Hammel/Samardzija Traded to A's for Russell/McKinney/Straily

[imb]

lmao not being willing to include anyone good does not sound like a "big try" to me.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24608532/yankees-made-big-try-for-samardzija-finish-second

[treebird]

there is a part of me that wants to let russell come play ss and tell castro to put on twenty pounds of muscle because he's playing third base.

[imb]

there is a part of me that wants to let russell come play ss and tell castro to put on twenty pounds of muscle because he's playing third base.

 

You're not crazy, I don't think. Castro already shows 20 HR power and is going to keep filling out. Russell is more likely actually "be" a shortstop 5 years from now.

 

the possibilities are [expletive] endless

[Guest]

yeah. i have no problem moving castro of SS eventually if it's what's best for the defense.

[SouthSideRyan]

Apologies for not being clear on my Samardzija point earlier. He does the June swoon thing every year - that doesn't mean that he's bad the rest of the year. He does have a career 5.80 ERA in June.

 

ERA's by month:

 

Mar/April: 3.48

May: 2.46

June: 5.80

July: 3.75

August: 4.13

Sept/Oct: 4.47

 

It's not damning evidence by any means. But there is some reason to be concerned there.

That's being dragged down by a 10.41 ERA in '12. He was perfectly cromulent in 2013

Edited July 5, 2014 by SouthSideRyan

[Guest]

That's being dragged down by a 10.41 ERA in '12. He was perfectly cromulent in 2013

 

I still have ptsd about that start against the Mets.

 

All the excitement I had about him turning the corner crushed in one day. (for then, at least)

[Derwood]

If this team ends up with Stanton, Theo should just show up to every press conference and interview with a championship belt over his shoulder

[Guest]

If this team ends up with Stanton, Theo should just show up to every press conference and interview with a championship belt over his shoulder

 

bryant is stanton

 

and baez is MIF stanton

[Clem Fandango]

You're not crazy, I don't think. Castro already shows 20 HR power and is going to keep filling out.

 

I said it a while back in the Castro thread but I was hoping for a Castro bounce back to the ~.770 OPS Castro who hits 12 homers a year and bats .300 and I would've been happy, but he's actually kind of trending in the direction we all thought would be the best case scenario when he was first coming up, which was the Hanley Ramirez comp.

 

I also didn't realize he already had 26 doubles on the season. That's ridiculous. There's only 6 other people with 26 or more doubles in the majors right now:

 

Denard Span

Jose Altuve

Andrew McCutchen

Jonathan Lucroy

Paul Goldschmidt

Miguel Cabrera

 

Also 38 XBH. There's also only 13 other players in the majors with 38 or more XBH. It's a fun list...

 

Yoenis Cespedes

Ian Kinsler

Jonathan Lucroy

Freddie Freeman

Nelson Cruz

Victor Martinez

Andrew McCutchen

Giancarlo Stanton

Jose Abreu

Miguel Cabrera

Paul Goldschmidt

Mike Trout

Edwin Encarnacion

 

So basically all the best players in baseball. And he's got two more XBH than Tulowitzki. Castro is obscenely good right now, I'm glad the Cubs are indicating he's not going anywhere.

[LeftCoastCubFan]

The Cubs’ collection of position prospects is ridiculous

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/05/the-cubs-collection-of-position-prospects-is-ridiculous/

[Clem Fandango]

If this team ends up with Stanton, Theo should just show up to every press conference and interview with a championship belt over his shoulder

 

bryant is stanton

 

and baez is MIF stanton

 

Now imagine having 3 Stanton's, with one of them being the actual Stanton.

 

http://i.imgur.com/CQoHFah.gif

[Guest]

The Cubs’ collection of position prospects is ridiculous

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/05/the-cubs-collection-of-position-prospects-is-ridiculous/

 

From the comments:

 

Old Gator - Jul 5, 2014 at 11:23 AM

Keep looking. Some day the Cubs may figure out that there’s a big difference between a “collection” and a “team.” I doubt if any of us will live to see it.

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140117042848/pacificrim/images/7/7e/I-dont-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore.jpg

[Guest]

Seeing other teams' fans start trying to come up with bad trade proposals to "relieve" the Cubs of their excess position prospects for lesser pitching prospects just reminds me how much I don't want to make any trades and screw pitchers forever.

 

Mets fans have already traded for Castro and gave us Syndergaard in return. How nice of them!

I wouldn't mind giving up Russell for Buxton.

 

Only if you're confident his wrist is ok.

[Gilby]

The Cubs’ collection of position prospects is ridiculous

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/05/the-cubs-collection-of-position-prospects-is-ridiculous/

 

See, now I'm annoyed at how often we're going to see Castro left out of these projected lineups.

 

"Maybe he'll get traded for pitching or something... just as long as there's room for Almora."

[Thrilho]

So Russell was 1-2 with a double and 3 walks in his last game. Should we just have 2015 lineup cards pre-printed with his name in the leadoff spot?

[neely crenshaw]

I think castro is the type of player that will be even better (offensively) with better players around him.

I also think he could be an all star type of outfielder. He has an amazing drop step and range on pop flies. If russell does become the SS, He could easily fill a need out there.

[Thrilho]

Also, since I'm having fun with small sample sizes, his 8 walks and 8 ks in 57 AA PAs is nice to see, considering his 24% strikeout percentage last year.

[OleMissCub]

So last year Russell had 17 hr, 29 doubles, and 10 triples. Dayuuum!

[Clem Fandango]

I think castro is the type of player that will be even better (offensively) with better players around him.

I also think he could be an all star type of outfielder. He has an amazing drop step and range on pop flies. If russell does become the SS, He could easily fill a need out there.

 

I don't want to move Castro to the OF. As soon as you do you lose a lot of value because his bat profiles best at a MI position. If we're gonna move a guy to an OF spot, make it a guy who will hit dongs onto Waveland/Sheffield regularly like Bryant or Schwarber.

[OleMissCub]

I think castro is the type of player that will be even better (offensively) with better players around him.

I also think he could be an all star type of outfielder. He has an amazing drop step and range on pop flies. If russell does become the SS, He could easily fill a need out there.

 

I prefer the idea of him at third, Russell at SS, and Baez at 2nd. And with Rizzo at first...Sweet [expletive] Allah, what an infield

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

yes, I want that infield so bad

[Clem Fandango]

I think castro is the type of player that will be even better (offensively) with better players around him.

I also think he could be an all star type of outfielder. He has an amazing drop step and range on pop flies. If russell does become the SS, He could easily fill a need out there.

 

I prefer the idea of him at third, Russell at SS, and Baez at 2nd. And with Rizzo at first...Sweet [expletive] Allah, what an infield

 

I think of that infield shuffle, Baez goes to 3B because, as I understand it, he has the strongest arm of the three. Castro at 2B makes more sense than Castro at 3B to me. Regardless, the infield is stupid awesome no matter how you shuffle them

[OleMissCub]

I think castro is the type of player that will be even better (offensively) with better players around him.

I also think he could be an all star type of outfielder. He has an amazing drop step and range on pop flies. If russell does become the SS, He could easily fill a need out there.

 

I prefer the idea of him at third, Russell at SS, and Baez at 2nd. And with Rizzo at first...Sweet [expletive] Allah, what an infield

 

I think of that infield shuffle, Baez goes to 3B because, as I understand it, he has the strongest arm of the three. Castro at 2B makes more sense than Castro at 3B to me. Regardless, the infield is stupid awesome no matter how you shuffle them

 

Well, cheers to that as well!

[RammyFanny]

Jeff Blair ‏@GloBlair 44m

 

According to Cubs scout, Jays lack of position prospects killed chances of a deal. "We needed to get everyday players more than pitching."

Theo: "Screw pitchers."

[Cubswin11]

Our collection of offensive talent has to be near historical levels, it's not even a question anymore if we have the best system in MLB, it's who's #2 behind us.

 

Is there a precedent to having 3 top 10, 4 top 20 guys in a system and then another 3-5 within the top 75-100 (Soler, Schwarbs, Tseng, Almora, Pierce, CJ)? Maybe the Brewers when they had Braun, Weeks, Fiedler, Hardy, Hart and Gallardo?