Cubs acquire Tommy La Stella for Arodys Vizcaino

[gscool89]

RT @MDGonzales: Cubs acquired INF Tommy La Stella and ATL's No. 4 international signing bonus slot for RHP Arodys Vizcaino and 3 int. signing bonus slots

Edited November 16, 2014 by gscool89

[Guest]

wtf

 

i do not like this

[gscool89]

So is a Baez/Starlin trade pretty much inevitable now?

[mul21]

Outside of sounding like a character from Goodfellas, what does anybody know about this guy? This strikes me as an odd trade since that where Vizcaino came from isn't it?

[gscool89]

Outside of sounding like a character from Goodfellas, what does anybody know about this guy? This strikes me as an odd trade since that where Vizcaino came from isn't it?

La Stella is a high OBP guy that had a few good weeks when he first got to the majors and then tapered off.

[jersey cubs fan]

This isn't a make good is it?

 

 

.400 obp in minors. Although he was older and also had a .400 slg

[Guest]

is this guy basically stephen bruno a year from now?

[Guest]

Glut of high quality bullpen arms? No idea.

[CubsInNC]

Bruce Miles mentioned that we give up our international slots #2, #3, and #4.

[rawaction]

wtf

 

i do not like this

 

Yeah. Don't get it.

[KaiserCesar]

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLQRKnZ2cK8/maxresdefault.jpg

Edited November 16, 2014 by KaiserCesar

[gscool89]

I don't mind giving up Vizcaino, I don't think he's very good and we have enough bullpen guys to make up for it. I just don't get why we need La Stella right now when Logan Watkins can probably put up similar production.

[Gilby]

I don't mind giving up Vizcaino, I don't think he's very good and we have enough bullpen guys to make up for it. I just don't get why we need La Stella right now when Logan Watkins can probably put up similar production.

 

La Stella is better than Watkins. The jump to AAA (and the majors) hasn't been kind to Logan.

 

I suppose this makes sense when you think about the backup infielders we have currently - basically nobody besides Olt and Watkins, which, ew. The thing about La Stella being a bench player though is that he's a 2B-only at the moment. That will need to change.

[SABR Gamer]

So is a Baez/Starlin trade pretty much inevitable now?

 

Lol, you think Tommy La Stella is a reason to trade Baez or Castro?

[davell]

I had soured on Vizcaino and the slots we dealt were useless to us and were going to waste anyway. Ambivalent here, LaStella is fine on the return and I wonder if he's just parked here on his way elsewhere this offseason.

[Guest]

Guess they've soured on Vizcaino?

[Guest]

#Cubs know La Stella is not an ideal positional fit. But they like his bat and contact skills, and have tried to obtain him for a while.

[Vinestal]

This seems really bizarre unless they just completely gave up on Vizcaino being a player. I dont get it.

[jersey cubs fan]

#Cubs know La Stella is not an ideal positional fit. But they like his bat and contact skills, and have tried to obtain him for a while.

Are you quoting somebody?

[gscool89]

#Cubs know La Stella is not an ideal positional fit. But they like his bat and contact skills, and have tried to obtain him for a while.

Are you quoting somebody?

Rosenthal

[Guest]

Cubs lose 832k in bonus money (won't matter much because we'll blow past the cap - probably worth more to Atlanta)

 

Kind of interesting to see after they overvalued the slots in 2013.

 

EDIT - NM that's 2014 bonus pool money

Edited November 16, 2014 by David

[davell]

#Cubs know La Stella is not an ideal positional fit. But they like his bat and contact skills, and have tried to obtain him for a while.

Are you quoting somebody?

 

I think that was Rosenthal

[Bruno7481]

Obviously easy to speculate about what this could lead to, but La Stella seems like a guy the Cubs would target. Cost controlled LH bat who has shown an ability in the minor leagues to get on base. As was points out earlier, the slots were kind of useless to the Cubs for this signing period.

 

They probably feel comfortable dealing Vizcaino because of the bullpen depth. He is always going to have health concerns to go along with command issues.

 

This may turn into something bigger, but they were probably comfortable simply acquiring a player who they think can provide some value in return for a guy who still doesn't have a clear claim to a bullpen spot.

[KingCubsFan]

Obviously easy to speculate about what this could lead to, but La Stella seems like a guy the Cubs would target. Cost controlled LH bat who has shown an ability in the minor leagues to get on base. As was points out earlier, the slots were kind of useless to the Cubs for this signing period.

 

They probably feel comfortable dealing Vizcaino because of the bullpen depth. He is always going to have health concerns to go along with command issues.

 

This may turn into something bigger, but they were probably comfortable simply acquiring a player who they think can provide some value in return for a guy who still doesn't have a clear claim to a bullpen spot.

Agreed. His profile suggests he could be a pretty good pinch hitter and provides some insurance in case Baez flops. Given the fact that this team could struggle to get on base, his ability to draw a walk could be helpful.

[Guest]

Hmm.

 

Not sure of the proportions, but potential motivations here:

 

- Maximizing Vizcaino's value. His command was not good even a 2nd full year clear of TJS and we may be a few months from him completely losing any value with ineffectiveness, or even getting hurt again.

- Vizcaino is expendable. You can make an argument that he's as low as 7th among RH RP options, and that's before you consider any demoted arms like Turner or Straily.

- La Stella is an asset. He works counts and appears to have a pretty solid hit tool. He's under team control thru 2020. He may be undervalued as well, the FO has shown a proclivity towards small guys with good hit tools, and La Stella's .283 BABIP at the MLB level would seemingly be a good bet to improve.

- La Stella fits the roster. Castro, Baez, Russell, and Bryant are all right handed while La Stella is LH, and even though La Stella is probably limited to 2B, the positional flexibility on that list means he can be a backup to several of those guys in practice. The reserve IF market is pretty lean on quality options, so this could simply be signing up for several years of La Stella as a backup infielder

- Another move is (potentially) in the works. If you're thinking of trading one of Baez, Castro, or Alcantara, you can see the immediate-term IF get thin quickly. For example, if you trade Castro, Bryant won't be up right away and is maybe an OF, Alcantara has to play OF at the moment lest there be another hole to fill, Russell could easily not be considered ready right away(maybe not til '16), and you have to fill all of 2B, 3B, and SS.

 

On the other hand:

 

- La Stella doesn't have much upside, the best case scenario is something like a poor man's Valbuena

- La Stella's poor BABIP should stand to progress, but small hit tool guys with little power have a way of losing value as time passes and the league learns how to challenge them. See Theriot, Ryan for the textbook example.

- Speaking of Valbuena, doesn't he kinda fit this role too? Sure depth never hurts, and La Stella is clearly a better option than a Watkins or Bruno, but La Stella's benefits seem to be muted by the presence of Valbuena unless Valbuena is playing every day or you really don't like Valbuena at 2B.

 

 

My best guess is that this is a combo of really souring on Vizcaino, and seeing La Stella as a controlled reservie infielder that does a lot of things they like. La Stella will play 2B every few days and be a very good 6th and 7th inning PH option. He also helps to serve as Baez insurance.