to be more than a limited platoon player.

 

Miles only replaced DeRosa in 2 things. Playing at 2nd against left-handers, and backing up 3rd. That's only a small percentage of the total at-bats DeRosa had for the Cubs. You can say the Cubs wouldn't have signed Miles if they already had DeRosa, but that doesn't mean the same thing that they replaced DeRosa with Miles.

[Guest]

Miles was signed to replace Cedeno as much as anything else.

[A New Era]

I didn't like losing Derosa because I wanted them to go all out last year. Since it didn't work out that way I can eat my words now. I would like to see more moves like this and no more large contracts or overpaying mediocrity for the next several years.

 

Hopefully with Ricketts, this will be a focus. That's how you build a good team, deal players for young talent. Build your farm. And when you have the money and a really good player comes along, you go for it. But you don't waste it on crap.

[Serge]

I didn't like losing Derosa because I wanted them to go all out last year. Since it didn't work out that way I can eat my words now. I would like to see more moves like this and no more large contracts or overpaying mediocrity for the next several years.

 

Hopefully with Ricketts, this will be a focus. That's how you build a good team, deal players for young talent. Build your farm. And when you have the money and a really good player comes along, you go for it. But you don't waste it on crap.

 

That seems to be the plan. He wants to have a young homegrown core of impact players like the Bosox have with Youkilis, Pedroia, Lester, and Papelbon. But he's also said we're going to continue to have a big payroll, so I'm sure once the current crop of big contracts runs out if a superstar comes into free agency in a position of need we should be in the mix. Hopefully Soto and Marmol bounce back and at least two of Vitters/Castro/Lee/BJackson/Cashner/JJackson work out like we hope so that we can have that good young core to build around.

[A New Era]

I didn't like losing Derosa because I wanted them to go all out last year. Since it didn't work out that way I can eat my words now. I would like to see more moves like this and no more large contracts or overpaying mediocrity for the next several years.

 

Hopefully with Ricketts, this will be a focus. That's how you build a good team, deal players for young talent. Build your farm. And when you have the money and a really good player comes along, you go for it. But you don't waste it on crap.

 

That seems to be the plan. He wants to have a young homegrown core of impact players like the Bosox have with Youkilis, Pedroia, Lester, and Papelbon. But he's also said we're going to continue to have a big payroll, so I'm sure once the current crop of big contracts runs out if a superstar comes into free agency in a position of need we should be in the mix. Hopefully Soto and Marmol bounce back and at least two of Vitters/Castro/Lee/BJackson/Cashner/JJackson work out like we hope so that we can have that good young core to build around.

 

 

Yeah, any hope of winning with this core is pretty much over. Which is a shame because I really like guys like Lee and Ramirez. However I do look foward to a new face of the Cubs with Ricketts and also some new star faces in the next few years. Cause as much as I like a few of them, frankly I'm tired of this core.

[Rob]

Yes, Aaron Miles was signed to be the new super sub guy but his role was very different from DeRosa's. For one, a large part of DeRosa's value as a sub was in the OF, while Miles playing the OF was an afterthought (and that was proven by the fact that Miles didn't play a single inning in the OF this year). Miles was also signed to back up SS which was not DeRosa's role. And finally, DeRosa's main role on the team was not as a supersub but as the starting 2B.

 

So they had one player who was the starter at 2nd and backed up at 3rd and the corner OF when there were injuries. Then they signed a player who was the short end of the platoon at 2nd base and backed up SS and 3rd.

 

To say Miles replaced DeRosa is very misleading. One was a starter that with few injuries would have gotten 500 AB's at 2nd base. The other one was a bench player that needed injuries to be more than a limited platoon player.

 

Miles only replaced DeRosa in 2 things. Playing at 2nd against left-handers, and backing up 3rd. That's only a small percentage of the total at-bats DeRosa had for the Cubs. You can say the Cubs wouldn't have signed Miles if they already had DeRosa, but that doesn't mean the same thing that they replaced DeRosa with Miles.

 

Miles was signed to replace Cedeno as much as anything else.

 

These two posts are very, very correct. And in case anybody wants to try to dispute them, I should remind them.

 

Just because you are wrong doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.