Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 4-16-18

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa lost 7-4 Box Score

 

3B D. Bote 1/5, RBI, K, 2 E (throw, fielding)

1B E. Navarro 0/5, RBI, E (1, missed catch)

RF M. Zagunis 2/4, RBI, K

C C. Gimenez 2/4, 2B (2), K

SS R. Court 0/3, 2 K, HBP

SP JH Tseng 5 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 HR, 9-3 GO-FO, 96-60 pitches-strikes

RP R. Rosario 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-3 GO-FO

RP S. Simmons 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Tennessee won 7-2 Box Score

 

SS Z. Short 1/4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB (1)

LF C. Burks 2/4, R, RBI, BB, 2 K, SB (1)

3B J. Vosler 0/5, 2 K

RF E. Martinez 1/4, R, BB, SB (4)

C I. Rice 1/4, R, 2B (2), BB, K

SP T. Clifton 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP, 5-2 GO-FO, 75-47 pitches-strikes

RP C. Brooks 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO

RP D. Mekkes 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1-2 GO-FO

 

Myrtle Beach lost 3-0 Box Score

 

CF DJ Wilson 0/3, BB, 2 K

DH PJ Higgins 0/4, 2 K

3B W. Galindo 0/3, K

1B T. Alamo 0/3, 2 K

KF J. Mitchell 1/3, SB (4)

C J. Pereda 0/3

SS A. Monsaterio 0/3, K

SP M. Swarmer 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 3-1 GO-FO, 73-52 pitches-strikes

 

South Bend had the day off

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Rucker went 3 (uninspiring) innings before Tennessee was rained out, so I would guess he’s not gonna go again tomorrow.

[craig]

Ademan has K'd over 40% of his AB. Obviously early and small sample, but at this point I wonder if his hitting development might not have been better served with a South Bend assignment. Probably makes no difference, though.

[davell]

I'm not worried about K rates with Ademan yet. Nor am I going to take his SLG rates seriously either. But, I do think he's a top 50ish prospect by the end of the year.

 

And a very nice lead piece to pair with Heyward, to unload his contract, in the offseason.

[Cubswin11]

I'm not worried about K rates with Ademan yet. Nor am I going to take his SLG rates seriously either. But, I do think he's a top 50ish prospect by the end of the year.

 

And a very nice lead piece to pair with Heyward, to unload his contract, in the offseason.

I’m hoping we don’t need to get rid of anyone prospects to trade a contract this offseason and just can pay Bryce and not worry about money.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Rucker went 3 (uninspiring) innings before Tennessee was rained out, so I would guess he’s not gonna go again tomorrow.

 

Whoops. Fixed.

[davell]

I'm not worried about K rates with Ademan yet. Nor am I going to take his SLG rates seriously either. But, I do think he's a top 50ish prospect by the end of the year.

 

And a very nice lead piece to pair with Heyward, to unload his contract, in the offseason.

I’m hoping we don’t need to get rid of anyone prospects to trade a contract this offseason and just can pay Bryce and not worry about money.

 

Has there been any trade where a team included probably their top prospect to move on from a contract?

 

Probably not. But I don't remember Arizona's system when they moved Touki with Arroyo.

 

At any rate, I think they'll do their best to move Heyward, for Bryce. And it's take Ademan plus other solid prospects to get a team to eat most of that deal.

 

And I think the FO would jump at doing it actually. Because it'd also allow for another decent sized move to stay under the max LT penalties. Prospects are just currency at this point and can be used in any manner to help the ML team.

[davell]

Probably not. But I don't remember Arizona's system when they moved Touki with Arroyo.

 

At any rate, I think they'll do their best to move Heyward, for Bryce. And it's take Ademan plus other solid prospects to get a team to eat most of that deal.

 

And I think the FO would jump at doing it actually. Because it'd also allow for another decent sized move to stay under the max LT penalties. Prospects are just currency at this point and can be used in any manner to help the ML team.

 

Edited in my last post but this seems like the opposite of what the FO would do just to get out of some money. They're a little more than a year out from having more money than they can spend if everything goes as expected with the media rights up for sale.

 

Don't see them or ANY team heading into the draft pick loss section of the luxury tax, no matter how much money they can afford to spend. Theo especially, since he may have designs on the commissioner gig himself, at some stage. MLB doesn't want teams exploiting that and I don't see teams doing it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[davell]

Don't see them or ANY team heading into the draft pick loss section of the luxury tax, no matter how much money they can afford to spend. Theo especially, since he may have designs on the commissioner gig himself, at some stage. MLB doesn't want teams exploiting that and I don't see teams doing it.

 

It’s hard to imagine Epstein giving up likely his top prospect to dump a salary over a commissioner’s job that may not be available for another twenty+ years.

 

The commish job is not THE reason. The true point is Hayward sucks, is paid lots of money, and moving his salary off the books will give us a bunch of added flexibility. It would take Ademan plus to move him. But, the added draft picks, plus the IFA class additions, should allow us to move a few guys......

[Jaxbro]

Holy crap!!! 5 shutout innings of one hit one walk ball for Trevor Clifton. Struck out 5 on 75 pitches. 5-2 ground/fly outs.

[davell]

The commish job is not THE reason. The true point is Hayward sucks, is paid lots of money, and moving his salary off the books will give us a bunch of added flexibility. It would take Ademan plus to move him. But, the added draft picks, plus the IFA class additions, should allow us to move a few guys......

 

Well first the commisioner thing isn't a reason at all. From there even if the bold were true, and it's probably not, giving away cheap talent to save money they have is not something this FO has ever done. They just do no act so desperately, I don't expect them to start. Hell, no one dumps their likely top prospect to dump a contract. If there's any comparable to Toussaint in the org, a mediocre and still probably the best and biggest name prospect traded in a salary dump, it's Albertos.

 

Lol. Touki was sent with a SINGLE year of Arroyo. Think it was around 14 mill total. That's what a guy like Touki brings. It's 106 mill of Heyward. That's going to cost a HELL of a lot more than that. Anyway, I'm done talking about it.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Didn’t AZ get destroyed by pretty much everyone when they made that deal though?

[Cubswin11]

How hard would it even be to get under the LT in 2 years after Zobrist, Morrow and Lester are all off the books, that’s over $50 million between the 3? Hopefully we just suck it up and take the LT hit the next 2 years and get under/reset the year after that.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

https://www.thecubreporter.com/04162018/cubs-top-giant-black-riverview

 

Brailyn Marquez and Jeremiah Estrada combined to strike out seven of the first 11 men they faced, and seven pitchers combined to toss a five-hitter

 

...

 

RHPs Fernando Calderon, Benjamin Rodriguez, and Jose M. Gonzalez made their U. S. debut in today's game, working one inning a piece. All three pitched in the DSL last year.

 

Not counting pitchers who are rehabbing at Extended Spring Training, Marquez and Estrada are clearly the Cubs top two pitching prospects at EXST, and the duo will likely be at the top of the Eugene starting rotation when the NWL begins play in June.

 

1. Brailyn Marquez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 0/3 GO/AO, 33 pitches (19 strikes)

2. Jeremiah Estrada: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 0/1 GO/AO, 39 pitches (16 strikes)

[davell]

Didn’t AZ get destroyed by pretty much everyone when they made that deal though?

 

They did. But, a team isn't taking on a 100 mill, without getting something very good in return. And for these next few years, I think there's going to be a decent amount of these deals. Because I don't see a single team going into the highest penalty box of the LT.(even if it makes more sense for them to do it)

[davell]

How hard would it even be to get under the LT in 2 years after Zobrist, Morrow and Lester are all off the books, that’s over $50 million between the 3? Hopefully we just suck it up and take the LT hit the next 2 years and get under/reset the year after that.

 

Oh, we're going to go over. Next year. We're just not going to hit the 40+ mill overage penalty box. Losing those guys helps obviously, but arb raises will eat into that a ton honestly.

[Regular Show]

 

https://www.thecubreporter.com/04162018/cubs-top-giant-black-riverview

 

Brailyn Marquez and Jeremiah Estrada combined to strike out seven of the first 11 men they faced, and seven pitchers combined to toss a five-hitter

 

...

 

RHPs Fernando Calderon, Benjamin Rodriguez, and Jose M. Gonzalez made their U. S. debut in today's game, working one inning a piece. All three pitched in the DSL last year.

 

Not counting pitchers who are rehabbing at Extended Spring Training, Marquez and Estrada are clearly the Cubs top two pitching prospects at EXST, and the duo will likely be at the top of the Eugene starting rotation when the NWL begins play in June.

 

1. Brailyn Marquez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 0/3 GO/AO, 33 pitches (19 strikes)

2. Jeremiah Estrada: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 0/1 GO/AO, 39 pitches (16 strikes)

 

That's awesome to read about. I really liked Estrada in last year's draft and I'm glad he fell to the Cubs. If that plus changeup is back and he can command it I'm not too worried about the curveball. I remember even reading some scouting reports that mentioned how it might develop into a plus-plus changeup in time.

[toonsterwu]

I get where davell is coming with that idea. If you can get Bryce, tying Ademan in with Heyward to clear up space and increase flexibility is ... a thought. That contract is going to be ridiculously hard to move. Not impossible, but assuming Heyward doesn't go nuts and opt out, that's what ... 5/100+ left (too lazy to look up right now). That's a bundle.

 

That said ... if Ademan shows well and is a borderline top 50 prospect (I've got a tough time seeing him be legitimately top 50, maybe in that 40-80 range, even then, I wonder if he may be more back end top 100, but that's a lot of guessing on how this season goes), I just don't see the Cubs moving him as a part of a salary dump. We're running into two issues here - the difficulty of moving bad contracts and the immensely high value of prospects, particularly top prospects, in this era. I tend to think the latter trumps the former, when discussing a top prospect.

 

At the end of the day, if the Cubs can find a Heyward move without eating a ton (and I have my doubts) ... I think it'll be some sort of bad contract swap coupled with some lottery tickets/decent prospects (going which way would depend on the contracts involved). Even then, it's hard to see a great fit - the best contractual fits would be something like David Price or Chris Davis, and it's hard to see how the former works out, while the latter is one I don't want.