2014 Roster Discussion

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I still have nightmares about Marmol in Atlanta.

 

I was at the game :(

 

Y'all gonna make me lose my mind, Upton here! Upton here!

[Guest]

I saw some comments from Bosio recently on how he prefers to keep pitchers on their normal routine and not have them getting extra days...couple that with the early season off days and maybe we don't even see a 5th starter until Arrieta is ready.

 

 

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/26399461-573/chris-bosio-has-cubs-rotation-primed-for-another-strong-start.html

 

With the Cubs planning to use days off the first three weeks to skip the fifth starter and keep ­Samardzija, Wood and Jackson on their five-day cycles as much as possible, the final roster decision could come down to:

 

◆ Keeping Rusin for the matchup-friendly start against the Phillies on April 6, then sending him to Class AAA Iowa to pitch regularly.

 

◆ Using Villanueva as the fifth/spot starter because of his unique ability to handle the role.

 

◆ Or keeping Rusin indefinitely as the fifth/spot starter because he has pitched so well.

 

“Those are the scenarios that we’ve talked about,” Bosio said, “and will keep talking about in the upcoming days.”

[Guest]

Is it irrational that I kind of vision the Cubs getting off to a really good start and hanging around in the division/wild card for a while? I think the starting pitching gets off to a good start. I think the bullpen will win the close ones. I think the offense will hit for more power than a lot of the teams they face. Im thinking a lot of 3-2 type wins.

 

That sorta should've happened last year but our bullpen was [expletive] terrible.

 

It truly, truly was. It was ridiculous how many late inning collapses they had at the beginning of the season last year

 

You didn't enjoy getting through the fifth or sixth inning with a 1-3 run lead and wondering not if the Cubs were going to blow the game but how they were going to do it this time?

[rawaction]

Yeah, part of it is last year's start and the bullpen being monumentally better on paper. Plus, the Pirates pretty much made it to the playoffs doing that, except their offense picked up and they were able to add a starter (Cole). The Cubs don't have a Cole to add, and Baez's impact may be lessened by taking time away from Olt or Valbuena who look like they're going to hit enough.

[pitchcs]

Yeah, part of it is last year's start and the bullpen being monumentally better on paper. Plus, the Pirates pretty much made it to the playoffs doing that, except their offense picked up and they were able to add a starter (Cole). The Cubs don't have a Cole to add, and Baez's impact may be lessened by taking time away from Olt or Valbuena who look like they're going to hit enough.

 

 

But play where?

[Guest]

Mooney on how the 25 man is taking shape: http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/who%E2%80%99s-who%E2%80%99s-out-cubs-look-ahead-opening-day-roster

 

- Castro appears to be on track for opening day

 

- McDonald is likely headed to the DL so the 5th starter is down to Villanueva and Rusin

 

- He talks about Olt potentially winning a job, but also mentions that Barney, Murphy, Bonifacio, and Valbuena are all locks without any caveats.

 

- Lake is talked about being a lock for the roster with Kalish "gaining momentum" as the 5th OF and Roberts trailing behind him.

 

- Thinks Grimm is pretty set for a bullpen spot, and implicitly, that Cabrera is in front of Rondon for the spot that's available as long as Villanueva is the 5th SP.

 

I get the impression he hasn't done the math on how many spots there truly are available for reserve IF/OF.

[Guest]

Yeah, part of it is last year's start and the bullpen being monumentally better on paper. Plus, the Pirates pretty much made it to the playoffs doing that, except their offense picked up and they were able to add a starter (Cole). The Cubs don't have a Cole to add, and Baez's impact may be lessened by taking time away from Olt or Valbuena who look like they're going to hit enough.

 

If Olt is playing well enough to be considered a loss, I don't think he'd lose any playing time to Javy.

 

As for Valbuena, yeah, he's having an awesome spring, but I'm certainly not expecting him to be much more than he has been, which is a low BA guy with decent pop and good discipline.

 

I mean, I guess he's better than Barney at the plate, so your point still stands in that Javy wouldn't be replacing a COMPLETE black hole.

[davell]

I hate saying it, but I think Olt gets sent down for a bit. With the "when he comes up, he's staying" type attitude and comments about Javy-I could see them applying to Olt as well. No clue about his service time stuff, but between that and needing full time reps at 3B, while working thru his shoulder stuff.....I think there's enough excuses to send him to Iowa for a month or so.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

[Guest]

I hate saying it, but I think Olt gets sent down for a bit. With the "when he comes up, he's staying" type attitude and comments about Javy-I could see them applying to Olt as well. No clue about his service time stuff, but between that and needing full time reps at 3B, while working thru his shoulder stuff.....I think there's enough excuses to send him to Iowa for a month or so.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

 

 

Given his age, I doubt they care all that much about the service time (especially since he already has some, making such a wait even longer).

 

They've almost outwardly said this, IIRC. Think it was Hoyer on one of the broadcasts.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, part of it is last year's start and the bullpen being monumentally better on paper. Plus, the Pirates pretty much made it to the playoffs doing that, except their offense picked up and they were able to add a starter (Cole). The Cubs don't have a Cole to add, and Baez's impact may be lessened by taking time away from Olt or Valbuena who look like they're going to hit enough.

 

If Olt is playing well enough to be considered a loss, I don't think he'd lose any playing time to Javy.

 

As for Valbuena, yeah, he's having an awesome spring, but I'm certainly not expecting him to be much more than he has been, which is a low BA guy with decent pop and good discipline.

 

I mean, I guess he's better than Barney at the plate, so your point still stands in that Javy wouldn't be replacing a COMPLETE black hole.

 

Well, unless Castro is broken.

[Guest]

Is this the first time someone has been this definitive about where Javy will play when he's called up (even though it's what we've been kind of assuming for a little while now)?

 

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2014/03/jason-mcleod-sheds-light-cubs-plan-baez-news-farm.php

 

Jim Bowden asked Jason McLeod about what position Javier Baez is going to play once he is called up to the big leagues this season. And if he would play second base every day in Iowa to prepare for his call-up. McLeod said, “We’ve said all along we want Javy to play short for as long as possible. The plan is that he is going to open the season playing shortstop at Iowa. As you saw this last week he did get a couple of games in at second base. I’m sure that is something that as we get into the season and depending on how he is doing, on both sides of his game, offensively and defensively, I think we will have more of those discussions and conversations. I’m sure there will be a time, depending on what’s happening also at the Major League level, that you will see Javy move over to the other side of the bag a couple of times a week.”

 

 

Additionally, I wonder if anything can be read into that in terms of how they feel about Olt.

[Guest]

I think there's been similar allusions, but since it's going along with everyone's expectation I'm not 100% sure.

 

IMO, it reflects more on protecting Javy's value than does about Olt, but it certainly doesn't hurt that there's more depth at 3B than 2B right now.

[davell]

I think there's probably a bit of weighing prospects chances in where to put Javy. You've got Olt, KB, and Villanueva, at 3B, all with the chances of being major league ready at the start of 2015. Meanwhile, only Alcantara is able to say the same at 2B.

 

Probably not a giant reason, but I'd guess it plays into things a bit. At any rate, it's [expletive] awesome to have this many possibilities.

[rawaction]

Maybe it says something about Castro? In the sense that they don't feel Castro will be around long-term and they don't want to lessen Castro's value (or hurt his confidence more) by moving him away from SS. And moving Baez to 3B could force moves with Olt, Villanueva and/or Bryant that would be unnecessary if Baez is just going to go to SS once Castro is gone.

[abohnhoff]

I think there's probably a bit of weighing prospects chances in where to put Javy. You've got Olt, KB, and Villanueva, at 3B, all with the chances of being major league ready at the start of 2015. Meanwhile, only Alcantara is able to say the same at 2B.

 

Probably not a giant reason, but I'd guess it plays into things a bit. At any rate, it's [expletive] awesome to have this many possibilities.

 

Should make Alcantara expendable by mid season if Starlin has a decent first half. Cubs may try trading for a stud at the trade deadline AND round up more prospects. Not sure if that has happened, well ever.

[NOLA]

Maybe it says something about Castro? In the sense that they don't feel Castro will be around long-term and they don't want to lessen Castro's value (or hurt his confidence more) by moving him away from SS. And moving Baez to 3B could force moves with Olt, Villanueva and/or Bryant that would be unnecessary if Baez is just going to go to SS once Castro is gone.

This was my initial thought as well. I have to wonder if Baez would just go ahead and start the season at 2B in Iowa if they had confidence in Castro.

[Guest]

Maybe it says something about Castro? In the sense that they don't feel Castro will be around long-term and they don't want to lessen Castro's value (or hurt his confidence more) by moving him away from SS. And moving Baez to 3B could force moves with Olt, Villanueva and/or Bryant that would be unnecessary if Baez is just going to go to SS once Castro is gone.

 

I think confidence in Castro also results in the same actions though, so it's difficult to read too much along those lines.

[pitchcs]

I know the options suck, but Donnie Murphy should never have to be considered a lock for anything.

[Guest]

@CarrieMuskat #Cubs Renteria on who his Opening Day 3B is: "I'm not willing to tell you, and we'll let it keep playing itself out"

[NOLA]

@CarrieMuskat #Cubs Renteria on who his Opening Day 3B is: "I'm not willing to tell you, and we'll let it keep playing itself out"

Meaning, if his shoulder feels ok it's Olt. If not, it's Valbuena.

[WrigleyField 22]

That seems like two different answers.

[TruffleShuffle]

i haven't really been paying attention, but what do they see grimm's future role as? i know there was some speculation that his stuff could play up in shorter bursts, and he pitched out of the pen in september.

 

i like that the organization has piled up a lot of good arms, but it's kind of concerning that you keep hearing that guys may play better in the pen due to inconsistent command or mediocre stuff for a starter.

[Guest]

I hate saying it, but I think Olt gets sent down for a bit. With the "when he comes up, he's staying" type attitude and comments about Javy-I could see them applying to Olt as well. No clue about his service time stuff, but between that and needing full time reps at 3B, while working thru his shoulder stuff.....I think there's enough excuses to send him to Iowa for a month or so.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

I really don't think it serves anyone to send Olt AAA. The caveat "if he's heathy" applies here.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Olt has 63 days of service time, so he'd have to be down for like 2.5 months to make any difference.

[Clem Fandango]

Villanueva's been optioned to AAA as well. I think Olt's on the roster, regardless if he's starting. I think if he's not starting, it's because they're still gonna build his shoulder strength up through drills and practice while giving him late inning work and keeping his bat available off the bench.