Cubs acquire Tommy La Stella for Arodys Vizcaino

[Clem Fandango]

How's his defense? Does he profile as a guy who can move around the diamond at all? Seems more like a possible Valbuena replacement than a Baez/Castro replacement/fall back, but he's only ever played 2B. Edited November 16, 2014 by The Logan

[Guest]

How's his defense? Does he profile as a guy who can move around the diamond at all? Seems more like a possible Valbuena replacement than a Baez/Castro replacement, but he's only ever played 2B.

 

UZR has him -4 in a half season last year, and from some brief reading it seems like he's not considered much of a defensive asset.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It really did seem like Vizcaino was beginning to lose the stuff after repeated injuries.

[Deeg]

I know this will shock everyone, but Brett at BN has concluded that this was a great move by the FO, and that La Stella is "clearly a more valuable asset than Vizcaino".

[tenderdracula]

Feel kind of abstract about it. Always liked La Stella but he didnt look that great this past year. And after spending two years waiting to see Vizcaino, it never happened. All in all, I like it, especially if they're planning on moving one of the infielders.

[MWV]

I know this will shock everyone, but Brett at BN has concluded that this was a great move by the FO, and that La Stella is "clearly a more valuable asset than Vizcaino".

 

To be fair, his name does mean "star".

[MWV]

La Stella, not Brett.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

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

[Post Count Padder]

This strikes me as an odd trade. I don't mind La Stella but he doesn't seem to have much upside and we have a few other "supersubs" in Alcantara and Valbuena and I'd have thought Vizcaino had a decent shot at the pen next year.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This strikes me as an odd trade. I don't mind La Stella but he doesn't seem to have much upside and we have a few other "supersubs" in Alcantara and Valbuena and I'd have thought Vizcaino had a decent shot at the pen next year.

 

At the moment, we have zero quality infield subs. Valbuena and Alcantara would both be in our starting 8 with what we have now.

[Post Count Padder]

This strikes me as an odd trade. I don't mind La Stella but he doesn't seem to have much upside and we have a few other "supersubs" in Alcantara and Valbuena and I'd have thought Vizcaino had a decent shot at the pen next year.

 

At the moment, we have zero quality infield subs. Valbuena and Alcantara would both be in our starting 8 with what we have now.

Important part in bold. It's still pretty early in the offseason and Watkins could be a decent bench bat. I'll hold judgement but I think I would like to have seen more of Vizcaino with some time removed from the injuries.

 

I do wonder the Braves' motive for the trade though. Isn't their middle infield depth pretty bad?

[muntjack]

I was briefly obsessed with La Stella and his K/BB rates last year. He has a career 102/136 K/BB in the minors and had almost a 1:1 ratio in his rookie season. You very rarely see that.

[toonsterwu]

I want to dislike the trade, but realistically, it's just a small move that seems bigger because of who Arodys was once upon a moon. My gut would've preferred to just wait a bit longer on Arodys, but realistically, he's not the Arodys of old right now, and might never be. I think it speaks more to Arodys declining value and the uselessness of the bonus slots for us this year than it does speak to anything about LaStella. I'm not huge on LaStella, but he provides a decent bench option or upper level positional depth that, in a pinch, could start some games.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

This strikes me as an odd trade. I don't mind La Stella but he doesn't seem to have much upside and we have a few other "supersubs" in Alcantara and Valbuena and I'd have thought Vizcaino had a decent shot at the pen next year.

 

At the moment, we have zero quality infield subs. Valbuena and Alcantara would both be in our starting 8 with what we have now.

Important part in bold. It's still pretty early in the offseason and Watkins could be a decent bench bat. I'll hold judgement but I think I would like to have seen more of Vizcaino with some time removed from the injuries.

 

I do wonder the Braves' motive for the trade though. Isn't their middle infield depth pretty bad?

 

Watkins sucks and doesn't belong on an MLB roster that hasn't had a big run of injuries.

[sneakypower]

oooh i quite like this

[Tryptamine]

I really don't mind losing Vizcaino at all. He's maybe 6 or 7th on my list of RH relievers we have available so turning him into a potential utility player is fine with me.

[Guest]

Hoyer:

 

“We tried to trade for him several times in the past,” general manager Jed Hoyer said after the deal was complete. “He’s left-handed, gets on base, and doesn’t strike out a lot. Those are three things we need.”

 

“How they fit may not be clear but that was the case with Chris Coghlan last year and he worked his way into the lineup,”

 

“This wasn’t a precursor to anything,” Hoyer stated. “Sometimes you have to acquire guys that can get on-base. It’s something we needed.”

 

“We have some depth back there,” Hoyer said. “A bunch of arms stepped forward to allow us to do this deal.”

[Clem Fandango]

Hoyer:

 

“We tried to trade for him several times in the past,” general manager Jed Hoyer said after the deal was complete. “He’s left-handed, gets on base, and doesn’t strike out a lot. Those are three things we need.”

 

“How they fit may not be clear but that was the case with Chris Coghlan last year and he worked his way into the lineup,”

 

“This wasn’t a precursor to anything,” Hoyer stated. “Sometimes you have to acquire guys that can get on-base. It’s something we needed.”

 

“We have some depth back there,” Hoyer said. “A bunch of arms stepped forward to allow us to do this deal.”

 

http://i.imgur.com/VtRIt3t.gif

[Splendid Splinter]

I don't know why, but whenever I look at La Stella's #, he reminds me of Grugzielanek with more BB.

[Deeg]

It seems to me that OBP is a skill that plays a lot more in a guy that's an everyday player rather than a utility infielder. How often do you see guys regarded as great pinch-hitters because they walk a lot? And it's not as though La Stella adds any versatility - he plays one position at a below-average level.

 

I certainly think the Cubs need LHB, and they damn well need some OBP guys. But this trade really doesn't add up unless the Cubs have totally soured on Vizcaino (which is more than possible). La Stella simply doesn't fit the equation given the makeup of the 40-man and where the Cubs' impact talent plays.

[Geech]

I know this will shock everyone, but Brett at BN has concluded that this was a great move by the FO, and that La Stella is "clearly a more valuable asset than Vizcaino".

 

Went did Brett say it was a great move? I didn't see that in the article. I couldn't find any assessment he made of the move overall, aside from just discussing the implications. Do you think "surprising" means the same thing as great? He did call it surprising.

 

As for La Stella being a more valuable asset, I think that's pretty obviously true. Why did the slots go with Vizcaino and not the other way around if it wasn't?

[Guest]

I don't know why, but whenever I look at La Stella's #, he reminds me of Grugzielanek with more BB.

 

Todd Walker with less pop.

[thefranchise]

Guys, we got back a slightly older but better hitting Ronald Torreyes and minus the mole.

[davell]

As for La Stella being a more valuable asset, I think that's pretty obviously true. Why did the slots go with Vizcaino and not the other way around if it wasn't?

 

The slots were useless to us. We were capped, not being able to sign anyone over 250,000. We were well under our limits and not likely to spend much more this spending period, so they were disposable.

[imb]

http://img.youtube.com/vi/ImOrRkBGh2A/0.jpg

 

Who the [expletive] is tommy la Stella?